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-   -   Battery life of wireless doorbell (https://www.diybanter.com/uk-diy/189765-battery-life-wireless-doorbell.html)

Ziggy January 20th 07 12:39 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?

For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.

{Here are some sample products from Argos http://tinyurl.com/2sb3r9}

RiTSo January 20th 07 12:47 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
Ziggy wrote:

:: What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free
:: door chime?
::
:: For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little
and
:: the receiver does not have a light.
::
:: {Here are some sample products from Argos
http://tinyurl.com/2sb3r9}

http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Front.../dp/B000GATAYQ

"Push button battery included, 3 year battery life"

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...ery+life&meta=

--
RiTSo





GB January 20th 07 12:52 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 

"RiTSo" wrote in message
. ..
Ziggy wrote:

:: What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free
:: door chime?




"Push button battery included, 3 year battery life"


I imagine the 3 year battery life refers to the push button




[email protected] January 20th 07 01:22 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 

GB wrote:
"RiTSo" wrote in message
. ..
Ziggy wrote:

:: What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free
:: door chime?




"Push button battery included, 3 year battery life"


I imagine the 3 year battery life refers to the push button


[Anecdotal, unscientific, and realying on a poor memory.] I recently
had to replace the push button battery (Duracell MN21/23) after about
nine months. I *think* the chime batteries lasted considerably longer,
but I cannot say for definite (I carry a supply of AAs, while sourcing
an MN21/23 is a more memorable event.)

Another consideration. The house that this chime is used in has very
thick stone walls (~ two feet, and subject to damp); in order for the
signal to reach the living room (deaf occupant[1]), the receiver has to
be carefully sited so that the signal needs pass through only the
external wall.

[1] Of course, maybe that's the reason why the battery lasted only nine
months :)

Best regards,

Jon C.


Dave January 20th 07 01:36 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 

"Ziggy" wrote in message
...
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?

For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.

{Here are some sample products from Argos http://tinyurl.com/2sb3r9}


I'd say alkaline batteries could be reasonably expected to last 6 months to
a year, with limited use. It might vary quite a bit product to product
though.



Dave Plowman (News) January 20th 07 01:37 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
In article ,
Ziggy wrote:
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?


For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.


{Here are some sample products from Argos http://tinyurl.com/2sb3r9}


Not having such a device, why would the *receiver* be battery powered
unless you live somewhere without mains electricity?

--
*7up is good for you, signed snow white*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

philo January 20th 07 02:03 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 

"Ziggy" wrote in message
...
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?

For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.



get a set of batteries like this:

http://www.plazaearth.com/philo/batt.jpg

they can ring your bell continuously for 25 years or so



Sean Inglis January 20th 07 02:16 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 12:39:37 +0000, Ziggy wrote:

What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?

For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.

{Here are some sample products from Argos http://tinyurl.com/2sb3r9}


QVC (now there's an admission) recently sold a wireless system where the
chime plugs directly into a power socket.

(quick butchers ... aha - a bit pricey)

http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.as....yah.UKGD-U085

kony January 20th 07 05:26 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 13:37:22 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman
(News)" wrote:

In article ,
Ziggy wrote:
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?


For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.


{Here are some sample products from Argos http://tinyurl.com/2sb3r9}


Not having such a device, why would the *receiver* be battery powered
unless you live somewhere without mains electricity?


Merely because that's how they design some of them.
I happen to have one for a side entrance, though I forget
the model. Don't recall much about it actually, but I think
the receiver takes 2 x C cells and hasn't needed them
replaced since it was installed a year ago.

As for the specific product OP is considering either the
manufacturer can provide this data or it'll have to be
measured in use (current consumption as a rough calculation
applied to the expected capacity and shelf life of the type
of battery used).

Peter Andrews January 20th 07 05:59 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 

"Ziggy" wrote in message
...
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?

For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.

{Here are some sample products from Argos http://tinyurl.com/2sb3r9}


The Friedland EVO 50 quote 18 months for receiver (3AA's), about 5 years for
bell push (3v Lithium CR2032).

