Intercom and access
Choosing a video intercom for a house or flat, and whether it can run over your existing doorbell wiring.
8 articlesWritten by Kevin Hermans
Articles
Replacing a doorbell or chime: what to look out for
Check the voltage of your transformer before you buy a chime, and where you will hear it. Those are the two things that go wrong.
The intercom is not working: troubleshooting in four steps
If it does not work in one home, the problem is in that home. If it works for nobody, the problem is at the entrance or the power supply.
Access with a code, badge or phone
A code is the simplest, a badge the easiest to manage and the phone the most convenient. The choice is mainly about who manages it.
Replacing an old intercom: what can run over the existing wires
When replacing, the cable is the deciding factor. Two good cores are enough these days, even for video.
Intercom in a block of flats: how it is put together
In a block of flats the work is in the riser cable and the door entry panel, not in the handsets. That decides whether replacement turns out easier or harder than expected.
Electric door release: how it works and what is involved
The choice between fail-secure and fail-safe decides what happens when the power goes off. On an escape door that is not a detail.
Connecting a video doorbell: what your existing doorbell system can handle
You can often reuse the existing doorbell wire, the existing transformer almost never. That is the whole story in two sentences.
Doorbell transformer: what it is for and why your doorbell is not working
If your doorbell is not working, it is usually the push button and not the transformer. Search in this order and you will usually have it within a quarter of an hour.
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