I have a customer who cannot hear well and wants a loud doorbell. Does anyone know where to get one? Does increasing the size of the transformer make the chime louder (amperage not voltage)

Frank

Rather than a louder chime, why not a visual alarm.

http://www.driveway2020.com/dway-special-purpose-chimes.htm

Thanks, but she doesn't want a visual alarm.

You might install a wireless transmitter and additional remote chime(s). You also might see if a different chime or tone is in an audible region where she has less hearing loss. I imagine that the existing unit gets all the curren it needs and you wouldn't increase the voltage. They also might have units to wear like a pager on vibrate.
Joe

There are certainly louder noise makers. The piezo from a smoke detector springs to mind. There are also bells like you see on alarm systems. Now days there are also solid state sound drivers that can make any kind of sound from police sirens to Bach (Tocata and Fugue in D minor springs to mind). I guess it all depends on what sound she wants.

Try the electronic door bells at the orange box store. They have volume controls inside the bell that will make them louder to the point that they are obnoxious!

Yes, a multi-tap transformer connected at a higher voltage will make the chime louder.

Dave

Increasing the amperage will not nake the bell louder! The actual current through the ringer coil(s) is determined by the voltage and the resistance/impedance of the coil, so unless the current transformer is grossly undersized a larger transformer won't help.
Incresing the voltage will do though. Only works with classic bells of course, not with electronic chimes.
Outdoor bells for factories spring to my mind, they're incredibly loud so they can be heard over the noise of a factory yard or school yard during recess.

Hows that? Does it hit the bell any harder? I didn't notice the last time I did that, (by accident) but it didn't last very long. (I 24'ed a 16...)

Anyway I recently had an older lady customer complain about her chime over the phone to me - that "it doesn't work" so I showed up, and without thinking - I rang it, and I could hear it out front. There I was standing with a possible replacement in hand.... (Nutone Ding Dong) NOBODY ANSWERED - rang again... Remembering my earlier phone conversations when she told me the doorbell didnt work , she told me to call... Wanting the service call closed, I called, and I could hear her old Ma'Bell phone out front. (The type with a BELL inside...)

The lady comes out, and we talked about her chime, and I said it worked... She didn't hear it... Walked inside and she had the exact same one that I had in my hand. I told her that the one I had wasn't goning to be any louder than the one she already had, then we started talking about why she can hear the phone... I had an idea, and we went for it... I hollowed out the old chime and put a 4" bell in it. When I was done it sounded like the end of lunch in elementary school, and she said it was just loud enough....

I'd suggest that you get away from the standard door bell idea and only use the door bell system to trigger a relay. Once you have a separate system you can get 120vac bells or what ever. The standard door systems are very limited. With a relay in the system you can also place multiple doorbell around the house.

jdo1942: I had to do the relay thing to add a second doorbell at the G/F's parents place.
Turns out the transformer was large enough ( VA wise) to drive both chimes BUT the original bells were wired with 22/4 phone wire and would not operate properly when an additional chime was connected... Added a relay and rewired the button and existing chime ( with the existing 22/4 phone wire) and added in the extra chime and the problem was solved.

A.D

http://lamson-home2.com/WirelessChimes.php

under Extend-a-chimes
My best friend's mom had substantial hearing loss prior to her passing. This was the solution we picked. I took a few minutes to install the wireless transmitter in the chime assembly. We plugged the receiver / remote chime into a location where she was unable to hear the main chime. They came as a pair and we were able to find a stand-alone additional receiver / chime. They sound separate, programmable audibles for each door. This solution involves minimal wiring and gets the coverage needed without breaking the ear drums of a person near the main chime. We picked them up at the, "Save big money at", store.
Joe

I think that would be the answer. You could then hook up a 12-inch fire bell if you wanted to!

This is why I come here. I just bought a wireless extender for my home. I didn't know there was such a thing. Thanks.

Dave

There we are! I knew the solution would be apparent once the collective brain cells of ECN got on the case! Bravo!

Reminds me of something... recently I visited an abandoned ca. 1900 house and the door bell is impressing... I guess close to 8" in diameter, on a polished wooden base! Powered from a standard bell transformer that is probably not even half as old as the bell.

The idea for that was actually from an anecdote my late father once told me about how as a kid he decided that a conventional alarm clock wasn't loud enough, so he rigged up some sort of contacts on the clock to energize just such a large fire bell.

Apparently it was very effective -- Too effective, in fact. This was in the one of those Stoke Newington streets of small houses all joined together, and it woke up not only the entire family but also everybody in the adjoining houses as well. I gather it only ever got used on that one morning!

Back in the olden days alarm clocks had a "coffee pot" plug in back that you could plug 1000w into. I had a siren plugged in one for my roomie who went to work after I left. Sometimes it actually took a neighbor pounding on the door to get him up.