Peter



Vic Smith January 20th 07 07:25 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 13:37:22 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Ziggy wrote:
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?


For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.


{Here are some sample products from Argos http://tinyurl.com/2sb3r9}


Not having such a device, why would the *receiver* be battery powered
unless you live somewhere without mains electricity?


Bells/chimes here in the U.S. when hooked to main power in my
experience use a transformer to step power down to low voltage
12 or 24?). This obviates armoring the wires and makes wiring easier,
plus provides fatal shock protection for a hapless doorbell ringer
who might be standing on a wet welcome mat. Welcome - ZAPPP!
The wireless units are much easier to install, and can be located
anywhere with no connections but a couple nails or screws.
In my experience the battery for the button lasts a minimum of 2 years
and for the chimes even longer. The button takes an AAA and the
inside probably one or two C's.
I live near Chicago where winters are typically cold. The outside
button never gets wet as it is protected by a porch awning.
The bell/chime is little used, maybe averaging once a week.
I put this in about 10 years ago.
I wouldn't buy a unit that uses anything but common batteries.

--Vic

John McGaw January 20th 07 09:43 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
Ziggy wrote:
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?

For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.

{Here are some sample products from Argos http://tinyurl.com/2sb3r9}


Mine has been in for at least six years and the batteries in the
transmitters and receiver/gong are still the originals. Someone living
in a really cold climate might find the outdoor batteries would have a
shorter operational life or at least would be less willing to operate at
sub-zero temperatures.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

nog January 21st 07 08:35 AM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 08:03:07 -0600, philo wrote:

"Ziggy" wrote in message
...
[7 quoted lines suppressed]


get a set of batteries like this:

http://www.plazaearth.com/philo/batt.jpg

they can ring your bell continuously for 25 years or so


By the time ten minutes of continuous ringing has gone by, the advantage
will cease to be obvious. ;-)

Charlie Mitchell January 21st 07 12:18 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
Ziggy wrote:
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?

For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.

{Here are some sample products from Argos http://tinyurl.com/2sb3r9}


Our wireless doorbells seemed to do nothing but die, they were
totally hopeless, in the end I put a wired one in myself which
is still going strong, the wireless ones just seemed to stop
working for some reason after about 12 months and no end of
fiddling with them would get them working again, it also
seemed regardless of the amount of money we spent on them as
well.

Derek Geldard January 21st 07 01:11 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
On Sun, 21 Jan 2007 12:18:56 +0000, Charlie Mitchell
wrote:

Ziggy wrote:
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?

For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.

{Here are some sample products from Argos http://tinyurl.com/2sb3r9}


Our wireless doorbells seemed to do nothing but die, they were
totally hopeless, in the end I put a wired one in myself which
is still going strong, the wireless ones just seemed to stop
working for some reason after about 12 months and no end of
fiddling with them would get them working again, it also
seemed regardless of the amount of money we spent on them as
well.


They are not fighting with your wireless network are they ?

Both my wireless meat thermometer and my little Chinese weather
station quit when my wifi network is running.

DG


Charlie Mitchell January 21st 07 01:48 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
Derek Geldard wrote:
On Sun, 21 Jan 2007 12:18:56 +0000, Charlie Mitchell
wrote:

Ziggy wrote:
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?

For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.

{Here are some sample products from Argos http://tinyurl.com/2sb3r9}

Our wireless doorbells seemed to do nothing but die, they were
totally hopeless, in the end I put a wired one in myself which
is still going strong, the wireless ones just seemed to stop
working for some reason after about 12 months and no end of
fiddling with them would get them working again, it also
seemed regardless of the amount of money we spent on them as
well.


They are not fighting with your wireless network are they ?

Both my wireless meat thermometer and my little Chinese weather
station quit when my wifi network is running.

DG


That is a really good suggestion actually and something I
never thought of! I can't remember how long we've had the
wireless, I think we had the wireless doorbells longer though.

Whilst they all seemed to work a certain amount of time they
all gave up the ghost after the same amount of time.

