Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: External siren recommendations

  1. #1
    Automated Home Lurker
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Posts
    1

    Default External siren recommendations

    Can anyone recommend an external siren that will work with a SmartThings solution?

    I've got an internal siren but think an external one would also be beneficial.

  2. #2
    Automated Home Lurker
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Posts
    2

    Default

    I'm new to SmartThings and home automation but have just set up my home security with ST and fitted an external siren.

    I've opted for the PoPP external solar powered siren from Amazon. I paid £168 for this - It is showing as £182 today - I checked on CamelCamelCamel and £168 is the cheapest it appears to have ever been on sale fore.

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    It is up and running and was sorted fairly quickly.

    The good:
    It looks the part - quite smart, neat.
    Solar powered!

    The bad:
    The siren is not very loud. I considered returning this due to the volume but decided to stick with it in the absence of anything else. Having fitted it, it's passable, but louder would be better.

    Other: Setup is not as simple as adding a normal SmartThing, but it is still fairly simple -
    It went something like this:
    Press the pairing button inside the siren
    Add the new 'thing' from within SmartThings app
    then log into the Samsung SmartThings IDE, click your siren, click edit, click on the drop down menu for different 'device types' and then select the Aeon Siren device type handler.
    Save.

    The Popp siren won't work properly unless you change the device type handler - but once this is done it seems fine.

    Good luck - there is not much choice out there at the moment.
    I did see someone post about buying a standard external alarm bell box and making it work with SmartThings but it's beyond my skills.

  3. #3
    Automated Home Sr Member franktate's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    70

    Default

    Chris, in the sales bumf is says 104 dB. I thought that would be loud enough. Does it depend on how much charge it has? i.e. does it go quieter when the charge is low?

    I've been looking for one of these myself but not keen if they don't alert your neighbours to a potential break-in.

    Is there anything anyone can suggest to make it louder? Surely there must be some simple tricks.

    Frank

  4. #4
    Automated Home Lurker
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Posts
    2

    Default

    Frank,
    It does indeed say 104db. I'm not sure how loud that should be but it's certainly quieter than I expected by quite a bit and it is not affected by battery charge.
    It's not possible to see the battery level with the aeon siren device handler that is needed to operate this siren currently on Smartthings anyway but I've had mine installed in the sunshine for a little while now anyway.

    If your neighbours are outside they will hear it... if inside, i'm not convinced they will.

    The actual siren inside is around 2" in size.. maybe it could be upgraded but I'm not sure.

    It's a nice piece of kit. it looks good and is solar powered which is good but is let down by the volume.

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •