Why Is My Doorbell So Quiet? Here’s Why + How to Fix

If your doorbell isn’t loud enough, you’ll miss guests, deliveries, and anyone else who wants to visit your home. Many people complain about noisy doorbells, but I noticed there weren’t a lot of explanations for why some doorbells are quieter than others.

Your doorbell is so quiet because the chime unit is damaged or the bell wire is broken. Remove the screws from the chime unit, then look for a volume knob or screw. Twist it to adjust the doorbell’s volume. You can also use a doorbell extender to make your doorbell louder.

Fixing your quiet doorbell will prevent you from having to use speakers or getting a different doorbell. Smart doorbells typically have more sound controls, but there’s no reason you can’t make your regular doorbell less quiet.

Damaged Chime Unit

Most doorbells have chime units that create a loud ring (also known as a chime). These units can be damaged by buzzing doorbell transformers, electrical surges, and more. Once the chime unit is broken, it has to be replaced.

How to Fix

Here’s how you can fix your doorbell’s quiet chime unit:

1. Remove the cover from your doorbell’s chime unit.
2. Check if the wire is connected to the rear or the front bell.
3. Swap the wire from the front terminal to the rear terminal (or vice versa).
4. Make sure the pin hits the bell when you push the doorbell.
5. Seal the doorbell’s chime unit, then turn on the power and test your work.

Check out this informative YouTube video about how you can fix your quiet doorbell chime:

Weak Doorbell Chime

If your chime unit is in good condition, but the volume knob is too low, the doorbell will sound quiet. You can improve its sound output by placing a speaker near the chime unit, but this ends up cluttering the doorbell. Furthermore, you can often fix the weak chime with the steps below.

How to Fix

Your best option is to use a doorbell extender to make the chime audible throughout your home.

The Safety Technology Wireless Doorbell Extender works up to 500 feet away from the doorbell, so you can put it anywhere in your home. It also has an onboard volume adjuster to customize your doorbell’s volume.

Doorbell Electric Wire Problems

Doorbells can experience numerous electrical wire problems, including:

• Loose wires between the transformer, chime unit, and doorbell
• Exposed copper on any of the wires throughout the doorbell’s electrical circuitry
• Incorrect wire gauge between the junction box and the power supply

Electrical problems are the main reason tower fans are loud, doorbells are so quiet, and most other household appliances don’t operate as expected.

How to Fix

So, what can you do to fix your quiet doorbell’s wires?

1. Tighten each of the wires at every terminal after turning off the breaker.
2. Replace any wire with exposed copper (always use the same wire gauge).
3. Make sure all of the wire nuts are secured and tightened in the junction box.
4. Check the voltage on both sides of the transformer (it should be 120V or 220V going in and around 20V coming out).

Broken Bell Wires

The bell wires are solely used in bell circuits. They create chimes in tandem with a chime unit. When the bell unit breaks, corrodes, or disconnects from the chime unit, it can’t carry a strong signal.

In the long run, damaged bell wires can your doorbell quieter than normal. It can also make your doorbell stick.

How to Fix

Change out the bell wire(s) for your doorbell to prevent it from being so quiet.

If your bell wires are damaged or broken, you can quickly replace them. I recommend the Southwire Bell Wire. It’s designed with a UV-resistant coating and 50 feet of bell wire you can use to fix almost any doorbell on the market.

Worn Transformer

If your doorbell is quiet and the transformer is hot, there’s a good chance you need to replace it. Swapping out the doorbell’s transformer allows it to reduce the voltage required by the doorbell and the chime unit.

How to Fix

Follow these guidelines to replace your doorbell’s transformer:

1. Turn off the whole-house power supply.
2. Twist off the wire nuts in the junction box.
3. Remove the wires from both ends of the transformer, then remove the retaining screws.
4. Mount the new doorbell transformer, then connect the aforementioned wires.
5. Tighten the wire nuts in the junction box, then turn on the power supply.

Reduced Chime Box Volume

Chime boxes usually have volume buttons, levers, sliders, and so on. Some of them have screws that tighten to increase the doorbell’s volume. Stripped screws and other volume adjusters can lower your doorbell’s noise output. A simple adjustment can help quite a bit.

How to Fix

Hunker shows that you can increase a chime box’s volume by ramping up the noise slider.

Here’s how you can do it:

1. Remove the doorbell chime cover.
2. Look for the word Volume above any screws, knobs, or other adjustments.
3. Rotate the Volume unit one way, test the doorbell, then change it as necessary.
4. Cover the doorbell chime when you’re done.

If your doorbell doesn’t have volume adjustments, you can add speakers near the chime plate or get a chime extender.

Improper Smart Doorbell Sound Settings

Smart doorbells often include volume settings that need to be adjusted on your phone, tablet, or computer. However, it could also be due to a blown doorbell speaker (yes, smart doorbells often have speakers, unlike traditional chime doorbells).

How to Fix

Smart doorbells offer all sorts of convenience, but some of these benefits get lost in minor settings. Check your doorbell’s tone and volume on a connected device. Increase the volume or change the tone to one that’s easier for you to hear.

Much like traditional doorbells, smart doorbells have extenders. However, smart doorbell extenders usually use Bluetooth connectivity rather than electrical wires. Either way, they provide an excellent way to make your doorbell much louder.

A quiet smart doorbell can also be caused by outdated software. Make sure your connected device and your smart doorbell have the most recent update version.