The wired one I put in is just an old fashioned ding dong one,
it's not one that's wired into the mains, that really does
sound dangerous, epseically where my wiring skills are
concerned!!

Gizmo. January 21st 07 01:58 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 

"philo" wrote in message
...

"Ziggy" wrote in message
...
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?

For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.



get a set of batteries like this:

http://www.plazaearth.com/philo/batt.jpg

they can ring your bell continuously for 25 years or so


Nah ... those are tiny.

What you want are Exide OPzS flooded cells - available up to 2V @ 12,000Ah
I'm sure there are bigger on the market, but that's as big as I've worked
on.



gort January 21st 07 02:01 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 

Not having such a device, why would the *receiver* be battery powered
unless you live somewhere without mains electricity?


So you can carry into the garden and hear the doorbell ?

Dave


philo January 21st 07 02:52 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 


they can ring your bell continuously for 25 years or so


Nah ... those are tiny.

What you want are Exide OPzS flooded cells - available up to 2V @ 12,000Ah
I'm sure there are bigger on the market, but that's as big as I've worked
on.



Though I now work for a different industrial battery manufacturer...I used
to work for Exide...
but never worked with cells larger than 1700 AH. I think the largest cell I
could carry into my basement
would be about 300AH :)



Gizmo. January 21st 07 03:40 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 

"philo" wrote in message
. ..


they can ring your bell continuously for 25 years or so


Nah ... those are tiny.

What you want are Exide OPzS flooded cells - available up to 2V @
12,000Ah
I'm sure there are bigger on the market, but that's as big as I've worked
on.



Though I now work for a different industrial battery manufacturer...I used
to work for Exide...
but never worked with cells larger than 1700 AH. I think the largest cell
I
could carry into my basement
would be about 300AH :)


Had to remove 192 flooded cells from a Nortel site once, each one with 56
litres of acid.
Wasnt exactly the nicest job we've ever done ... but sure did pay well !
Replaced them with good old VH57s



philo January 21st 07 03:59 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 



Had to remove 192 flooded cells from a Nortel site once, each one with 56
litres of acid.
Wasnt exactly the nicest job we've ever done ... but sure did pay well !
Replaced them with good old VH57s




Well I'm 57 years old and my heavy lifting days are over.
they hired a 300# (135kg) "kid" to help me out on the heavy jobs.

The first week on the job he laughed at me because I could no
longer lift all those "very light" cells.

After I had him carry a dozen cells up a flight of stairs
(and the old ones back down) he started laughing a bit less :)

I really rubbed it in a bit and told him that I was the one who installed
them originally
about 5 years before!

Heck my heavy lifting ended about 6 years ago when I had knee surgery



Gizmo. January 21st 07 04:59 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 

"philo" wrote in message
. ..



Had to remove 192 flooded cells from a Nortel site once, each one with 56
litres of acid.
Wasnt exactly the nicest job we've ever done ... but sure did pay well !
Replaced them with good old VH57s




Well I'm 57 years old and my heavy lifting days are over.
they hired a 300# (135kg) "kid" to help me out on the heavy jobs.

The first week on the job he laughed at me because I could no
longer lift all those "very light" cells.


Ahh but once you get to a certain age you've learnt that using an electric /
hydraulic battery lifter may not be so fast, but is way easier - and kinder
on the back ! ;o)
Although we still get the youngsters come in lifting VH57s at 127Kg each by
hand.

After I had him carry a dozen cells up a flight of stairs
(and the old ones back down) he started laughing a bit less :)

I really rubbed it in a bit and told him that I was the one who installed
them originally
about 5 years before!


I realised I was getting on when I started ripping out equipment that was
state of the art 8-10 years ago when I first installed it, and replacing it
with kit that was a fraction of the size :o(

Heck my heavy lifting ended about 6 years ago when I had knee surgery


I just get contractors to do it :o)



philo January 21st 07 05:47 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 



After I had him carry a dozen cells up a flight of stairs
(and the old ones back down) he started laughing a bit less :)

I really rubbed it in a bit and told him that I was the one who

installed
them originally
about 5 years before!


