My contractor is installing a new garage door for me, and the model he selected is MyQ enabled. My original plan was to simply get this: http://aeotec.com/z-wave-garage-door-controller and connect it in, but in researching MyQ enabled garage doors I’m not sure how well that will work. I did find one article that talks about opening the physical switch and soldering the leads from the controller to a couple of points on the circuit board, which I could do, but I’m wondering if there is a better way?
Of course, with a MyQ enabled opener, I could probably just tie in he MyQ system directly, but my understanding is that that would require getting a MyQ bridge or something, which I would think would be more expensive than the above referenced z-wave controller, and perhaps less well supported? Would I be better off just asking my contractor to put in a more basic, non-MyQ enabled opener?
I’ve never seen the Aeotec opener before, so I’m not 100% familiar with how it works, but I suspect that it might be problematic, at least requiring some soldering.
Many new garage door openers now have “smart” wall controllers that have a clock in them and actually communicate with the opener, rather than a simple circuit closing button. When you combine these wall controllers with the circuit closing buttons, like the Aeotec appears to do, then it causes the wall controllers to lose their settings, reset clocks and more. With these types of controllers, you’ve got to connect your contact closing switch(Aeotec) to the actual microswitch in the wall switch.
There is a MyQ plugin for controlling the MyQ gateway, but I have not used it. Even if it works perfectly, you need to watch out for the possibility of monthly charges for using the MyQ option.
Thanks. Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of - the wall buttons are more than just a dumb “switch”, and as such you can’t just wire in a controller like the Aeotec. And having to pay a monthly fee is definitely not acceptable to me for something like this. It sort of sounds like my best bet is to simply tell my contractor to find a “dumb” opener. If he can’t (i.e. the place he works with only caries the one line or something), I have worked a soldering iron before, so I should be able to handle soldering leads to the microswitch, but I’d rather not have to. Thanks for the information.
At this time (and the past 5 years) there has not been a monthly fee for the MyQ system although at one time apparently there used to be. The plugin works fairly good actually on UI5 and Ui7 but may need a patch (which can be found in these forums) You will have to setup the app on your phone and create a MyQ account for the plugin to work.
My MyQ type opener is about 5 years old and doesn’t use the security+ setup so I was able to install a TelGuard GDC1 Z-Wave opener in parallel with it so I still have control if the internet (or Liftmaster’s servers) fail. The GDC1 also responds faster as it talks directly to Vera instead of the plugin or MyQ app having to connect to the Liftmaster server and have that connect back to the MyQ opener and send the open or close signal.
Worst case, wire the z-wave opener to the button of one of the battery operated controllers like used in your car. Mount that in your garage. That will resolve the Security+ issue and give you z-wave access to your garage door.
so wiring to a battery operated controller would be easier/better than wiring to the actual wall switch? I’m curious as to why that would be the case, but I’ll certainly consider it.
I use a battery operated garage door opener connected to a Global Cache iTach relay(s).
The reason is two fold:
I have a commercial garage door setup with OPEN/CLOSE/STOP buttons. Not easy to connect a Z-Wave device to. But a garage door opener is just a single click.
The garage doors are pretty far from my Vera … and the reliability was marginal.
If you have a mains outlet near that wall controller, don’t mind the extra wiring and feel comfortable soldering the wires, by all means use the wall controller as it saves purchasing a remote and having to change batteries.
The main reason people use the battery remote setup is for the simple reason they can place it near where they plug in the z-wave device. Which generally would be near the opener as that’s generally where there is an outlet.
FWIW, we have the MyQ system and I think it’s probably worth getting the gateway. There’s no charge for the service, the plugin works well with vera and if there are any vera issues, we have a backup that has been, with one exception, 100% reliable.
I guess my home automation approach has been to use as many high quality stand alone vendors as possible, as long as I’m able to integrate w vera, partly in an effort to future proof and partly to have back-up/reliability.
Ask your installer to look at the wifi enabled Liftmaster MYQ enabled doors. You wont have to worry about messing with a bridge. As long as you have decent wifi coverage in your garage, they should be problem free.
I have 2 of the chamberlin version of the openers I installed myself, and they have worked for me with the MyQ plugin flawlessly for the last 6 months.
They are more expensive, but to me not having to worry about the bridge was worth it.
I had a MyQ opener and purchased the gateway. It worked flawlessly (when the opener worked). I had so much trouble with the opener that Chamberlain replaced it with a better model that has WiFi built in. No more need for the gateway. This one works flawlessly now all the time.
The moral of the story is this:
I have an almost new Gateway for sale if someone is interested.
You don’t need ANY additional items if you have a MyQ opener plus the Gateway or a Chamberlain (or Liftmaster or Craftsman) opener with WiFi built in.
Thanks for the information. The opener with WiFi built-in was one of the options presented to me, for $650. The lower-end opener was only $425, so I was hoping to save the money. That said, in looking around, it sort of looks like you can’t even get a basic opener that works with dry contacts any more, so maybe just springing for the one with WiFi (which also has a battery backup, so that’s nice) is the way to go.
Those prices seem pretty outrageous. The cost delta between the opener I originally bought and the one that Chamberlain upgraded me to was about $75 retail.
Both were/are Whisper Drive belt-driven models and the high-end one was about $300 retail (I installed myself).
Well, that’s the quote he got from the company installing the Garage door. Dunno. Maybe living in Alaska has something to do with it, but it shouldn’t be that bad. Maybe I’ll look around online, and see if I can find a better price, then present him with that as an option.
Prices are likely to be higher in Alaska, but the delta between the two should be closer together (IMHO).
Of course, knowing the specific model numbers of the quoted openers could help create a better understanding of whether the delta is appropriate or not.
The description on the more expensive one is “LiftMaster Elite Series 1/2 HP Belt Drive Opener, MyQ WiFi Enabled, Battery Back-up, Timer-To-Close and Alert-To-Close, Includes (1) 893MAX remote control and (1) 880LM Wall Control, Model 8550W with 8’ Rail - Installed” The cheaper one is a “LiftMaster Contractor Series 1/2 HP Chain Drive Opener, MyQ Enabled, Alert-To-Close, Includes (1) 891LM 1-Button Remote Control and (1) 883LB 1-Button Doorbell Control, model 8065 with 8’ Rail - installed”
So part of the cost is certainly the install. Not sure about the difference though - I would imagine the install cost would be about the same between the two.
Belt drive should be quieter than chain drive. I have a screw drive one that’s not very loud either. If you suffer from brown outs or regular power outages the battery backup on the Elite model may be worth it. As it’ll allow you to open or close the door if there is no power. Would be nice on a snowy night coming home to a house with no mains power to at least be able to get the car in the garage and get inside.
Of course the latter is a very remote possibility if you live in Florida.
Not sure what the “Elite” is all about, but this is the Chamberlain that I have …
LiftMaster, Chamberlain, and the Craftsman brands are all made by Chamberlain. The model that I have is a 1.25HP model (I originally had opted for a 3/4HP because I have a 16’ wide door, but Chamberlain upgraded me because of all of the hassle I had with the original unit when they replaced it).
One of the reasons that I bought what I did originally (same as the WD1000F except that it was lower HP and didn’t have the WiFi built in) was for the MyQ integration. I was a bit disappointed to learn that the add-on Gateway was required for another $45. Had I realized it at the time, I would have just bought the WD1000F outright since it doesn’t use the Gateway.
Another reason I bought the one I did was to get the battery backup. I believe that the unit is capable of something like twelve open/close cycles on the backup charge. I seldom lose power, but when I do - I can’t be ‘trapped’ in the garage because of it.
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