Homelink Garage Door Opening no longer included with Premium Interior Package

[raptor5244]

Removal of the bumper and basic sticker shock led me to look for alternatives. I just ordered & installed Tailwind for $90. Seemed like a much better solution - auto open as you drive to & close as you drive away, an app to show me whether or not the door is closed or not, ability to open/close remotely, integration with home automation/smart homes (Alexa in my case). I've only used it last night after install and this morning to check the auto open/close feature, but so far everything seems to work as advertised.

Agreed. It would make more sense to invest $300 in a new LiftMaster garage door opener with wifi. You can use the app on the phone, watch, etc. to control it. You can close and open it when you are far from home. And best of all you get a new a garage door opener for your money, not just a Homelink module in the car.

Garage Door Openers | LiftMaster

 

[jebinc]

Agreed. It would make more sense to invest $300 in a new LiftMaster garage door opener with wifi. You can use the app on the phone, watch, etc. to control it. You can close and open it when you are far from home. And best of all you get a new a garage door opener for your money, not just a Homelink module in the car.

Garage Door Openers | LiftMaster

I did both - Went with a Chamberlin (Owns LiftMaster, I believe) direct-drive opener with wifi and love it. I wouldn't like having to pull the phone out, finding the app, then opening the garage while driving up to my garage. The Homelink is easier/less cumbersome. YMMV

 

[leafian]

I did both - Went with a Chamberlin (Owns LiftMaster, I believe) direct-drive opener with wifi and love it. I wouldn't like having to pull the phone out, finding the app, then opening the garage while driving up to my garage. The Homelink is easier/less cumbersome. YMMV

Tailwinds doesn't require you to pull out your phone. It will detect your car's bluetooth and open and close garage door automatically

 

[Scott7]

Tailwinds doesn't require you to pull out your phone. It will detect your car's bluetooth and open and close garage door automatically

Then how would you stop it if it starts closing when it shouldn't?

I much prefer having it pop up on the display, though admittedly I'm not sure I would have paid $300 for it if my car didn't already come with it.

 

[g0dfather]

Bummer I need 4 garage doors and one is at work where I can’t install anything so I’ll have to pop for the $300.

 

[g0dfather]

.


Incorrect. Requires hardware

Automatic Garage Opener

Yeah my Tesla advisor was totally wrong on that one!

 

[jvmoore1]

Removal of the bumper and basic sticker shock led me to look for alternatives. I just ordered & installed Tailwind for $90. Seemed like a much better solution - auto open as you drive to & close as you drive away, an app to show me whether or not the door is closed or not, ability to open/close remotely, integration with home automation/smart homes (Alexa in my case). I've only used it last night after install and this morning to check the auto open/close feature, but so far everything seems to work as advertised.

i started looking into Tailwind last night. Can you open/close the garage door remotely from another location (work, gym, etc)?

 

[TJ73]

i started looking into Tailwind last night. Can you open/close the garage door remotely from another location (work, gym, etc)?

Yes through the phone app.

 

[jebinc]

Bummer I need 4 garage doors and one is at work where I can’t install anything so I’ll have to pop for the $300.

Alert: Homelink is limited to three devices. I needed four as well, nada....

 

[Sean1]

I'm testing out a method that requires less than $20 in parts and hopefully will be fully automated. I'm testing it this week and will keep you guys posted.

 

[leafian]

Alert: Homelink is limited to three devices. I needed four as well, nada....

Buy two controllers and 4 door kits?

Then how would you stop it if it starts closing when it shouldn't?
I much prefer having it pop up on the display, though admittedly I'm not sure I would have paid $300 for it if my car didn't already come with it.

Your phone has an app to control the opening and closing of the doors.

 

[leafian]

I'm testing out a method that requires less than $20 in parts and hopefully will be fully automated. I'm testing it this week and will keep you guys posted.

Are you referring to opengarage? I looked at that but went with Tailwinds instead.
Knowing myself, it would take me months to finish the project. LOL

 

[jvmoore1]

would be awesome if you could use a Raspberry Pi with Teslausb to trigger the garage door

 

[Scott7]

Your phone has an app to control the opening and closing of the doors.

That doesn’t help. My phone is locked and either in the console or my pocket when I pull up to the garage. Even Ye Olde opener would be a lot easier than getting out my phone.

 

[leafian]

would be awesome if you could use a Raspberry Pi with Teslausb to trigger the garage door

I remember reading about one diy that used an ultrasonic sensor to detect if the car was parked in the garage.
Don't remember if it was using raspberry pi and you can certainly do it but would it be any cheaper than buying tailwinds for $80?

 

[leafian]

That doesn’t help. My phone is locked and either in the console or my pocket when I pull up to the garage. Even Ye Olde opener would be a lot easier than getting out my phone.

Are you worried that if the garage door is already opened than as your car approaches, t will close the door instead of opening it?

 

[Scott7]

Are you worried that if the garage door is already opened than as your car approaches, t will close the door instead of opening it?

That is precisely my worry. I have a toddler... I have already had to cancel that operation with homelink but it’s very easy to do in 2 seconds when it pops up on the screen.

But even without the safety aspects, I would find it incredibly annoying to use a phone for this purpose. A regular garage door opener is IMO a better and more robust solution for those that don’t have homelink.

 

[TJ73]

That is precisely my worry. I have a toddler... I have already had to cancel that operation with homelink but it’s very easy to do in 2 seconds when it pops up on the screen.

But even without the safety aspects, I would find it incredibly annoying to use a phone for this purpose. A regular garage door opener is IMO a better and more robust solution for those that don’t have homelink.

Sorry, does your garage door not have obstruction/safety sensors? That will still function, it will not override that.

The auto up/down feature uses your phone's GPS to instruct when to open/close the door. You can set it at specific distances, mine is currently set at 200ft to open & close. So unless your toddler likes to chase after your car, you shouldn't really have this issue.

 

[leafian]

That is precisely my worry. I have a toddler... I have already had to cancel that operation with homelink but it’s very easy to do in 2 seconds when it pops up on the screen.

But even without the safety aspects, I would find it incredibly annoying to use a phone for this purpose. A regular garage door opener is IMO a better and more robust solution for those that don’t have homelink.

Tailwinds will know that the door is opened and will not close it.
However, if you drive by your home, it will think that you are leaving and will close the garage door.
As TJ73 mentioned, if your garage door opener has a safety sensor (most do), it will not close if there is something blocking the sensors.

 

[Scott7]

Sorry, does your garage door not have obstruction/safety sensors? That will still function, it will not override that.

It does, but those aren't perfect either. Every once in a while my garage door has a false alerts from those sensors (probably dirt/leave fragments) and it will nearly close before going all the way back up. So I always watch to confirm the door closed all the way when leaving. If your system alerts you when the door is left open, that would help here, with a probable side-effect of receiving false positive alerts when you DO want the door open for long periods for whatever reason.