I realised I was getting on when I started ripping out equipment that was
state of the art 8-10 years ago when I first installed it, and replacing

it
with kit that was a fraction of the size :o(

Heck my heavy lifting ended about 6 years ago when I had knee surgery


I just get contractors to do it :o)




Though the electronics has changed quite a bit in the 32 years I've been in
the battery business...
and there have even been some changes in the batteries too...
Lead is lead...and it's heavy!



Charlie Mitchell January 21st 07 08:02 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
Owain wrote:
Charlie Mitchell wrote:
The wired one I put in is just an old fashioned ding dong one,
it's not one that's wired into the mains, that really does
sound dangerous, epseically where my wiring skills are
concerned!!


I've got a mains fire-bell[1] wired up to the phone line.

Owain


[1] Security bell actually, fire-bells don't run on mains


Good god, it must be the equivalent of being woken up by being
kicked in the head!

kony January 21st 07 09:08 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 08:03:07 -0600, "philo"
wrote:


"Ziggy" wrote in message
...
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?

For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.



get a set of batteries like this:

http://www.plazaearth.com/philo/batt.jpg

they can ring your bell continuously for 25 years or so



Unless those are of exotic construction, won't they have
self-discharged within a couple years' time?

Terry January 21st 07 10:19 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 

Owain wrote:

No, the klaxon on the alarm clock has that effect. I'm out of bed and
standing before I wake up!


Reminds me of my (very much) younger days (I was still at school) and
listening to AFN after Radio Luxembourg closed down - yes! I am going
back a very long time!

(For the benefit of younger listeners: AFN was the American Forces
Network, Europe.)

Closedown procedure varied from station to station and I can't remember
now if it was Frankfurt, Munich or Stuttgart, (I think Frankfurt) but
it went something like this:

"At the sound of the last tone, Central European Time will be One Hour
..... AFN Frankfurt broadcasts on an assigned frequency of Eight
Hundred, Seventy Two kilocycles per second, Three Hunded, Fourty-Four
meters in the Medium Waveband with a power of One Hundred, Fifty
Thousand Watts! ... AFN is now closing down and will return to the air
at six hours this morning ... Ladies and Gentlemen: Our National
Anthem!..."

.... at which point, as a 14 year old listening under the bedcovers (as
we all did, didn't we?) I had this mental picture of all these yanks
jumping out of bed just after 1am, snapping smartly to attention and
saluting (possibly to the flag propped up in the corner of the
bedroom!)

Terry


philo January 22nd 07 01:37 AM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 





Unless those are of exotic construction, won't they have
self-discharged within a couple years' time?



You bet they will discharge...
that's why I keep them on a hysteresis-loop charger
(it's built into the UPS)



John January 22nd 07 03:00 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 

For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.




Irrespective of usage, the receiver must be active all the time waiting for
a call - like leaving a radio switched on - with the volume turned down - it
will eat the batteries. Plug in ones are better.


--


--
John




kony January 22nd 07 07:49 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 15:00:17 GMT, "John"
wrote:


For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.




Irrespective of usage, the receiver must be active all the time waiting for
a call - like leaving a radio switched on - with the volume turned down - it
will eat the batteries. Plug in ones are better.



I would suspect the receiver battery lasts at least as long
as the transmitter battery. Supposing one with a separate
transformer plug in supply costs $10 more, it may come close
to erasing any cost difference too over the life of the
unit, though the plug in type would reduce # of batteries
going into a landfill.

GB January 23rd 07 11:37 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 

"kony" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 15:00:17 GMT, "John"
wrote:


For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and
the
receiver does not have a light.




Irrespective of usage, the receiver must be active all the time waiting
for
a call - like leaving a radio switched on - with the volume turned down -
it
will eat the batteries. Plug in ones are better.



I would suspect the receiver battery lasts at least as long
as the transmitter battery. Supposing one with a separate
transformer plug in supply costs $10 more, it may come close
to erasing any cost difference too over the life of the
unit, though the plug in type would reduce # of batteries
going into a landfill.


