cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Replies are disabled for this topic. Start a new one or visit our Help Center.

Cold Weather Charging

easycompany251
Community Member

Does anybody have experience with cold weather charging/plugging in the Nestcam (Battery)?

Here's my experience:

Have a Nest Camera (battery) outdoors plugged in. This weekend started getting chilly (-7 degrees Celsius, 20 degrees Fahrenheit) and the camera goes offline.

Initially I think this is a networking/WIFI connectivity issue. Try resetting the access point with no help.

Finally go outside and pull the camera down, bring it indoors and try to reset it with the button on the back. No help.

Go outside and grab the cable and adapter as well. Plug it into the camera and outlet. Long and behold, the camera comes to life but the battery shows 0% despite it being plugged in outside the entire day.

My hypothesis: Nest Cam does not charge the battery in cold temperatures (this is expected as it protects the battery). The problem is that the camera does not bypass the battery and the battery continually gets being used until it goes to 0% despite it being plugged in. Worse yet is that when you have the camera plugged in, the Home App does not show any information regarding the battery levels. It just shows infinite; so you will unknowingly run the camera battery flat until you can't connect to it because it's off.

Related to this non-charging due to cold weather; when the camera is plugged in, it seems like the IRs are always on (at least at night).  This is going to kill the battery in no time if it is not simultaneous being charged or at least bypassed.

To me this seems to be a pretty big design flaw of the camera for use in outdoor cold environments. I'd be interested in other people's experience of the cold weather for Nest Camera battery and/or Google staff to chime in with if this is expected behavior or if they plan on making some changes.

21 REPLIES 21

easycompany251
Community Member

In terms of feedback for Google staff:

1. Show the battery level regardless of whether or not it is plugged in.  Perhaps show what the battery is doing: charging, not charging etc.
2. When the nest camera is plugged in but the environment is too cold or hot to charge the battery, bypass the battery and run the camera solely off the AC wired power.  When environment allows, charge the battery.

We've had one of the new Google Nest Battery Cameras for a couple of months now, using the 10-meter Google power cable. When checking Battery under Settings in the Google Home app, it alway shows as "Plugged in" with an infinity symbol inside a large circle.  The weather here has gotten down to 15 degrees Fahrenheit and the camera has stayed online.   Is your power cable plugged in with the cable feeding towards the front of the camera?  (One of the oddities of this camera is that the cable faces the front of the camera.).  Since it is plugged in, we don't know anything about the charge percentage on the battery.

Yes cable is plugged in the right way.  You need the weather to stay at these low temperatures for extended periods of time such that the battery cannot be charged.

Yes, I'm having the same problem. My Nest battery cam plug in seems fine in the day but when the weather is cold at night, the camera seems to shut down and wakes up later the same night. I checked the Home app and sometimes it's just a few mins and sometimes it's a few hours. I live in the Northeast and winter just started. I also need to say I'm paying for Nest aware plus and should be getting 60 days of event history and 10 days of 24/7 video history which I'm not getting.

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

I think it would be an extraordinary design defect for a plugged-in Google Nest Battery Camera to go off-line after an extended spell of 20 degree Fahrenheit weather due to the battery not being kept charged. Its specs say its operating temperature is -4 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 to 40 degrees Celsius), so it should be able to operate and charge the battery within those temperatures. And besides, when it is running plugged in, it shouldn't need the battery unless there is a power outage. 

If, as suggested above, the camera is actually using and not bypassing the battery, then the Google Home app should also be showing its charge percentage (rather than just reporting "Plugged in"), and this would be another serious design flaw.  Google's own description of the power cable says: "The weatherproof cable (in 5 m and 10 m) and power adapter keep your Nest Cam connected with continuous power" [emphasis added].

The temperature specs on the new Google Nest Battery Camera camera are the same as those for our existing Google Nest Outdoor Cameras. I hope this does not happen, but if there is a fundamental design flaw (beyond not working with the Google Nest app and home.nest.com) and our new camera fails due to to cold weather during the upcoming Minnesota winter while our existing outdoor cameras keep going as they have in the past, then I will be prepared to either take ours back to Best Buy for a refund or ask Google to take it back.

Google Nest Help's "Save battery for Nest cameras and doorbells" web page (https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/10901611?hl=en-CA#zippy=), under "Protect your camera from extremely cold temperatures", says this:

"If your camera is outdoors, try to move it someplace like under an eave so that it’s better protected from cold temperatures. Otherwise, you might want to connect your camera or doorbell to a power source so that it stays charged."

fernadno
Community Member

Something something misery loves company 😉 

So, this exact thing has been happening with me and my Nest Doorbell Battery, wired into my existing doorbell wiring.

