bababooey Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 My wife and I are about to embark on the building of a new, detached garage with a rooftop deck. I'm sure I'll have more requests of the forum in the future, but for now, I have 2 questions as we start to plan. Please note that our preference is for hard-wiring (instead of wireless) and that we can easily run whatever wire we need because this is new construction and not retro-fit:1. What is the suggested practice for determining whether or not the garage door is open? How can we configure things so that we can shut the door from inside the house? I assume we can have programming that notifies us that the door has been open for longer than x# of minutes and/or programming that can automatically shut the door if it's been open for longer than x# of minutes. Do we run a piece of CAT5 to the opener or is there some other contact/relay system?2. We want to install a waterproof, 2 gang switch box at the top of the stairs to the roof deck. One of the switches will be a standard on/off for the in-wall deck lights (we don't need C4 integration for this activity). The other switch I would like to be a 6 button C4 keypad so we can control volume, pause, on/off, next song, prev song, etc. My issue is that we live in the midwest and the weather is extreme and I'm not 100% sure about putting a $150+ switch outside. Any suggested 2 gang enclosures? What other implementations have you seen for outdoor control? To be honest, I don't see us using a trouch screen, etc like we do in the house ... we'll probably just put on a playlist and/or the radio and leave it for ambient sound.Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tebery Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 I am about to do the same thing with a 6 button mounted on the south side of our pool house. I currently have a clear cover on a 2 gang, which I will switch out for a grey cover. My dealer has never installed one outside, and would also like to hear from anyone regarding this. I assume it will yellow over time, which is no concern to me.thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 I would definately run conduit from the house to the garage, just for future stuff.With regards to monitoring the doors and opening/closing them...that is easy. I $3 magentic sensor switch hooks to one of the contact points on your controller (or a card access wireless contact sensor) and you simply run a wire (like what you run to a doorbell) from one of your relays on your contoller (or a card access wireless relay) to the garage door motor. With regards to programming, you can do what ever you want. The system will know if the doors are open or not, and can easily open/close the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bababooey Posted May 4, 2009 Author Share Posted May 4, 2009 We are already planning on running a 2.5" PVC conduit for speaker wire and can easily run other wires in to the garage, which I guess is what I'm asking.What kind of wire should I run to monitor the garage door? It sounds like I can go wireless with CardAccess but we live in an urban environment and we're dealing with lots of neighbors, power lines, etc. so I was hoping to do it wired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 Any simple wire will do for both. I forget what the call it, but the same wire you run to a doorbell. Two conductor wire? I don't know what it is called for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bebster Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 The other switch I would like to be a 6 button C4 keypad so we can control volume, pause, on/off, next song, prev song, etc.Maybe a remote control that you can keep inside and bring out when the weather is ok? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 We are already planning on running a 2.5" PVC conduit for speaker wire and can easily run other wires in to the garage, which I guess is what I'm asking.What kind of wire should I run to monitor the garage door? It sounds like I can go wireless with CardAccess but we live in an urban environment and we're dealing with lots of neighbors, power lines, etc. so I was hoping to do it wired.Why not use Cat5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I ran Cat5 for all these things in my garage, but I only ended up using one pair of each Cat5. If I had thought about it back then I would have ran a less expensive, more robust wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 If you're buying cat5e by the 1000' spool anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I did buy the 1000' spool, but cat5e is some what delicate, and it is a waste if you are only going to use two pair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 So add something else to use the other pairs LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capww8 Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 there are plenty of enclosures rated for outdoor use that will protect both your lightswitch and the 6-button keypad on the patio. I would have no qualms about installing a 6-button in an outdoor environment as long as it's in a properly rated enclosure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhadams Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Use cat5 or a standard 4 conductor security wire. Or maybe you could use some transparent opus mm2s. I hear they are amazing for garage door sensors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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