MyQ Smart Garage Door Hub Install

We’ve been here over eight years now, and the past several years I’ve been installing smart home products to add convenience and piece of mind to our home. This past Christmas I picked up a Chamberlain MyQ smart hub that was on sale for $17 (now regularly about $39). Finally this month I installed the unit in our garage.

The smart MyQ units mate seamlessly with the Chamberlain garage door units I installed a few years ago. What they allow me to now do is through the MyQ phone app I can see if the doors are open or closed, get alerts when someone opens a garage door, and generally have more piece of mind when I’m away from home or don’t feel like walking outside to check on the garage doors.

The system consists of a hub that connects to your home wi-fi, and a module that goes on your garage door. The hub communicates with the door module and understands its position – up or down. I can also use the app to actually open or close doors from anywhere where I have an internet connection. This is awesome for vacation or late at night. I can also push a signal if someone needs to get into the garage and it is locked and I am away.

My handy drill holster makes solo jobs where you need two hands, easier.

The Chamberlain garage door openers I installed a few years ago. When I bought them they had the MyQ smart technology built in, I just needed to add the hub, sensor and application

MyQ hub on left (plugs into wall) and door sensor module on right

MyQ hub mounted on back wall of garage about 8′ off the ground where everyone can see it.

MyQ app guiding me through installation.

MyQ hub kit comes with everything you see here.

MyQ door sensor module mounted via double stick velcro on upper right door panel.

Installation is incredibly easy, though it did take me an hour or more because I move slow and had to fiddle with the app a bit when I inadvertently lost my place. The hub is basically ready to go and the app walks you through step by step, and also the app indicates what tools you need.

Basically you plug in the hub and sync it with your phone and the door sensor module. You then mount the door sensor on the upper right or left panel of your garage door. There is a video in the app so there’s really no way to screw it up.

Note, before I mounted the hub I did have to press the yellow button on my garage door opener to sync it to the hub. I also made sure everything in the app looked and worked well.

Once everything is synced and ready to go, you mount the hub near an outlet, anywhere in the garage where people can see it, about 6′ off the ground minimum, and not near any metal. I was going to mount it on the ceiling but could not find a suitable location away from the metal struts holding the garage door and opener up. Instead I mounted on the back wall. The reason you need to see the hub is because if you are remote opening or closing the hub has a bright LED light that illuminates to alert anyone who is in the garage as to what is about to happen – the door is going to open or close – and they should get out of the way. There is an audible alert too.

The system works great. I can see from my phone when the door is opened or closed last, as well as its current status. To operate both garage doors, I have two separate ones, I need to get another door module and adhere it to the other door. The extra module costs about $30.

Overall I highly recommend the Chamberlain MyQ unit. It is easy to install and adds a lot of practicality for very little cost.

 

Ring Spotlight Cam (Battery)

In addition to the video doorbell I got the chance to test out the Ring Spotlight Cam (Battery). When we built the house it was 2012 and about all we could do was pre-wire the house for security cameras. So there is a blank box on the garage, and in theory a way to route wires to the studio where a DVD recorder and screen could be mounted. Well not it is 2019 and smart home technology has become mainstream. With smart phones as our screens, the cloud as our recorder and wireless cameras you no longer have to plan for anything. You can just purchase the hardware, download the app, maybe sign up for a plan and voila! you’ve made your home significantly safer and more convenient to live in.

I’ll just say I absolutely love this camera. What I like about it most is its versatility to be mounted literally anywhere you can get a wi-fi signal. I mounted mine on the house but you could mount it on the garage, porch…a tree I guess if you wanted to. The Ring app allows you to see the video and sound on demand. The app will also send you notification when motion is detected. I’ve seen strangers, deliveries, family, even wildlife like deer and ground hogs. I also like that the camera has a spotlight. The spotlight comes on automatically which helps illuminate doorways, or just alert people that they are being recorded at night. The video quality is excellent day or night.

The Ring Spotlight Camera (Battery) kit is well packaged.

The kit comes with everything you need to install it, other than a drill.

The camera comes with everything you need to install it including a drill bit! The instructions are super easy, and the app is simple to install and set up. I mounted it directly to the cement board trim with the included screws. There’s not much to say…it was an easy job.

The camera looks good, has motion detection and a spotlight. It can be mounted anywhere there’s a wi-fi signal.

The removable battery needs recharging every few weeks but that is easy to do using the included USB cable. There is room for a second battery and they cost about $30 a pop. So far I’ve found one battery to be enough. Eventually I will probably get a second battery.

