Add a loud Siren (also integrated with HMS)

Wishlist Maybe Later
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@ken63 and any others trying to add an external siren: I found a way around the problem of how to arm/disarm it without having to go in and change multiple sensors every time - see below. It’s a bit clunky and is not integrated with HMS, but it does work!

  1. Attach a loud external alarm to a Wyze Plug (let’s call the plug “Siren”). I use a 12V Honeywell siren & 120>12V adapter that I got on Amazon.
  2. Plug “Siren” into a second Wyze Plug (let’s call it “Alarm Master”), and plug “Alarm Master” into an outlet. So to sum up, the Honeywell alarm is plugged into “Siren”, which is plugged into “Alarm Master”, which is plugged into the outlet.
  3. Create trigger rules for all your sensors to turn on “Siren” when a sensor is tripped
  4. Create a shortcut rule (e.g. “Arm”) that will turn on “Alarm Master”, but not Siren. (In fact, I have the rule turn Siren off, just to be sure it really is off.) You can also have the rule turn on notifications for all the sensors if you want.
  5. Create another rule, (e.g. “Disarm”), that turns off both “Alarm Master” and “Siren” Likewise, you can also have it turn off notifications.

Operation:
When disarmed, both plugs (Siren and Alarm Master) are off. If a sensor trips while disarmed, it’ll try to turn on “Siren” but won’t be able to because “Alarm Master” is off and therefore “Siren” is offline.

Once armed, 'Alarm Master" is on and “Siren” is therefore online (but off).

If a sensor trips while armed, it’ll turn “Siren” on.

To turn the siren off once it’s been tripped, run the Disarm rule or just turn Siren off from the app.

Also, in case of emergency - e.g. you see some suspicious dude walk into your yard, there’s a fire in the house, or you just need to attract attention for any reason - you can manually turn on the siren from the app.

I also created a rule to turn off Siren once it’s been on for 5 minutes, so it won’t drive the neighbors crazy if it goes off by accident and I’m not home. Hopefully if it’s an actual breakin then the siren will have scared off the burglar and/or attracted the neighbor’s attention, and I will have been notified anyway so I can check out the cameras and figure out what’s going on.

I have the 12V Honeywell siren mounted under the eaves of my garage, which is wired to a 12V adapter plugged into the Wyze Plugs (Siren & Alarm Master) inside the garage. It’s quite loud and reasonably hard to access.

Hope this helps fill the gap until Wyze actually improves their pitiful alarm!

  • Dave
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