The transmitter is only consuming power for a few seconds at a time, when
somebody presses the button. The receiver is on 24/7, and it has to power
the bell/buzzer.



kony January 24th 07 12:50 AM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
On Tue, 23 Jan 2007 23:37:46 -0000, "GB"
wrote:


"kony" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 15:00:17 GMT, "John"
wrote:


For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and
the
receiver does not have a light.




Irrespective of usage, the receiver must be active all the time waiting
for
a call - like leaving a radio switched on - with the volume turned down -
it
will eat the batteries. Plug in ones are better.



I would suspect the receiver battery lasts at least as long
as the transmitter battery. Supposing one with a separate
transformer plug in supply costs $10 more, it may come close
to erasing any cost difference too over the life of the
unit, though the plug in type would reduce # of batteries
going into a landfill.


The transmitter is only consuming power for a few seconds at a time, when
somebody presses the button. The receiver is on 24/7, and it has to power
the bell/buzzer.



While that is true, that doesn't mean it necessarily
consumes a lot of current. Take an LCD watch for example,
it runs years from a tiny battery. How long do you think it
would run from 2 x C cells? It is an irrelevant question
because the cells will have self discharged faster than the
watch would have drained them.

As a % of time the buzzer isn't running very often and the
rest of the receiver may be using on a few uA. Since I have
one that uses 2 x C cells and they have lasted a little over
a year already, it is already clear it uses significantly
less than 1mA on average.

John January 24th 07 09:07 AM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 


Irrespective of usage, the receiver must be active all the time waiting
for
a call - like leaving a radio switched on - with the volume turned
down -
it
will eat the batteries. Plug in ones are better.


I would suspect the receiver battery lasts at least as long
as the transmitter battery. Supposing one with a separate
transformer plug in supply costs $10 more, it may come close
to erasing any cost difference too over the life of the
unit, though the plug in type would reduce # of batteries
going into a landfill.


The transmitter is only consuming power for a few seconds at a time, when
somebody presses the button. The receiver is on 24/7, and it has to power
the bell/buzzer.



While that is true, that doesn't mean it necessarily
consumes a lot of current. Take an LCD watch for example,
it runs years from a tiny battery. How long do you think it
would run from 2 x C cells? It is an irrelevant question
because the cells will have self discharged faster than the
watch would have drained them.

As a % of time the buzzer isn't running very often and the
rest of the receiver may be using on a few uA. Since I have
one that uses 2 x C cells and they have lasted a little over
a year already, it is already clear it uses significantly
less than 1mA on average.


I stand by my point - the bell unit is acting as a radio receiver all the
time - ready to ring if it receives the correct input. It is bound to use a
significant amount of power. I would only consider having a mains powered
one - as many have a 13 amp plug through facility you are not even losing a
socket.
Battery quality is also an obvious factor.



kony January 24th 07 10:35 AM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 09:07:16 GMT, "John"
wrote:


As a % of time the buzzer isn't running very often and the
rest of the receiver may be using on a few uA. Since I have
one that uses 2 x C cells and they have lasted a little over
a year already, it is already clear it uses significantly
less than 1mA on average.


I stand by my point - the bell unit is acting as a radio receiver all the
time - ready to ring if it receives the correct input. It is bound to use a
significant amount of power. I would only consider having a mains powered
one - as many have a 13 amp plug through facility you are not even losing a
socket.
Battery quality is also an obvious factor.



Define "significant amount of power". Since the batteries
in mine are plain old Duracell alkalines rated for 7800mAh,
http://www.duracell.com/oem/Pdf/others/ATB-full.pdf
and since it's already ran for over a year (but let's round
down to 1 year for simplicities' sake), 24/7 constantly,
that's already an absolute maximum possible avg. current of

7800 / [24 * 365] = 0.9mA

.... and it only goes lower every day it continues to run off
same pair of cells. It may be that those Duracells can
produce more than 7800mAh at such a slow drain rate, but not
enough to make much of a difference in the calculations,
we're still looking at a sub-1mA range considering those
cells aren't dead yet and may not be any day soon.

