The classic, electric doorbell is that special little house accessory that has not become totally obsolete in the last century, which is quite an achievement, given that almost everything else has.
Also, doorbells are not just a novelty or decorative item either, like that big wall clock you have hanging in your living room, although you are probably near a smartphone that tells you the time anyway! No, the doorbell serves a very practical purpose that involves alerting people of both welcome and unwelcome guests, so putting some thought into choosing the bell is actually quite important.
How Big is Your Home?
The primary job of the doorbell is to alert people of someone’s presence at the front door, but that can only happen if you can hear the bell ring.
Unfortunately, we are often so concerned about how the bell looks and the chime itself, that we forget about its basic functionality; which is to be loud enough so that the house members can hear it ring from every room in the house.
On the other end of things, if you are living in a small apartment and the doorbell is so loud it startles you each and every time, you need to change over to something a bit softer and soothing!
Get a wired doorbell chime from a place like 1800 Doorbell that’s both music to your ears and suitably loud to serve the purpose it’s supposed to. They have a really vast selection of wired and wireless doorbells in various designs and chimes, so do check them out before getting one.
Do You Already Have the Wiring?
If your house or apartment comes equipped with the hard wiring necessary for wired doorbells already, a wired chime is a great choice and they offer so much variety as well.
Sometimes though, the wiring may have gone dead due to damage, or the previous owner disconnecting the line to prevent electrical hazards. In that case, there is no reason to make the wire live again, because battery operated doorbells will do the job just fine too.
Are There Disadvantages to a Wireless Doorbell?
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of the wireless doorbell is the fact that unless you are mindful of changing the batteries in time, the chime will start to grow fainter and fainter, until it starts churning out garbled noise sounds more like a musical toy in a horror movie than a doorbell!
Are There Disadvantages to a Wired Doorbell?
There is a disadvantage to the wired doorbell, but it generally isn’t an issue in most areas of the United States. The thing is, if the power goes out, the doorbell won’t ring if it’s a wired bell without batteries.
Given that most modern wired bells also come with the option of fitting them with batteries that are only utilized during power cuts, we would say it’s not much of an inconvenience.
Which One is Right for You?
Wireless doorbells offer more smart connectivity options than ordinary wired chimes, but if you are looking for a truly aesthetic house accessory to proudly show off on the side of your front door, wired doorbells are going to beat their wireless counterparts, hands down!
One may argue that doorbells have indeed gone through a lot of changes, and they would be partially right. Most of those smart changes are either cosmetic or minor at best. You can still put up a doorbell from the 1960s and it would work just fine, which isn’t something that you can probably say about most of the other house accessories from that era.