How to Add a Piezo to an Alarm Door Chime

Shut off the power to the circuit that has the door chime. A schematic of which circuit breakers control which circuits should be located in or next to the breaker box. If you cannot figure it out, then shut off the power to the whole house. Although you will only be working on the low-voltage portion of the chime circuit, proper safety procedure is to shut the power off first, in case something goes wrong.

Measure the distance from the door chime to the baseboard of the wall that the chime rests on. Measure the length of the walls, on the baseboard, from underneath the door chime to underneath the spot on which you want to mount the buzzer. Add these distances together. Add another 2 feet. The result is the length of wire that you need for the buzzer. Cut two segments of number 18 bell wire to this length.

Gain access to the transformer of the door chime. This will often be near the door, in an outlet box. To remove the box cover, just unscrew the screws attaching it to the wall. There will be one heavy wire running into the transformer and two smaller wires running out of it to the door chime. These smaller wires will be attached to the transformer by screws.

Unscrew the screws holding the output wires to the transformer. Strip 1 inch of insulation from both ends of both of the wires that you cut. Wrap one end of one of these wires around the bare end of one of the door chime wires. Screw them back into the transformer as one. Do the same for the other pair.

Run the wires down to the baseboard. Staple them there using insulated staples. Do not puncture the wires with the staples. Run the wires to the location where you want to mount the buzzer, stapling them to the baseboard as needed.

Run the wires up the wall to the exact location where you want to put the buzzer. Attach the end of the wire that connects to the positive terminal of the transformer, usually labeled with a + sign, to the positive terminal of the buzzer. Follow the buzzer’s instructions for attachment. Attach the other wire to the negative terminal. Glue the Piezo buzzer to the wall at this location. These buzzers are tiny, and lightweight, and ordinary glue will hold well.