Can the new Nest Cam with Floodlight be mounted under an eave?

[Gary9110]

Hello,

I purchased a Nest Floodlight Cam recently and when getting it I learned that the mount is supposed to be on the wall and not under an eave. The problem I have is that there is no backing on the wall so it can't be mounted there. My existing floodlight is an under eave one. It would be nice to have a bracket made for both options.

I also tried figuring out the best way to do it under eave and it seems the camera angle is sort of pointing down at the ground to much instead of getting a clear picture of the surrounding area. 

Is there any special way to do this or to have a specialized bracket purchased separately to achieve this?

[mikegallagher1]

Thinking of replacing our old school floodlight with a combo light/cam. The current light is wall mounted below the soffits with a power cable running from the loft and behind the soffit down to the unit. Not sure what you mean by there's no backing on the wall. Do you mean you can't get power through it? Would running power down from the loft work?

When we get round to it well just swap units using the existing cable.

[Gary9110]

I'm mounting it on the garage of an older house. The siding itself is so old that it's a light sheet of metal. Underneath it's an open hole until you hit the drywall on the other side. 

The current floodlight I have there is mounted under the eave which has an actual backing to hold it.  It appears I can mount it upside down, vertically but then the camera angle sucks. The magnet mount is good, but the cable gets in the way when trying to achieve a better mount angle to see the driveway. 

I can provide a picture later of what I'm talking about. Essentially it might be better to just keep the existing light and just getting another type of camera and mounting it to a gutter I guess.

[mikegallagher1]

Ah, with you. I'm in the UK so thinking more of our styles of construction. I see the problem.  The magnetic option is no good and your only solid mounting points don't give suitable angles of light/video capture. Our local equivalent of your Home Depot sells aluminium straps with screw holes. Would anything like that work as a mounting bracket fixed to your eaves, and the new unit fixed to that? 

[Gary9110]

I'm not sure. 

I'm just surprised Google hasn't thought of this when developing something like this. Too be honest nobody really has when designing these flood light camera types.

All it needs is like a 90 degree mounting bracket and everything would be good.

[BG]

I just installed mine under the eave. You would think that Google would promote this in some video or at least mention it being that 90% of all floodlights are mounted under an eave, but these are the things I simply don't understand about Google. Anyway, it installs fine, but the video will be upside down. Fortunately, there is a setting that flips the image 180 degrees.

[Gary9110]

Would you be able to share a picture of how yours is? Mine is under a garage so the camera looks like it will only capture the ground essentially and not going up the driveway. 

[Chris_Judy]

I’m so glad you asked this question. We have the same issue.  I’m curious to see BG’s set up.  A 90 degree adapter would seem like the only option. 

[BG]

@Gary9110 , @Chris_Judy  Here is what I did... It seems to work fine, and I still need to calk and paint. lol

[Chris_Judy]

I’m glad you’re satisfied with that solution, but yours is mounted on your patio ceiling, not your eaves. Placing it that far back takes some of the weather element out considering the connector is now facing up, but that’s not an option with eaves as can be seen in some of the pictures on this site. 

http://www.empirewindowcompany.com/vinyl-siding/siding-accessories/ 

[BG]

Any floodlights installed on those images, would not be installed on the eaves because there is not enough room. Any new installations of the Nest flood, I would install as they recommend, including the ones that are demonstrated in those images as the standard mount. "Most" existing floodlights, especially on older homes, are not exposed to weather and are tucked under an eave. In my case, I never intended to install these new, and only plan on replacing my existing floodlights, which are all under the standard 2-3 foot eave and out of the weather. That's why they work for me. Plus, the power plug attaches magnetically (doesn't really plug in), and would still maintain it's weather-resistant (IP54).

I'm not defending them, believe me, I am really disappointed that this is the only way I could install it. It was quite foolish of Google to not put more research into research and development for something this expensive. At this point, I would go so far as not recommending it, and I really do not plan on buying anymore to see if they come up with a better design and or enhancements to the Google Home app (which is a joke). But it works, and is the only one I have, so we'll see...

[Gary9110]

I feel even if it's a 45 degree would pretty much solve the problem too. Just tilting it enough. Maybe using a shim or something might work on the back side putting the floodlight forward to get a better camera angle.

[Gary9110]

@BG it looks good though. My main thing is the camera angle. I can mount mine like that but I don't think my camera angle will be as good as yours. Maybe I will test it out. I already bought the floodlight. I'm just looking from the angle it is now I feel it won't capture what I'm wanting it too. 

Appreciate the pictures! 

[Hopburst]

Also consider the detection pattern of the motion sensor.  It may not be designed to work properly when soffit mounted.  Google should just weigh in but I don't find this information.

[Brad]

Hey everyone, sorry about the delay. 

Nest Cam with floodlight is only designed to be installed on vertical surfaces like a wall. It is not designed to be installed on horizontal surfaces because the downward facing angle would reduce the floodlight’s functionality by limiting the field of view of the PIR motion sensor (which triggers the floodlight when motion is detected). Hope this helps and we've also shared your feedback with our team.

Best Regards,

Brad.

[Brad]

Hey folks.

Just checking in to see if you still need assistance with this issue. If so, please let me know and I would love to look into this further for you!

Best Regards,

Brad.

[Gary9110 · Accepted solution]

Brad, I think you answered it with your previous response. I will probably send mine back as it motion probably won't work properly like you suggested. 

I'd keep it if I knew Google would come out with a method of mounting it differently but it is what it is.

[Brad]

Hey Folks.

At this time, I'll go ahead and lock this thread. If you're still experiencing problems, feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.

Best Regards,

Brad.