Knock, knock

[Daisy]

No, it's not a joke, not at all.

We've had a succession of useless doorbells. The batteries don't seem to last 5 minutes and there's nothing to warn you that they need charging/replacing. Most people never seem to press any of the bells hard enough for them to ring, and visitors end up with sore knuckles or being left on the doorstep! You'd think having a fair-sized dog she would bark, but not if she's asleep, in the garden, eating, playing or otherwise pre-occupied. There have also been a lot of break ins, thefts and 'suspicious' people going door-to-door just lately.

So we decided to get a "Ring". Has anyone else got one, and how are they finding it?

https://en-uk.ring.com/pages/doorbells

[Grauntie Mag]

We haven’t got one but a few of our friends have. They are happy with them.

[Gemini]

We don't have any sort of doorbell.

[Oma]

We don't have one but our friend has one , Never really asked what they think of it .
We have a remote one , The bell push on the door and ringer plugs into the socket in the house , one ringer in the hall and the other at the back of the house so we can hear it if we in Garden

[Enfys]

We have one like that Oma. What annoys me is people still rap on the glass panel of the door! The bell push is clearly visible but I feel like putting a big sign and an arrow pointing to it .

[Nanto2girls]

We don't have ring doorbell,but i've heard they are good.
I know what you mean about batteries not lasting long.
We have 3 doorbells. 1 on the front door, 1 on the back porch door and 1 on the backdoor.
Hubby is always checking them to see if they need new batteries.

[Daisy]

Nanto - your OH is good to keep checking them. We never used to remember.

Oma - that sounds like the last one we had, but nobody seemed able to press the bell hard enough to make the darned thing actually ring. We even put a little notice up "Press hard and hold". Enfys - I agree, it's annoying when people knock on the glass panel instead. You'll have to put that sign up and see if it makes a difference.

Gem - that's the other answer, but we can't hear anyone knocking on the door if we're in the back garden or the kitchen or even in one of the back bedrooms.

So far we're happy with our magic doorbell, although it did get a bit excited yesterday when I was trimming lavender plants right by the front door!

[Gemini]

Daisy I know what you mean about not hearing a knock if you are in the garden! We often hear a voice through the (tall and locked) side gate, alerting us to the fact the person has been knocking at the front door!

[Plantaholic]

I am having a problem with my bell, visitors tell me they tried the bell but it didn’t work. I have just put a new battery in so hope it will go on working for a bit. I am curious about the bell some of you commented on. If it doesn’t need wiring I would like to try it. My GS1 has a bell that also shows you who is on the doorstep ringing it.

[Daisy]

Plant - this is the Ring doorbell we've just got - I don't know which model it is though. Ours isn't wired, but they do wired models as well.

https://en-uk.ring.com/pages/doorbells

It connects to your phone so you can actually see who is there and talk to them without opening the door, or if you are away from home.

Gem - we've got a tall, locked side gate as well. The trouble is we've parked the caravan right up to it so people can't easily get to it to shout. Mostly friends end up phoning us to say they're on the doorstep!

[WeeGranny]

We've got a Ring doorbell and a remote one as well! Nobody ever seems to use them though! We got the Ring one when OH was going through a wandering stage and I could at least see in which direction he'd headed off in.

Acts as a bit of a deterrent too to unwanted visitors. DD got theirs when their garage was broken into and there bikes were taken.

[Daisy]

WeeGranny - ours triggers a sound and photo without anyone ringing the bell - just nearby movement - which is quite handy as from what other grannies have said a lot of people have trouble using a door bell.

I do think it's quite a good deterrent to unwanted guests. We've had a spate of bike thefts in our road as well.