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Cold weather concerns with Nest Doorbell Battery

fernadno
Community Member

Hi,

Similar to some other posters here, I recently noticed that my Nest Doorbell battery (activated 2021-08-28), although wired, had lost much of its charge (down to 3%, indicated a 23 hour time to charge in Google Home app).

The 23 hour recharge estimate remained unchanged for 3 hours when kept wired to doorbell wiring.

From another recommendation on the forum, I decided to try unplugging from the doorbell wires and taking the doorbell indoors to charge via USB cable until 100%.

My doorbell remains plugged into a USB port, showing 2% charged, and an 18 hr 29 min time until full. It has been plugged in now for 1 hour, with no noticeable change in charge condition.

Outdoor temperatures have only recently dropped to below 0 degrees Celsius for longer than a few hours (max -7 degrees C).

Should I be concerned about the battery condition and how this doorbell is reacting to colder weather? Winter has yet to truly begin, and I am worried that this doorbell will not be functional as temperatures continue to drop. I know that ambient operating temperatures fall within -20 and +40 C (as indicated here).

 

 

 

1 Recommended Answer

Brad
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey folks,


We appreciate the feedback on our battery Cameras and Doorbells. Our team is looking closely into this behavior, and we will continue to pass along reports we see here in the Community. To learn more about cold weather battery charging behavior in Nest cameras and doorbells, please stop by our Help Center.

 

Best regards,

Brad.

View Recommended Answer in original post

606 REPLIES 606

Mikeriog
Community Member

Lol. Please please please post this to the facebook page.

Can someone like email an editor at cnet, the verge or Engadget? We really need to blow the lid open on this.

Maybe contact consumer affairs canada?

mpb65
Community Member

I tried posting my chat experience today twice on the Google Nest Facebook page.  It was deleted very quickly.  Time to hit the media folks.

mpb65
Community Member

There is also a Facebook Page for Google Nest Users:  Google Nest Users Group

mpb65
Community Member

The issue is now getting some traction on the Google Nest Facebook Page.  I suggest we also start posting there as well.  

mpb65
Community Member

Everyone, please keep posting your negative experiences on the Google Nest Facebook Page.  If they won't honour their defective product warranty claims, then it is time to let everyone know not buy this product.  

mpb65
Community Member

Please post your concerns on the Google Nest Facebook Page.  Maybe they will listen then.  

Dan_The_Man
Community Member

Anyone notice how days when it's warmer and doorbell only and not video works, first time it defrosts, it wakes you up telling you someone is at the door when noone is there!

DocOnTech
Community Member

this is ridiculous!  We are paying for monitoring and the camera does not work.  They have now added a new line on install that the camera was designed for -15 to 40.  Well it’s - 25 and I have no doorbell.  Thanks Google!   I want a refund, or at least a doorbell that works!!

mpb65
Community Member

Join the club!  As you can see from the over 400 posts here, it is a known and common issue which Google has chosen to ignore.  I attempted to the refund route under their warranty and was told "No, sorry for the inconvenience".  PLEASE POST YOUR EXPERIENCE ON THE GOOGLE NEST FACEBOOK PAGE.  At this point, we can resort to public shaming and/or small claims court which I am currently contemplating to make a point.  Absolutely ridiculous performance when the weather even drops slightly below 0°C here in Toronto.  Make sure you post any Facebook post under their existing Nest Doorbell post otherwise they will delete it.  Each time I try to post a new post on their page they delete me.  They seem to leave the post alone if it is posted under an existing doorbell post.

@DocOnTech 

The Google Store says the Operating Temperature for the Google Nest Doorbell (Battery) is "–4°F to 104°F (–20°C to 40°C)", the same as for our Google Nest Hello doorbells, which continue to operate even at -17 degrees Fahrenheit (-27 Celsius) or lower. As other customers have correctly pointed out, the battery doorbell's technical limitations and design seem to prevent it from performing like the older Nest Hello doorbell.

Dan_The_Man
Community Member

To add insult to injury, they say free 3 hours recording. So you take off for weekend come back and have no idea who came to your door, cause it's the LAST 3 hours, not 3 hours. Unreal 

Yeah, that's pretty sneaky of them.   I've seen a lot of folks that thought they were getting 3 hours of video recording, based on Google's marketing.

alirahimpour89
Community Member

I contacted Ben at 9to5google and he wrote this: 

https://9to5google.com/2022/01/21/nest-doorbell-camera-battery-cold-weather-reports/

 

Really hope Google answers!

Thank you so much!!  Everyone, please share the link and contact other tech media outlets.

I have also reached out to the Tech Editor at the New York Times, pui-wing.tam @ nytimes.com, hopefully she can help us as well since Google refuses to either recall the product or refund those of us who are having this issue.

I forgot to thank you for doing this... thanks!

mpb65
Community Member

Too funny.  They just tried to offer me a 3rd replacement on the Google Nest Facebook Page.  How insulting, after we have all now described a known defect.

vatertime
Community Member

mine completely quit working and its only 3 years old. I pay 160 bucks a year for nest aware and they are willing to throw that away because they don't want to replace the doorbell. I told them its insane to expect someone to buy a new one every couple years AND pay 160 for a subscription. I've had telus security cameras outside now for 7 years and had NO issues with any of them. I had a 6 year old delta faucet that quit working and they sent me a brand new one. it was WAY out of warranty! That's customer service that google could learn from. they refused to help me. i wont buy another google product again. not even a phone if this is how they support customers. 

mpb65
Community Member

Make sure you post your negative Feedback on the Google Nest Facebook Page.

