Sense + Bulb + Shortcut = Garage Door Warning

Tips & Tricks
1

My kids leave the garage open constantly when getting their bikes out. So I installed wyze sense sensors on each garage. Then I installed a lamp behind my TV (my preference) with a Wyze Bulb. Then I set up two shortcuts on my app (Automation Event > Garage Opens > Actions > Turn on Lamp) and (Automation Event > Garage Closes > Actions > Turn off Lamp). Now the light turns on whenever a garage is left open. Thanks Wyze!

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2

Very Wyze! :grinning:

3

Any chance you’ve figured out how to close the door if you are somewhere else in town? I can even entertain IFTTT or Zapier to help fill in the gaps.

Thanks! Doug

4

Great application.

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I’ll be interested in hearing how the battery life is affected by the cold (assuming you live somewhere it gets cold in the winter). Cold is generally not a friend to batteries (as Wyze themselves state), so I wonder how long the sensors’ batteries will last in your garage. (I’d love to put a sensor on my garage door, but my concern is that the subzero temps we get make it impractical.)

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To test a sub-zero application, place a motion sensor in your freezer with a camera with bridge near by.

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Ha, yup, that’d work for sure. However, I’m too cheap to blow a $10 battery on such a test. :smiley: I’d be more likely to install the sensor on my garage door and wing it. :wink:

8

And it would need to be very near by, as the freezer is mostly a faraday cage.

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9

I was thinking that on those occasions when the freezer door is opened to retrieve something a sensor signal would escape and be picked up by the bridge. What kind of animal is a Faraday?

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10

LOL. A Faraday is most definitely a creature that must be contained in a cage.

But yes, when the door is opened, the Faraday is released!

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11

This video describes an inexpensive solution. I tried it, and It has worked well so far.

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12

How would you do this with two doors? You would not turn off the lift if either of the doors was open - assuming they both have their own sense sensors. IFTTT appears to be limited to just a single trigger.

13

I setup the same thing works great. I have a wyze sensor on the door and have it set to notify me if it is left open an hour then I can close it with Alexa or the app.

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14

Thanks for the great idea. I sometimes leave mine open at night so I set my rule to say if the garage door has been open for more than XX minutes at ?:00pm alert me.

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Unless you are muting notifications prior ?:00 pm, I don’t think the Wyze app supports what you are describing. Can you elaborate?

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Great minds think alike! I set mine up exactly the same way, using a lamp in the living room. I added and extra alert if the garage has been left open for 7 minutes, just as reminder.

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Use lithium batteries. They perform so much better in colder climates. I live where it gets to -30C and I use lithium batteries in my outdoor weather station sensors.

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Agreed. I hope Wyze puts Li-ion batteries in their sensors, but I haven’t checked. What I’m wondering is how much better they perform. Do they last two months instead of just one (which still isn’t enough IMO) or is it even better than that? (It gets that cold in Chicago, too.)

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does anyone know where I can see more on using/writing short cuts?

20

https://support.wyzecam.com/hc/en-us/articles/360030764911-Schedules-and-Automations

How to create a shortcut:

  • To add a shortcut, tap […] in the top-right of the Home screen of the Wyze app. Then, tap Edit Shortcuts.
  • At the bottom of the next screen, tap Create Shortcut.
  • Enter a name and set your icon by tapping the current icon. It will allow you to select from five icon types: I’m home, I’m away, Go to bed, Wake up, and Other. Tap the icon you want.
  • Add an action. There is no limit to how many actions a single device can perform in a trigger or how many devices can be affected by a trigger. You can even select a group of Wyze Cams to have the entire group affected by whichever Action you select.
    • Wyze Cam v1/v2 – Turn motion detection on/off, restart the camera, and upload a 12-second video to the cloud, Turn notifications on/off
    • Wyze Cam Pan – Turn motion detection on/off, restart the camera, upload a 12-second video to the cloud, Turn notifications on/off, and reset position
    • Note:The 12-second videos will show up as an “auto scene event” in the Notifications tab.
    • Tap Save to save the action
    • Tap the back arrow to return to the Shortcut page or tap Edit to delete or rearrange your actions.
  • If you would like to automate your shortcut on a schedule or an event, toggle on Automate and choose an Event or Time of day and days of the week to automate the action.
  • Tap Done in the upper right corner to save your shortcut.
  • To check if your shortcut is working, go to the Account tab and tap on Shortcut History . It will show if a shortcut was triggered, when it triggered, and if it was successful or failed to complete.

How to modify a shortcut:

  • To edit a shortcut, tap on the […] in the top-right of the Home tab of the Wyze app. Then tap Edit Shortcuts.
  • On the next screen, tap the shortcut you want to edit.
  • To delete a shortcut, tap Edit in the upper left corner of the Shortcuts screen and tap on the Delete button next to the shortcut you want to delete.
  • To rearrange a list of shortcuts, tap Edit in the upper left corner of the Shortcuts screen. Tap and drag the two lines on the side of the Shortcut that you’d like to rearrange.
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