garage door opener dilemma

[Bradley Gray]

We moved my father in law last year. He's 85. The new place has a detached garage with an opener. The problem is he can't see the door from the house and it gets left open - sometimes for days. We need some kind of indicator in the house when the door is open. Ideas?

[ryan paulsen]

This might be a stretch, but does he use a cell phone? Liftmaster has an opener that will alert you if the door is left open. You could always link it to your phone and just close it for him... Just throwing it out there in case no one has a better option.

[Rick Moyer]

I have one of these: http://www.smarthome.com/chamberlain-cldm1-universal-garage-door-monitor.html . Not sure of the distance it works as my garage is attached, but I can't see the doors without walking outside. This seems to work fine for the price.

edit: that link shows unavailable, but I didn't get from them, just showing what I have. I don't remember where I bought mine but I'm sure many places sell them.

[Bradley Gray]

Ryan - good idea but he doesn't have a cell phone.

Rick - this looks promising. The distance is about 40'. I will google for a seller Thanks.

[Bradley Gray]

I found one through Amazon and ordered - thanks guys!

[Wade Lippman]

Don't trust the tape that comes with it. Mine fell off in a couple weeks. Better tape has lasted two years.

[Myk Rian]

A micro switch, bell transformer, and a 24v signal light where he can see it.
Light on = door open. No sense spending a ton of money on it.

[Keith Westfall]

Put a mirror up if you can. doesn't have to be very big. I put one up for my daughter - car door mirror from Canadian Tire...

[Scott Hearn]

Don't trust the tape that comes with it. Mine fell off in a couple weeks. Better tape has lasted two years.

Yep. I ended up using good quality velcro to make battery changes easier. Sears used to sell something almost identical.

[Stan Calow]

Scott google up "Garage Butler". Its a device that will automatically close the door after a pre-set time, if it is left open. It was on Amazon last time I looked.

[Jim Falsetti]

Seems like problem solved.

Just a couple of weeks ago I bought and installed the Liftmaster 888-LM controller. Took 5 minutes to install. Shuts door automatically after 10 minutes. Works great for us. It does make a loud beeping noise just before it shuts the door, but that can be defeated if you want. There is another device that works with the 888-LM so you could also use your computer, or maybe your phone, but we did not get it....Jim