Add another door bell?

Helen28

I have a mains powered ding dong door bell and all the wires are buried in the wall except for the transformer which is next to the consumer unit so I can access a couple of inches of low voltage wire before it disappears into the wall.

If I am in the kitchen and the cooker hood is on I can't hear the bell.

I used to have a dog who was a good door bell but sadly he passed.

Before I buy another bell is it even possible to add another bell by, say, removing one wire from the transformer, connecting that to another bell's terminal and then the other terminal to the transformer so basically the bells are in series..

The consumer unit and bell transformer are in the kitchen and I would just have the bell near to the bell transformer.

fenwick458

assuming the bell transformer is powerful enough to power 2 bells, yes

tim_p

Why not just pick up a cheapo wireless doorbell with two or three ‘ringers’. One is usually mains powered (plug into standard 13A socket) and the others can be either mains or battery ones which you can move about or place in a more convenient mains socket, in the kitchen say. Yes you’ll need to remove the existing bell push but you just put the new one over the top to hide the hole for the wires and jobs a good ‘un. 

p00hsticks

tim_p said:

Why not just pick up a cheapo wireless doorbell with two or three ‘ringers’. One is usually mains powered (plug into standard 13A socket) and the others can be either mains or battery ones which you can move about or place in a more convenient mains socket, in the kitchen say. Yes you’ll need to remove the existing bell push but you just put the new one over the top to hide the hole for the wires and jobs a good ‘un. 

Exactly what I was going to recommend - I accompanied my father to get one from Robert Dyas a few months ago - he said they had a good selection and I think paid £20 for one with a permanent plug in reciever that they have in the living room and a second battery operated one that he can take out in the garden if necessary

https://www.robertdyas.co.uk/diy-security/safety-security/door-chimes

greyteam1959

Toolstation & Screwfix have a good selection.

Norman_Castle

Would connecting another ringer in parallel be better?

EssexExile

Are the wires from the transformer before the bell push or after? If before then they will have a permanent supply and you'll get constant ringing in your ears.

Mickey666

Norman_Castle said:

Would connecting another ringer in parallel be better?

Yes, almost certainly.  If the bells are wired in series as the OP suggests then each bell will receive a reduced voltage and might not work at all.  If the bells are wired in parallel each bell will receive the full voltage of the transformer.  Worst case (unlikely) is that the transformer might not be able to supply enough current to power both bells, but that would be easily fixed by switching out the transformer for a more powerful one.

Having said that, I'd probably investigate the wireless alternatives.

forgotmyname

Beware that low voltage line is probably still AC power not DC.

You could get a nasty tingle from it or worse.

fenwick458

one problem with battery operated doorbells, you never know when the battery is going to run out. used to have one years ago, took it off the door as the battery would go flat irregularly, and people would simply press the bell, assume I wasn't in, and then leave. 
if theres no bell to press, then they would just knock, and there was more chance of me hearing them!