On Saturday, 22 February 2020 16:36:36 UTC, Dave W wrote:

I have an old house with a wired bell (through the door's wooden
frame), but it uses batteries. They last for many years.

One factor that nobody's mentioned is that an old-fashioned bell gives
an indication of how desperate the caller is, as the length of ring
(or gap between ding-dong) depends on how long the bellpush is
pressed, unlike wireless devices that trigger a standard response.

There is a slight drawback in that if the caller can hear the bell
then it may well govern how long the bell gets pressed. In my case
with a small echoey hall it's so loud it can make the caller remove
the finger instantly, and then the ring is too short for me to notice
it faintly upstairs. I've fitted a slave bell upstairs now to solve
that problem.

The beller being able to hear the bell is necessary, otherwise you get a bunch of human behaviour problems.


NT