CastenS
Community Member

If the weather forecast is right the temperature in Edmonton will remain above zero for the next 48 hrs. In fact temp is forcasted to be +9°C on Saturday. 

Right now, my battery level is 70% after I charged it last weekend. 

Let's see where it is in 48Hrs 

Why is it taking so long to charge?

In practice, I've never seen mine above 70% while wired to doorbell A/C, despite the documentation saying it should charge to -75% when wired.   Most of the time it hovers at around 67%, regardless of temperature.  I doubt you'll see much, if any, increase.

I agree that allowing, through a software update, to trickle charge back up to 100% would help. Yes it's not great LI-ION batteries but in my use case, I believe that could allow me to avoid bringing it in even in cold spells. Right now, that extra 25% you get by charging it inside is not that useful as it gets drained pretty quick without mitigation from trickle charging. 

Yep.  They could even make it an option in the app, with an associated warning message saying that it could reduce battery lifespan, but gives you more buffer to ride out temporary cold spells.

Teslas kinda operate that way. They recommend not charging to more than 90% on a regular basis. You can charge up to 100% but if you do it frequently, a message pops up indicating repeated full charges can shorten battery life. You're still allowed to do it. Something similar would be nice.

Eric_sfo
Community Member

Similar cold issues here but charging issues in general before, it just doesn’t keep up. Wish I had read all this before hand. Now stuck trying to see if I can plug it in to wall while still installed at the door or return it and go with different manufacturer.

mcfarljw
Community Member

I just made an almost identical post to this and @MplsCustomer directed me here. I’ll do my part and reach out to Google in as many ways as I can as well. Very disappointing as it worked quite well in not “extreme tempuratures” or whatever.

Here is my original post: https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Cameras-and-Doorbells/Nest-Doorbell-battery-suddenly-drained-...

Mikeriog
Community Member

Another article:

 

Review Geek: Google Confirms It’s Investigating Nest Doorbell and Camera Malfunctions.
https://www.reviewgeek.com/107986/google-confirms-its-investigating-nest-doorbell-and-camera-malfunc...

Whilmeister
Community Member

Have the same frustrating experience with my Google Nest Doorbell. Its hardwired yet the battery drained when the temp start dropping to -4C. I would understand that behavior if its not connected to a power supply. Its a major design and spec flaw that Google should address. They should not have sold it to Canada and to other countries that have a winter season. Please do something about it.

Please  make sure you post your comments to the Google Nest Facebook Page under any of the Nest Doorbell posts.  Do not start a new post or they will delete it as has happened to me several times now.

Dplane
Community Member

Hi everyone. Glad and sad I found this thread. I noticed the same issue before earlier in the winter but then when it warmed up it started charging again. So I kind of forgot about it. Now it's been colder and it also drained to nothing. Extremely frustrating. Really hope Google makes this right! 

ks89
Community Member

I'm starting to experience charging issues even when it's sub 10*C outside... this is pathetic.

mpb65
Community Member

Exactly, and that is well within their specs.  Completely pathetic.  Please post your comment on the Google Nest Facebook Page so that your comments are know.  It seems like Google does not even read our comments here.

 

asadqureshy
Community Member

I am in Toronto here - just started experiencing this. we're at about -20c and the doorbell died.
I reached out to support - they are honoring the warranty, but all they are doing is sending me a replacement.

clearly its a product error, not just a one of situation.

I really hope this can be solved via a software update.

Well, shutting off at -20C would be per their specs (-20C to + 40C operating temperature), even if that's obviously undesirable and unlike the Hello which in practice works over a broader range of temps than spec'd.   Agreed, a replacement is not going to fix that.   

I doubt they'll change the software to not have it turn off at that temp, as likely continuing to attempt to charge at those temps would represent both battery life and safety issues.   You can get Lithium plating while charging at those temperatures, which can lead to battery failure or even fires if the crystals penetrate through some layers of the battery.

I think any fixes that come in software are going to improve power management to give the device longer battery life while in cold weather.

They are sending me a replacement too even though I specifically stated I thought that wasn't going to fix the issue. I then referenced this whole community post but I highly doubt the support person actually took a look.

mpb65
Community Member

Yes, they tried that with me as well.  I was onto my second doorbell.  I refused.  I said that a refund was the only solution or product recall to address the issue.  They said no refund even though their 12 month warranty provides for this where a product is defective.  Why would I want a third replacement?!?!?!

I wonder if during the course of the year there will be a manufacturing revision with revised internals or something? Why else would they keep sending you the same unit over and over lol. Unless they EVEN more incompetent then we thought. 

They better not forget about us early adopters... whether it be firmware fix (seems doubtful till now but maybe the AI was not being efficient at all and they can improve the power drain...), new manufacturers revision or the new doorbell product they release this summer. That and they should change the marketing so that new consumers don't go through this hellish experience like we have. 

Get this, in my area there was been a spate of car break ins and other night time "activities". Now with this going on, I can't even rely on my wired doorbell to keep it's charge so that I can actually keep the front of my property safe....

What happened to the days of retail when someone would read these comments, reach out and say "we're going to do all that we can to make it right".