I would agree that battery quality is an obvious factor but
why would someone put low quality batteries in (anything?)
except perhaps for those generic NiMH if the device didn't
need run any longer than those can provide before another
recharge cycle is acceptible - definitely not the case in
this context with a door buzzer.



John January 24th 07 02:10 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 

"kony" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 09:07:16 GMT, "John"
wrote:


As a % of time the buzzer isn't running very often and the
rest of the receiver may be using on a few uA. Since I have
one that uses 2 x C cells and they have lasted a little over
a year already, it is already clear it uses significantly
less than 1mA on average.


I stand by my point - the bell unit is acting as a radio receiver all the
time - ready to ring if it receives the correct input. It is bound to use
a
significant amount of power. I would only consider having a mains powered
one - as many have a 13 amp plug through facility you are not even losing
a
socket.
Battery quality is also an obvious factor.



Define "significant amount of power". Since the batteries
in mine are plain old Duracell alkalines rated for 7800mAh,
http://www.duracell.com/oem/Pdf/others/ATB-full.pdf
and since it's already ran for over a year (but let's round
down to 1 year for simplicities' sake), 24/7 constantly,
that's already an absolute maximum possible avg. current of

7800 / [24 * 365] = 0.9mA

... and it only goes lower every day it continues to run off
same pair of cells. It may be that those Duracells can
produce more than 7800mAh at such a slow drain rate, but not
enough to make much of a difference in the calculations,
we're still looking at a sub-1mA range considering those
cells aren't dead yet and may not be any day soon.

I would agree that battery quality is an obvious factor but
why would someone put low quality batteries in (anything?)
except perhaps for those generic NiMH if the device didn't
need run any longer than those can provide before another
recharge cycle is acceptible - definitely not the case in
this context with a door buzzer.


You must be fortunate with your choice of unit and batteries. People I know
seem to often have theirs dead (Please knock sticker) and complain about
battery consumption.

Good for you.



Derek Geldard January 24th 07 03:46 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 13:37:22 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Ziggy wrote:
What is the approximate battery life of the receiver of a wire free door
chime?


For the sake of argument, let's say the unit is used very little and the
receiver does not have a light.


{Here are some sample products from Argos http://tinyurl.com/2sb3r9}


Not having such a device, why would the *receiver* be battery powered
unless you live somewhere without mains electricity?


You can move them about the house with you if, say you were working in
an upstairs room when expecting a parcel / take them into the
conservatory / out to the barbecue. Also you can site them on top of
tall cupboards where they are out of the way and inconspicuous without
trailing wires.

Oddly the transmitter unit in my 4 year old Friedland unit has never
had a new battery (presumably a button cell of some kind), whereas the
sounder has had 3 sets of 2 "C" cells.

DG


Dave Plowman (News) January 24th 07 04:50 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
In article ,
Derek Geldard wrote:
Not having such a device, why would the *receiver* be battery powered
unless you live somewhere without mains electricity?


You can move them about the house with you if, say you were working in
an upstairs room when expecting a parcel / take them into the
conservatory / out to the barbecue.


But I'd expect a mains bell system to be heard throughout the house. The
fact that you have to take a wireless one with you is just one more thing
against it.

Also you can site them on top of
tall cupboards where they are out of the way and inconspicuous without
trailing wires.


FFS, this is a DIY group. You don't need to put up with trailing cables.
;-)

Oddly the transmitter unit in my 4 year old Friedland unit has never
had a new battery (presumably a button cell of some kind), whereas the
sounder has had 3 sets of 2 "C" cells.


So not cheap to run, then.

--
*Why can't women put on mascara with their mouth closed?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

kony January 25th 07 02:00 AM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 16:50:44 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman
(News)" wrote:

In article ,
Derek Geldard wrote:
Not having such a device, why would the *receiver* be battery powered
unless you live somewhere without mains electricity?


