I have a detached garage and the garage door faces in such a way that I can't see that it is closed from the house. To see that it was closed, you would have to leave the house, walk through the backyard, and go out the back gate. Not a fun trek in the rain or dark.

I left it open the other night. Luckily, a neighbor told me so I could close it as I wouldn't have found out on my own for a couple of days.

Anybody have any ideas on some kind of indicator that could tell lazy me that the door was closed without leaving the house?

There are no windows in the garage and it is on a garage door opener.

Thanks!

Do you have wi-fi out there?

You could add a ring camera. kills two birds. You can see the garage door plus keep an eye on everything inside.

Thanks, y'all! I'll look into these ideas.

My cheap way is to take a cheap door sensor like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Security-Detector-Notification-Compatible-Assistant/dp/B0CG5HB1B6/ref=asc_df_B0CG5HB1B6/

and mount it to the garage door with one side on a hinge and one side on the door. When the door is up, the hinge hangs down and it shows as "open". When the door is down, the hinge brings the sensors together and the door registers as closed.

Edit:
like this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/smarthome/comments/164noyr/easy_way_to_add_a_security_contact_sensor_to_your/

Love the MyQ products.

agnerd said:

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My cheap way is to take a cheap door sensor like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Security-Detector-Notification-Compatible-Assistant/dp/B0CG5HB1B6/ref=asc_df_B0CG5HB1B6/

and mount it to the garage door with one side on a hinge and one side on the door. When the door is up, the hinge hangs down and it shows as "open". When the door is down, the hinge brings the sensors together and the door registers as closed.

Edit:
like this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/smarthome/comments/164noyr/easy_way_to_add_a_security_contact_sensor_to_your/

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This is a simple way.

Op - how technically minded are you?

I have a similar situation of garage door on an outbuilding I can't see and I added magnetic sensor to show open or closed tied to the open source free Home Assistant software set up I have running on an old computer.

But home assistant also allowed me to make my 20yo old garage door smart and can close it without making said trek in the rain or dark. That required running a simple wire to a WiFi relay.

Marvin_Zindler said:

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Love the MyQ products.

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They were great until they required them to connect to the cloud to work. No reason for that and fully expect them to add subscription requirement at some point.

aggiepublius said:

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Op - how technically minded are you?

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Not very. Because I couldn't figure this out myself.

I was originally thinking of some type of solution like the Reddit thread Agnerd with a light mounted so that I could see it from inside the house.

But......

I hadn't considered that I also have "get security lights/cameras set up for house" on the "To Do" list.

Talk about getting caught up in forcing your first drunk thought to be a solution.

Another vote for MyQ. I have it and get an alert every time my garage door is opened. I can check it on my phone and also open/close it from anywhere.

I also have a timer set so it closes every night at a certain time just incase I forget to close it.

Call your neighbor and ask? They seem fairly reliable.

aggiepublius said:

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Marvin_Zindler said:

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Love the MyQ products.

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They were great until they required them to connect to the cloud to work. No reason for that and fully expect them to add subscription requirement at some point.

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Probably because of their camera offerings? Can still access cameras for free but need subscription to access prior recordings.

htxag09 said:

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aggiepublius said:

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Marvin_Zindler said:

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Love the MyQ products.

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They were great until they required them to connect to the cloud to work. No reason for that and fully expect them to add subscription requirement at some point.

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Probably because of their camera offerings? Can still access cameras for free but need subscription to access prior recordings.

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That or becuase they were acquired by the Blackstone private equity group and they are looking to position the company along a subscription model. Which is common.

Love myQ with my Chamberlain door openers, you can close the remotely in case the garage doesn't shut all the way due to something underneath the door. It's also handy if you have contractors or cleaners who work while you're in the office. I have a Eufy solar powered 4k camera that covers all 3 of my garage doors that notifies me when someone walks out or in the garage. When they leave I just shut the door as they leave. Also if you're replacing your openers go with belt driven, huge upgrade from the chain drives that we had previously.

I really like the myQ app for our doors, and especially for our gate. I just wish it had Carplay support.

Also, to the belt drive vs chain drive - belt drives are nice, but consider a jackshaft opener, too. Also very quiet and opened that space for us for a couple of ceiling fans.

I have a Meross smart garage door thingy. 30 or 40 bucks. Works great.

The great thing about this is it works with Apple HomeKit if you're using that. It may work with SmartThings and well.

I actually have it as well but haven't hooked it up. Looking to change from ST to HK and gathering all the switches to replace.

I have a similar situation with my shop roll up door and no WiFi out there. I use a YoLink door sensor which uses a long range lora radio and an YoLink switch to turn on a little LED light on our kitchen desk. I just set up a rule to turn on the light when the door opens and turn it off when the door closes. In the evening when we turn out the kitchen lights if the shop door was left open it is obvious.

I have my garage doors and gate controlled via an ismartgate controller and app. You can easily use the app to check open/close status and open/close the door as required.

Amazon/local shop $30 mirror mounted to a tree visible from house, assuming garage lighting...