LOL.....dunno. But do you have or have you ever had a doorbell?

Looks like the transformer for a doorbell.

Doorbell makes sense--are they ever mounted entirely in a closet? Yet there aren't any holes or patches for the dinging part. There is an existing doorbell and it's elsewhere, in what I THINK is the original location because I just vacated another house in the subdivision by the same builder etc.

There is also a set of bells in the backyard that I assume is a doorbell but doesn't ring. We just moved in and haven't had time to trace all the weirdities yet.

So it's not a bomb. Whew. :)

Do it yourself alarm system?? Get a good flashlight & see if you can find any writing on the "thing". Can you tell which direction the wiring is going- attic or upstairs I guess since not down wall.(look with flashlight!) Sounds like you are going to have some puzzles to work through! Good Luck!

It's not the bell / chime part, it's just the transformer, which steps the electricity down to what is needed for your bell.

Article linked below...

Here is a link that might be useful: About wired doorbells

Another option to consider: rather than a doorbell transformer, it could be a ringer box for your telephone! My house has such a box mounted in the basement, and it would go off whenever someone called, until I found the volume switch and turned it down--not all old phones had their own bells inside, so the house needed such a box to let you know of an incoming call.

No all old phones had ringers.....the big set of bells can still be bought at places like radio shack. My mother was going deaf and I bought a set like that so that it would produce a loud 'mechanical' ringing, instead of the softer electronic ring of the new phones in the hopes she could tell when someone was ringing her up. They can be mounted outside, too so that you can hear if the phone is ringing in the house when you are outside. These were popular in the days before wireless and mobile phones. It was an issue.

I was ready for the doorbell explanation and now you bring up phones! It could probably be either. Or neither. I thought it was part of the original construction but on second glance, it's not as pretty an installation as I'd expect. On the other hand, this closet was never even painted. Yet it does have the same mahogany trim as the outside. Maybe they forgot...

Anyway, it's a one story house (crawl space/crawl attic) and this is pretty close to the front door. (Also pretty close to everything else since it's not that big a house.)

Thanks for the suggestions. I still don't know but at least I have a clue. I'll have to crawl around in the attic and figure out some of these things.

Could it have been part of a visual annunciator system for the telephone/TTY for a deaf person? (Or same function for a door bell?)

L

So where are the chimes part of your doorbell located? In my folks' 1930s house, immediately over the entry way closet on the outside. I shall have to look to see if the transformer is located just on the other side on the inside of the entry wall closet. LOL. I do believe, however, their door bell transformer is inside a large decorative box where the chimes are.

I do agree, it does look like a voltage step-down for a solenoid device, and i'm still wagering it's a door bell transformer. Those red and black wires do not feed anything with much voltage.

Listen to calliope (and to me), it's a transformer, and unless you have some other type of hardwired low-voltage thing in your house (old-school intercom?), it's for the doorbell. New doorbells have them built right in, old ones don't. You can mount the transformers wherever you want, as long as it's between the line voltage and the doorbell. They don't have to be close to either the chimes or the button. (Mine is mounted on the wall in the basement under the front of the house. They ran the doorbell and chime wires along in the basement.)

Here is a link that might be useful: More diagrams and pictures

Sounds doorbelly.

It could have been an intercom--I've seen at least one in this subdivision and this house was one of the spendier ones.

The size, shape, and location strongly suggest doorbell transformer.

Another possibility, somewhat less likely, is that it's a transformer for a gas heater of some kind, perhaps a wall furnace or even a coal furnace conversion burner.

Hmm. There is an unringing bell on the back patio that I thought was an accessory doorbell, but it does have a wire running directly to a phone jack.

Ack. I'm gonna have to crawl around in the attic, aren't I?

The phone jack set of bells is not part of your doorbell system. It is the unit I was telling you about you can still get at radio shack. It was mounted outside, so that it rang when the impulse came in through the phone lines and if you were outside, you could tell when somebody was trying to call you. They were popular in the days before mobile or cordless phones. It does not have to be wired in to any transformer because the ringer is set off by the same small electrical impulse what sets off your phone ringers. It's totally unrelated to your transformer in the closet. Trust me on this one. I have a set. Do you see a push button to operate it? No. If you have a button at your rear entrance, it has nothing to do with that set of bells. Doorbell ringers are inside, so you can actually hear that somebody is outside. LOL.

Here is a link that might be useful: Suttle equipment

Right. I'm assuming those bells are for the phone. I don't know if the closet transformer is for those, the regular doorbell, or another, smaller set of bells (much more doorbelly) elsewhere on the back porch.

The main doorbell ringer is inside. Of course. But having a ringer in the backyard (no button) would make sense as the original owners were into backyard entertaining. This is one of those postwar neighborhoods that was built for that sort of thing!

"Right. I'm assuming those bells are for the phone. I don't know if the closet transformer is for those"

No, fori......I just told you they had nothing to do with a transformer. The electric they used is provided by the telephone line and those are telephone annunciators and a self contained unit. Are you finding another set of bells or something? If you aren't then you don't have outside door bell chimes. You may have a back door button for a door bell, but it is connected to the same system your front door doorbell is but would have a different ring pattern so you'd know whether someone was at your front or back door.

I grew up in that era........and although it is possible to have an annunciator so that you could hear outside if someone was ringing at your front door, it would be something pretty unusual and likely a custom installation. You're making something really complicated out of a simple, common pair of devices. If your front doorbell works now, go unhook those two little wires inside the closet. If your front (or back) doesn't work then you'll know we were right.

Doorbells are normally 24 Volts, 60 Hertz, AC.

The ringing voltage for a phone is 90 volts, 20 hertz, AC.

It really looks like a plain old doorbell transformer, at least it is not buried inside the wall.

It's the doorbell transformer.

The doorbell transformer does not need to be located near the button nor the chimes. It is located near its 120vAC power source. In some cases the doorbell transformer serves two buttons, both front and back doorbell buttons.

In this case, it looks like the light to the left of the doorbell transformer is the AC power source. Since it has a pull chain it is obviously not switched and it would supply constant AC voltage.

One thing that it isn't; it is NOT for a telephone ringer! Telephone ringers work on the line voltage supplied by the telephone line itself. This type of transformer is for doorbells!

It's the doorbell transformer.

The doorbell transformer does not need to be located near the doorbell button nor the doorbell chimes. Some serve two buttons for both front and back doors. The transformer needs to be located near its 120vAC power supply. In this case, the light to the left of the doorbell transformer is most likely its AC power source. Since the light has a pull chain, the socket is obviously not switched and would provide constant AC power.

One thing that it isn't; it is NOT for a telephone ringer! Telephone ringers get their power form the ringing voltage of the telephone line itself. This type of transformer is made for doorbells.

Well then, I'm glad I did post it. It was obviously important enough for you to read, so I assume others have too.

I don't know how it came to be posted twice. I only wrote it once.

It has nothing to do with the doorbell or a telephone its a hard wired heat exhaust craw space

Well...if it's not for the door bell, then:

--It could be a monitoring device to let the zombies know when you are home and asleep, or;

--It could be a diabolical sanitizing device for you and your pets, left by the builder, or:

--It could be left over parts from the electrician (you did have a electrian for the original house didn't you--if not be very cautious), or;

--None of the above and something else entirely.

Does it glow in the dark...?

Whatever you do, don't touch it.