Shop intercom

[Jon Snider]

Does anyone have any good advice about intercoms b/w a detached shop and house? I found this discussion but am thinking there are likely some updated options.

One of the total systems like google home or alexa might work (with mixed feelings of Amazon tracking everything we do or say).

Thanks,

jon

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....m-for-workshop.

[Jim Becker]

Honestly, we use normal text messaging/iMessage for this kind of thing at our home, including when I'm in the shop.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I have a detached shop and it bugs my wife that she cannot give orders that I respond to.

My first approach, to appease her, I bought a Bluetooth Magic Light light bub. It is controlled by bluetooth from either of our cell phones, It must be on a WiFi network. I had the light bulb screwed into a socket adaptor and plugged into an electrical socket. The wife could turn the light on and change the color os the bulb as well as its strobe effect. Five minutes before dinner, she would turn it on Green, two minute warning, it would go red flashing rapidly. It worked most of the time, but if I was doing something with my back turned to it, i.e. sanding, I would not notice it.



Now I have a Bluetooth speaker, which I play music through from my phone, when she needs me, she just texts me. I hear the audible text alert through the speaker regardless of whether I have a machine running or not. That audible phone text alert get lost if it's just coming from the phone.

Works for the wife.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

My detached shop is about 30' from the house. We have a portable phone system with a built in intercom capability. If the wife wants to get my attention, she can take one of the portable phones and contact me via the intercom function. What is kind of neat is that these phones have a built in "lighting" system and the phone blinks an orange light when ever it rings or an intercom call is coming in. The orange light effect works well for me as I am deaf, use a cochlear implant to hear and with machines running it's difficult to hear the phone ringing., The phone in it's charging station lighting up gets my attention.

[Michael Clobes]

One of the best tools and definitely the most used was the echo show. One in the shop and one in the house. As soon as enter the shop I tell Alexa to play music, change songs, volume control, weather, look up stuff all by word. Bonus /or curse is I can have two way , face to face talk with who ever has the show. She can also have face to face from her phone on the way home from work. She can hear the saws running and see I am cutting so she can wait until I'am done. I do like the light bulb idea I might include that sometime.

[Brice Rogers]

I have a cordless Panasonic phone sitting in its charging cradle in my shop. I bought about 1/2 dozen phones for roughly $100. It has an intercom feature so if SWMBO wants to get a hold of me she just presses the intercom button.

[Dan Hulbert]

+1 on Panasonic cordless phones. Been using it for a number of years without a hitch. Haven't been late for a meal since we got them.