I have a Genie Intellicode opener. It’s got to be close to 10 years old if not older. Eventually the door and the opener will be replaced, but for now I want to add on a smart opener.
I’ve read many of the threads, and it seems the prebuilt options aren’t great, a lot of people against MYQ, and then there are many DIY options that require some soldering. I have no idea about “dry contact” - but if something like that is best, I’ll happily do my research to figure out how to install it.
My HE hub is close to the garage, but most of my smart devices are Zigbee, so probably either zwave or zigbee should work.
Looking for something relatively easy to install (I don’t solder), easy to use, and reliable. Hopefully something that doesn’t break the bank too.
The issue with the GDO's is that the GDO's with MyQ lock out a lot of the solutions by encrypting the signal from the switch. This is why I had to solder a dry relay to an extra remote to be able to work around that.
Your garage doors sound like they are older so you may be able to do something with a simple dry relay (I highly recommend the Zooz Zen16) and you can wire it directly into the GDO just like how the wires run from the switch. There are videos on Youtube on how to do this easily. Zooz also released an app as pointed out by @TechMedX that makes automating things easier.
One test to see if this will work is you can take the switch off the wall an touch the two wires. If the door opens/closes it means a dry relay will work. (I'm thinking it will work for you). You will also be able to use the other prebuilt zwave solutions.
One thing to keep in mind, if you upgrade your GDO in the future you may end up getting stuck with a newer one that will break this solution. So when shopping around either make sure that you get one with no proprietary system (such as MyQ) on it or you may have to solder a remote to work around it.
I'm still thinking about automation options. But I can offer this info;
A dry contact is simply a contact where there are no internal connections to it. i.e. maybe a connection to 5v. For instance, if you go to Home Depot and purchase a doorbell button. When you are holding it in your hand, it is a "dry contact". You could connect it to your garage door and it would work.
I just replaced my working Genie garage door opener. It was made in 1981.
Now the question is, what do you want to automate? Open/Closed state? or do you want to control operation as well.
I personally shy away from close automation. Even though I now have the safety beam, a inopportune closing could land on my car if it is part way out of the garage. But that is just me.
So I currently have a window/door sensor, so I know when it’s open or closed. And I have notifications in case it’s left open.
I mainly want to automate open. I never really thought about them as separate functions. But it’s more when I pull up to the house or to let someone in. I can’t envision a case where I’d need to close it remotely.