All Ring products work with one app on your smart phone, which is convenient when you have multiple products like we do. It was great to watch the painters progress on the exterior of our house while we were three thousand miles away on vacation.

I highly recommend the Ring spotlight cam for any home or office. Well worth the money because of the convenience and added security.

Ring Video Doorbell 2

I recently got the opportunity to test out the Ring Video Doorbell 2. We’ve always had a “regular” doorbell at our house. It was a pretty and unique bronze butterfly that was absolutely perfect for our nature oriented home. There was no real reason to replace it. My only complaint was that about half of our guests didn’t realize the bronze butterfly was the doorbell so they would knock. And if I was in the basement I couldn’t hear anyone knocking. But given the opportunity to try out a new “smart” video doorbell I figured it was time to retire the butterfly, at least for a while.

Our original bronze butterfly doorbell

Ring is a California based smart home company that manufactures and markets smart doorbells, cameras and security systems. The Video Doorbell 2 looks to be a middle of the road entry in their lineup of doorbells.

The Ring lineup of doorbells as of September 2019.

The purpose of a video door bell is to be able to see who is at the door, via your smart phone, from anywhere in the world. You can also talk to them without having to come to the door, e.g. “No, thank you we aren’t interested.” or “Please leave the package by the door, thank you.” The voice feature is a great way to scare the crap out of people as well, so you can have a little fun with unsuspecting skittish kids and adults alike. You can access the camera at any time to see what’s happening outside your front door. Video is recorded and can be viewed via the website and app for future reference. The app on your phone can be set up to send notifications when motion is detected. I could be in my living room or the other side of the world and see and hear in real time what’s going on. Ring is also promoting safer neighborhoods by encouraging sharing of video with neighbors if you see something suspicious. Imagine a “ring” around your neighborhood via various cameras on everyone’s homes.

The doorbell comes with everything you need for installation including mounting hardware, several paintable faceplate options and even a screwdriver. The instructions and app set up are incredibly easy. The doorbell connects to the existing wiring and also operates off of a rechargeable battery. The app alerts you when the battery starts to get low on power. The removable battery recharges simply using the USB cord included with the doorbell kit in a couple hours.

I installed the unit in less than an hour. My biggest hang-ups were 1) trying to turn the power off to the current doorbell, I never did figure that out but I think it’s so low voltage I couldn’t really hurt myself, and 2) trying to figure out how to take the butterfly doorbell off (there’s a screw the wasn’t readily viewable). I left the new doorbell unpainted because the plastic (black) case matches our exterior superbly.

Wiring with the old doorbell attached.

The new Ring doorbell installed.

I love the new “smart” video doorbell. It allows me to check on the front door when I get an alert without having to drop what I’m doing and see who’s roaming around outside or I can see if something has been delivered. The video and sound quality is great day and night.  The app is easy to use and integrates beautifully all of my Ring products in one place. Setup and use is so easy that anyone can install and live with this doorbell.

It is sad to see the butterfly doorbell go away but I am extremely happy with the new doorbell.

WeMo Wall Plug

Apparently I’m addicted to smart home products now because I got another one. In all fairness, they are solving some of the myriad of problems I have. They have yet to invent a smart home device to fix my crumpling anxiety, depression and stress, but I can now control my Christmas tree lights from my phone.

Progress.

WeMo does a brilliant job packaging the plug and setup is literally plug the thing in and access it through the application on your phone. It works flawlessly. I’d be wasting our time if I tried to over explain it. So here are the pictures.

 

The WeMo smart plug box.

Box opening of the WeMo plug is a rewarding experience.

Let’s Go!

Simple graphic based instructions are a delight.

This is the WeMo app screen that allows the user to control their devices and set up rules to turn things on and off.

The WeMo smart plug installed. The LED indicator light communicates a variety of information regarding the operation status of your plug. There’s an on / off switch too.

Added Another Smart Switch

We’re on a roll now. I drove out to Best Buy and picked up another WeMo smart light switch. Since I knew what I was doing it only took me twenty minutes to install, with no drama whatsoever (*knock on wood).

The garage light previously could only be operated from within the garage which made is useless because to turn it off you’d have to leave the house which would subject you to the elements and / or machete wielding maniacs hiding in the bushes. Now the light can be operated from anywhere in the world, day or night.

Old light switch in garage.

Voila! Twenty minutes later this bad boy is installed by yours truly.

Now we can control this light from anywhere in the world.