You can move them about the house with you if, say you were working in
an upstairs room when expecting a parcel / take them into the
conservatory / out to the barbecue.


But I'd expect a mains bell system to be heard throughout the house. The
fact that you have to take a wireless one with you is just one more thing
against it.



.... or for it, not everyone has either a tiny house or wants
a bell system that loud, which tends to be that much louder
in areas adjacent to it. If you have plaster walls or
teenagers/others with loud stereos you may also find there's
no one bell system that can be heard everywhere without
waking the dead in the next zip code.

In short the ideal bell system is not as loud as possible,
it's only loud enough to be heard reliably. One could wire
up secondary chimes but considering the addt'l time and/or
expense it may not not suit all needs either.

You don't "have" to take anything with you, that's like
claiming it's a negative thing that a notebook is portable.

Dave Plowman (News) January 25th 07 09:35 AM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
In article ,
kony wrote:
But I'd expect a mains bell system to be heard throughout the house.
The fact that you have to take a wireless one with you is just one more
thing against it.


... or for it, not everyone has either a tiny house or wants
a bell system that loud, which tends to be that much louder
in areas adjacent to it.


If you can't hear a bell throughout the house, why bother with one? Just
have a knocker on the door - no batteries to go flat and no running costs.

If you have plaster walls or
teenagers/others with loud stereos you may also find there's
no one bell system that can be heard everywhere without
waking the dead in the next zip code.


In short the ideal bell system is not as loud as possible,
it's only loud enough to be heard reliably. One could wire
up secondary chimes but considering the addt'l time and/or
expense it may not not suit all needs either.


It's such a one time installation worth getting right, IMHO.

You don't "have" to take anything with you, that's like
claiming it's a negative thing that a notebook is portable.


Not a good simile. You find a notebook when you want to refer to it. A
doorbell is needed at random. And it's such a random thing the idea of
carrying it with you strikes me as silly. If you did need such a feature
one which interfaced with your mobile would make more sense. Easy enough
to do with an alarm SDI if you wanted to.

--
*Forget about World Peace...Visualize using your turn signal.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

kony January 25th 07 03:17 PM

Battery life of wireless doorbell
 
On Thu, 25 Jan 2007 09:35:24 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman
(News)" wrote:

In article ,
kony wrote:
But I'd expect a mains bell system to be heard throughout the house.
The fact that you have to take a wireless one with you is just one more
thing against it.


... or for it, not everyone has either a tiny house or wants
a bell system that loud, which tends to be that much louder
in areas adjacent to it.


If you can't hear a bell throughout the house, why bother with one? Just
have a knocker on the door - no batteries to go flat and no running costs.


It's quite simple really, you don't want the doorbell so
loud nearby, but also want to be able to hear it elsewhere,
for a different door.






If you have plaster walls or
teenagers/others with loud stereos you may also find there's
no one bell system that can be heard everywhere without
waking the dead in the next zip code.


In short the ideal bell system is not as loud as possible,
it's only loud enough to be heard reliably. One could wire
up secondary chimes but considering the addt'l time and/or
expense it may not not suit all needs either.


It's such a one time installation worth getting right, IMHO.


How would you propose to not "get it right"?
You seem arbitrarily set against a cordless doorbell merely
because you can't envision a use for your subjective
purposes. That doesn't begin to make it a bad choice for a
different, subject's purposes.





You don't "have" to take anything with you, that's like
claiming it's a negative thing that a notebook is portable.


Not a good simile. You find a notebook when you want to refer to it. A
doorbell is needed at random. And it's such a random thing the idea of
carrying it with you strikes me as silly. If you did need such a feature
one which interfaced with your mobile would make more sense. Easy enough
to do with an alarm SDI if you wanted to.


How it is random? Do you really not expect people coming
over ahead of time, they always show up by surprise?
Perhaps at your front door, but remember this is a separate
remote button and may be at a different door- one where
people showing up may not be doing so at random.

It goes back to what I already wrote, you just don't
envision a use for _your_ door, and you might be quite right
about it... but that doesn't make what someone else chooses
to do any less useful to them.


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