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Cameras-and-Doorbells/Cold-weather-concerns-with-Nest-Doorbel...

Consistently been near and below freezing for just about 2 weeks now (near Montreal, QC).

Scratching my head on how the heck to go about getting some official help without necessarily returning this device.

You can try going into the doorbell in the Google Home app, selecting Settings | More | Help, and then Contact Us at the bottom to go through the steps to contact Google Nest Support.  It's cumbersome, and you may not get someone who can authoritatively address the problem.

So what you're saying is that even when plugged in, the battery depletes over time in cold weather?

Definitely sounds like a similar situation.

If the battery for the Google Nest Battery Doorbell or the Google Nest Battery Camera depletes over time during normal operating temperatures even when the device is plugged, I think that would be an inherent design flaw. It would mean that Google's stated operating temperature range is false and that Google's advice to "connect your camera or doorbell to a power source so that it stays charged" to "protect your camera from extremely cold temperatures" is false.

Anthon
Community Member

still no solutions? i get same issues in Greenland, where the weather is about -10 celsius and battery drains so fast. I had to take it inside to charge it up and charging now for about whole day to recharge to 100%

No solutions from Google yet.  Seems to be affecting not just cameras but doorbells.

Mega thread: https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Cameras-and-Doorbells/Cold-weather-concerns-with-Nest-Doorbel...

Brad
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi there, 

 

I apologize for my late response and thank you for all of your patience while waiting for a reply. I can definitely understand how frustrating your situation must be, and thank you all for your patience! We are still looking into this issue that is affecting some users and appreciate your feedback and troubleshooting steps you have taken.

 

Please let me know if you need further assistance. 

Best Regards, 

Brad.

Brad
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi there,

 

Just checking in to see if you still need assistance with this issue. Please let me know if you need further assistance. 

 

Best Regards,

Brad.

Gefremidis
Community Member

My Nest Doorbell battery plugged in just gave me a notification that is very low on battery even when plugged in it will only work when someone presses the button It's 29 degrees here in Danbury CT. This should not be happening. 

Brad
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

@Gefremidis

 

This is actually an ongoing issue, so I can record this feedback from you and send it forward but we do not have a resolution at this time. Try to keep it topped off, and charged. Other community members have stated that it charges better when you take it off and charge it inside. 

 

Best regards,

Brad.

Brad
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

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.

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

An update on our 4-month-old Google Nest Battery Camera, which is plugged in continuously with the optional power cable and is mounted under a camera shade : It has been running continuously without problems with recent nighttime Minnesota temperature lows ranging from -12 to -17 degrees Fahrenheit (-24 to -27 degrees Celsius) (and windchill temperatures well below that). Our older outdoor Google Nest cameras and doorbells with the same operating temperatures (-4 to 104 F [-20 to 40C]) have continued to run just fine, as they have in the past. And our Google Nest indoor camera inside our detached garage has also continued to run just fine even though its operating temperature is 32 to 104 F (0 to 40 C).

Coalman1
Community Member

I have this same issue. Any solutions yet Google.  I live on a busy street and need my camera. The camera should be utilizing my electrical power supply. I like the camera but if it's down most of the time I will find a different camera solution.

StormyMonday
Community Member

My Nest Battery Cam is having similar problems.  It is not plugged in 24/7, but attempting to recharge it in cold weather takes forever.  I read it is supposed to take 5 hours to fully recharge.  It is about 20oF here.  I let it charge for 5 hours yesterday and it only got to a 40% charge.  Another 2 hours this morning only got it to 46%.  🤷🏻‍♂️

Plus, as noted by others, there is no way to tell it’s charge level while it is plugged in.  So no way to tell if it’s fully charged without unplugging it.  Why??

Brad
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi there, folks.

 

I am terribly sorry to hear that you are still experiencing charging issues with colder temperatures. Battery life will depend on factors including activity, temperature, and camera settings that you select. Users can extend the battery life of their camera by adjusting video quality, length of video clips, time between recorded events, and using activity zones to monitor specific areas. Here are some typical scenarios. 

Nest Doorbell (battery):

  • Busy: About 1 month battery life (About 25 - 30 recorded events per day)  
  • Typical: About 2.5 months battery life (About 13 - 16 recorded events per day)
  • Quiet: About 6 months battery life (about 2 - 5 recorded events per day

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Best regards,

brad.