WeMo Smart Switch

So when we built this place, apparently we didn’t plan out some of the electrical circuits very well. There are three instances that are kind of annoying, but we’ve lived with for the last six years:

• Exterior light by garage man door – can only be turned on from INSIDE the garage, which means you have to walk through the dark outside to go turn it on. This means it never gets used.
• Exterior light by the studio door – operates on one switch, near the door, and you can not readily see if it’s on or not. It gets left on accidentally, if we use it at all.
• Entering the studio – there is NO light switch for the studio room so you have to walk across the room to turn on any light. I actually think this is against code, but they must’ve missed that when we built the house.

Fast forward to present day, and technology now has some helpful solutions for these minor annoyances. I’ve been researching “smart home” technology, which are devices, apps and controllers which allow one to automate various electronics in the home. For example you can tell your thermostat to elevate or reduce the temperature. Lights can be instructed to turn on when you get home. You can even view home cameras through your mobile device. A lot has changed in the last few years so I decided to investigate what the best solution may be for our lighting issues.

For lighting control there are essentially three options:

• Smart light bulbs – replace existing bulbs with smart bulbs such as Philips Hue which can be turned on and off with a mobile app.
• Smart plugs – whatever is plugged into the plug may be turned on or off remotely
• Smart switch – replace an existing switch to be smart, which means it can be operated either remotely or by pressing a button just like a regular switch

Okay, well a plug isn’t applicable because all the lights in question are hard wired. Nix the smart plug. So that leaves smart bulbs or switches. Well I love my existing LED light bulbs. And as you know I spent a lot of time researching them. The LED’s in the studio are cool looking and work well. As for outside, I don’t even think they make smart decorative LED light bulbs. That’s a mouth full. At any rate, that leaves us with smart switches. Fantastic. Smart switch me baby.

I researched or rather googled “best smart switch” and came up with two options. The Lutron Caseta wins hands down I guess, according to CNET.  The thing is, the Caseta is overkill for what I need to do. I just need switches that can go on and off. None of the bulbs they control need to be dimmed. I decided to go with the “second place” Belkin WeMo smart light switch which retails for  ~$50 (I got mine at Best Buy on sale for $40). Note the WeMo switch only works in one-way switch locations, not 3-way switches where you can turn on a light from multiple locations. This was totally fine as that is the situation with all three of my applications.

Set up was easy. The first switch I tried to replace, the studio door one, turned out to be weird looking inside, wiring-wise, so I ditched that one for now and turned my sights to the studio hallway light. This is the light that will help with entering the house and actually being able to see instead of tripping over stuff in the dark.

I followed the directions supplied with they WeMo switch. The switch also came with four wire connecting nuts, a face plate (which I didn’t use) and the device itself. I was replacing one (the far right) of three switches in a common box. The biggest challenge I read about was fitting the WeMo switch device into the wired box because it is kind of large. Sure enough that was the biggest challenge I faced, and eventually overcame.

I connected the white neutral wire and ground wire to their respective “gangs” of wires inside the box. I connected the power in and power out, black wires to the smart switch in the same order as they went to the old “dumb” switch. It took some fiddling but eventually I got all the wires back into the box. It was easier to detach the other two light switches from the box to make room, and then screw them back in once everything was hooked up.

By the way, since the smart switch is a rocker style switch and the old switch was a toggle style, I had to pick up a new faceplate at Home Depot.

Once the faceplate was fastened, I turned the power back on and “voila!” a blinking orange light on the smart switch. I then downloaded the WeMo device on my phone and connected the switch to my home network. Once connected the light blinks green and with the press of a button I could control the switch from my phone!!! Yay!

I then proceeded to connect the switch to my Google Home Assistant for further control via voice. Everything works great and now we can turn the light on before we even go through the door.

This is the box for the Belkin WeMo smart switch.

This is what’s in the box – instructions, face plate, device (switch) and four wire connectors.

The first switch I tried to replace. There were three main wire bundles coming into the box when I only expected two. I wasn’t sure what to do so I moved onto another switch to try.

These three switches control the lighting in the studio. The one on the right is the switch I was replacing.

There are a lot of wires stuffed into this box. I eventually had to unscrew the other two switches to make room for rearranging all the wires, and allow the WeMo device to fit.

The three wires connected to the old switch are the copper ground wire, and two black wires – one bringing power in and one sending it out to the lights.

I pulled out the neutral wires and took their cap off so I could connect the smart switch to the neutral.

Here is the neutral connected.

Here the two black wires are connected. The diagram on the back of the smart switch make organizing wires easy.

All the wires hooked up including the green ground wire to the large bundle of ground wires.

Ready to stuff everything back in. Ugh.

Here is the finished smart switch installed, with the new face plate.