Nest cam with floodlight in extreme weather

[Eyestalk]

We are currently being impacted by a polar vortex here with the current temperature at -33C but it is going down to -41C over night. I can understand the cameras not working due to the batteries but is there a reason the floodlights are also offline and  not working?

I have four cameras, two nest with floodlights and two nest cams that are running on AC.  The floodlights went offline a day before the two nest cams running on AC.  

[JeffGWpg]

It seems this is a "feature" of the battery / wired cameras. Pretty disappointing. I have one of the standalone cameras and last year just mounted it the garage because I needed to wait for spring to mount it in my back yard. I had no idea these things shut down when it gets cold. In Winnipeg it got cold yesterday and my camera has been offline since. My Nest Doorbell (wired, 2nd gen and previous 1st gen) and my Nest Cam IQ Outdoor have *never* shut off in the years that I've had them and it's gotten much much colder than it is right now. 
Kinda makes these cameras useless in this climate....

[Eyestalk]

Yeah I had one camera come back online today. It is -22C.  Can't get the others back online and not having security lightning outside when it gets dark at 4pm is sort of a deal breaker.  I can't understand how these are sold in Canada honestly if this is what I am experiencing in their first winter.  They are wired.  Even a small price of heat tape in there would solve this. 

[JeffGWpg]

Yeah mine came back online today too. I think once the temp got to -20C. It's still on and Google weather says it's -21 but I think that's wrong. We'll see what happens as the temp stops again...

You'd think that the heat the unit produces from all its chips and capacitors would be enough to keep it happy.

[EmersonB]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for reaching out here in the Community. The batteries in Nest Cam (battery) and Nest Doorbell (battery) have the following minimum temperature requirements:

Minimum operating temperature: -20 °C (-4 °F)

Minimum charging temperature: 0 °C (32 °F)

At temperatures between -20 °C (-4 °F) and 0 °C (32 °F), the battery can still power your device, but it won't charge. It may also drain more quickly than usual. At temperatures close to -20 °C (-4 °F), your battery may have less than half the life it has in warm weather.

To learn more you may visit our public article about "Cold weather battery charging behavior in Nest cameras and doorbells".

Regards,

Emerson

[JeffGWpg]

The issue at hand is we buy these products with the intent of using them powered 24/7 so that the battery is not a concern. We don't find out until after the fact that they have an operational temperature range. As I mentioned earlier, I've had other Nest cameras that did not have a battery that function perfectly in the cold. As these new cameras don't have a non-battery option, I can only assume that they would function the same as the original cameras. I guess we were duped.

[EmersonB]

Hi JeffGWpg,

I appreciate your update. We’ll take note of it and ensure that we'll learn from your experience as we continually improve our products and services. Rest assured that we'll take this as feedback and learn from this to deliver a better process and experience in the future. 

Best,

Emerson

[JeffGWpg]

So interesting tidbit...since my camera came back online, it has remained online. Currently the temp is -26C and has been hovering around that temp for the past 6 hours or so. I am starting to think that as long as the camera is transmitting data, there is enough heat to keep it online. When my camera went offline the other day, it seemed to coincide with my mesh router going offline. This was the closes access point to my camera. Now that it is connected, it is staying online which suggests to me that there's enough heat being generated to stop it from shutting down. (just my thoughts)

[EmersonB]

Hey JeffGWpg,

Thanks for getting back to us. We're glad to know that it's working fine now. In case you have additional concerns or issues, you know where to find us.

Cheers,

Emerson

[JeffGWpg]

Ha! I didn't say it was fixed! (just so people don't think that "working fine now" is the same as "fixed") I am just saying it's currently working. The temperature limitations are still there...they're just not kicking in right at -20 C for me currently 🙂

[EmersonB]

Hello JeffGWpg,

Got it! Thanks for clarifying. It's good to know it's working for now, even with the limitations. We're always looking for ways to improve it and find a fix for those limitations and we’ll tak it as feedback. I'd suggest you send yours with our Send Feedback form to let the Google Engineering team know about your concern. While they won't respond directly back to you, this is the best way to let them know about this. 

Regards,

Emerson