Alert siren - which do you have?

I also use Aeotec 6 indoors, and a Outdoor dc siren/strobe I bought on Amazon and connected to a zigbee plug on battery backup.

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I have a pair of these too and they work really well.

I’m not bothered by the battery life as we just never have false alarms.

@wnc.dave what do you use for a battery backup for your ZigBee plug?

I have it plugged into my Desktop UPS. My desktop is off whenever I'm not home so it gives a good period of time for a low voltage plug.

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First off, I know I am posting to a dead thread, but it is related to a search I am doing, and figured what the heck I will chime in for anyone that is looking.

I am using 4 of the Utilitech 100db Zwave indoor sirens that were sold by Lowes for their as of March 2018 defunct Iris home automation and security system.

They are first and foremost super easy as far as Zwave devices go to include / exclude from the network, they don't require an external power source, They are attention getting loud which was the point, They are equipped with a somewhat pointless strobe to I guess help get attention to the shreiking alarm? I've never had them drop off network on Iris, later ADT Smartthings, and now Hubitat, and this is important, there are tons of them on Ebay for around $20.00

Honestly if they would have made these in matte black, used a MUCH brighter strobe, and made them outdoor / weather resistant I would have added 2 to the outside of the house as well.

I purchased the dome and the aoetec. I really wish I would have just spent a couple of more bucks on the ikea sonos. It'll play any sound you want. Hell it will even talk to you. Way more versatile and plenty loud.

P.S. If you can't use UPNP for your Sonos...

Just curious, how do the Sonos speakers qualify as sirens? Do they have a siren function and what db level do they produce?

I thought Sonos was stereo speakers....

They'll play ANY sound. I don't know the DB but they're basically just as loud as my dome and aeotec. They do not have a battery though so if that's important I'd go with the aoetec 6.

That gives me evil thoughts for IFTTT, and some equipment I use / used when gigging with my "band" (Bunch of former work colleagues that get together, jam 2 or 3 songs out, then proceed to spend the right of the night complaining about former bosses, having a couple of beers and playing washer toss.). 139db each speaker, 2 of them, plus subwoofers, plus all sorts of screwy music to queue on Amazon music. Pink Floyd's Run Like He** leaps to mind...

LOL I'm thinking of blaring Welcome to the Jungle when the alarm goes off. I can even set an echo to connect to my full stereo automatically. Those little sirens I mentioned aren't quite 139dbs. The listing says 110 and I doubt they're really that loud. The dome is tiny. It's basically the size of an extra large container of lipbalm. The aoetec is a bit larger and seems a bit louder but neither is like a traditional home alarm siren. For 139dbs you probably want to go the traditional route and just connect it to a switch.

The aoetec is more versatile because it will double as a chime but almost all of the 30 sounds suck. I paid $60 for it and for what it is it's over priced. I still use it for an extra siren but had I bought the sonos first I doubt I would have bought it.

https://youtu.be/Uo3tyMwWhkE might work too...

I now use the same 12v siren, connected using konnected/nodemcu.

Works ace!

Same issue with my Coolcam siren - takes its own time to finish what it's doing before stopping.

@djh_wolf Can you explain a little bit more your earlier suggestion of using a 12V siren, wall adapter and Ikea wall plug?

Is it one of these sirens? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32268568407.html
And do you power the siren the whole time and somehow you manage to turn it on with the Ikea wall plug?
Or do you have the siren somehow configured that it's powered off most of the time and when you turn the power on the siren start ringing straight away?

Thanks

All of the regular home alarm sirens like this just need power to work. The sound they play is all in their circuitry. You just need the hubitat to turn the power on or off when triggered. Here's a ghetto setup.

I should mention that I don't use one of these. I just use a combination of a sonos speaker and couple of battery backed up sirens that are tiny but loud enough to wake me up.

Yes those ones will indeed start screaming when you power then up :grinning:I was however wondering about the waterproof ones that have a strobe as well and look like a proper alarm siren.

@alexandruy2k

As you've already said, they just start screaming when power is applied. They also strobe too, which looks like z regular alarm.

I've ve used this since 2018 (outdoors).

I also use this to indicate when the alarm is armed or not. Same premise. Again, since 2018. Outside.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01MDOO906?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I used to use seperate dc psus to power these with various voltages, plugged into smart plugs.

Now I use a single large 12v psu to send power all around the house, and use nodemcu's and relays to direct this to whichever device.

I also use step down converters to drop the 12v input to say, 6v for the box. Loads more cost effective overall

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07ZCRTMXK?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

thanks very much.
I was imagining it was the more complex ones that are continuously powered and then would be controlled via different pins

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I have had enjoyed success with the Zooz Siren(s). They are very loud, use C-cell batteries which last. I also use them for door chimes. I use one for motion detection, it chimes when something comes near where I store my mowers.

What I am really looking for is a cheap local solution for voice. I have Alexa echos but I want a good backup. The zooz sirens play mpg's but not very loud.

How long have been they running? , I'm interested to know the battery life and your use case is similar to what I want to do in my house, use it like a door chime and siren.