Upgrading to a video doorbell allows you to keep an eye on your home from your smartphone. But many video doorbells run on batteries, even when they’re hardwired. If you feel like you’re constantly charging your Ring Video Doorbell, here are 7 ways to make the battery last longer.
How Long Does a Ring Video Doorbell Battery Last?
According to Ring, your video doorbell should last 6-12 months between charges. However, it might not last as long depending on the features you use, how many “events” your video doorbell captures, and even the weather. If your battery only lasts a few weeks or less, you might want to change some settings in the Ring app.
How to Make Your Ring Video Doorbell Battery Last Longer
To make your Ring Video Doorbell battery last longer, you can use the Ring app to turn off power-heavy features like Snapshot, HDR, and Pre-Roll. You can also lower motion sensitivity and video recording length. Or you can install a solar panel or hardwire your device to make the battery last longer.
How to Check Your Ring Video Doorbell Battery
To see how much battery your video doorbell has left, open the Ring app and tap the three-line icon in the top-left corner. Then go to Devices and select your Ring Video Doorbell. Finally, tap Power Settings and check your Battery Level percentage under Battery Status.
On this screen, Ring also provides four shortcuts to settings that you can quickly change in order to make your battery last longer. Even if a section says, “Using recommended settings,” and it’s highlighted in green, you might still be able to tweak these settings to optimize your battery life even more.
- Snapshot Capture: This will make your doorbell take a picture every few seconds, minutes, or hours, so you can get a better idea of what’s happening on and around your property throughout the day. You should increase the time between snapshot captures or turn off the feature entirely to make your battery last longer.
- Motion Frequency: This feature lets you choose how long it takes for your video doorbell to check for motion after sending you an alert. To increase your battery life, you want to wait longer between motion alerts. Ring recommends setting this to Regularly or Periodically.
- Advanced Motion Detection: With customizable “motion zones,” your video doorbell will only notify you when motion is detected in certain areas you choose. If you disable this feature, you’ll get alerts whenever motion is detected anywhere in the camera’s field of view, which will make the battery die faster. So, you should keep it on to make your video doorbell last longer.
- Video Recording Length: The shorter your recordings are, the less power your video doorbell will use. Ring recommends you set the length at 30 seconds or less to make your battery last longer.
Read More: Ring Video Doorbell tips and tricks you should know
1. Lower Motion Sensitivity
By lowering the sensitivity of your Ring Video Doorbell, you’ll receive fewer notifications, which means the device will use less battery power. To do this, open the Ring app and select your doorbell. Next, go to Motion Settings > Motion Sensitivity and adjust the slider to the left.
2. Disable Live View, HDR, and Pre-Roll
Live View lets you keep an eye on your property in real-time, but it also drains your video doorbell’s battery, even when you’re not using the feature. To turn off Live View in the Ring app, choose your video doorbell, go to Device Settings > Video Settings, and uncheck Live View.
On this screen, you will also see a few other settings you can change to make your battery last longer.
First, you can disable HDR. This feature improves the video quality of your recordings, which will make it easier to see details in shadows and bright areas. However, it also uses a lot of power, so turning it off will make your battery last longer.
Read More: What is HDR?
If you see Pre-Roll on this page, you should also disable it to save battery. This feature will constantly record four seconds of video in a loop onto your device’s internal memory. That footage is then added to the beginning of your video recordings, so you can see what happened before the motion event was detected. However, this will use a lot of power and drain your battery much faster.
3. Keep Your Video Doorbell Warm
When it gets cold outside, your Ring Video Doorbell won’t last as long. At 36 degrees, your battery won’t hold a charge as effectively. At 32 degrees, your battery might not charge at all, even if it’s hardwired. And at negative 5 degrees, the onboard software will keep your Ring Video Doorbell from charging the battery at all.
When it gets too cold, Ring advises you to take your battery inside and allow it to reach room temperature before you try to recharge it.
4. Fix Your WiFi Connection
Your Ring Video Doorbell will draw more power if it has trouble connecting to your WiFi network. To see how strong the WiFi signal to your doorbell is, open the Ring app, select your device, and go to Device Health > Signal Strength. If the text is green, your signal is good, but if it’s yellow or red, you might want to strengthen your WiFi connection.
Read More: How to test your WiFi speed
While older Ring doorbells can only connect to your 2.4 GHz network, some newer models have dual-band capabilities. If you have a dual-band doorbell and your WiFi connection is weak, you might want to change your WiFi network. However, this will require you to reset your device. To find out if your doorbell is dual-band, check out this list here.
READ MORE: What’s the difference between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WiFi networks?
You can also strengthen your WiFi network by getting a new Ring Chime Pro. This little device plugs into any regular power outlet and lets you hear the familiar doorbell chime anywhere in your home. But the newest model also acts as a WiFi extender when you plug it in between your doorbell and WiFi router.
5. Use a Solar Panel to Make Your Battery Last Longer
Ring sells small solar panels that you can connect to your video doorbell to make your battery last longer. According to Ring, the large solar panels will keep your doorbell continuously charged as long as it is installed in an area that gets 3-4 hours of direct sunlight.
However, all Ring solar panels will only provide a “trickle charge,” and you might still need to charge the battery occasionally.
6. Hardwire Your Video Doorbell
The most reliable way to keep your Ring Video Doorbell charged is by hardwiring it to an existing doorbell system. However, even with constant power from your existing wiring, Ring Video Doorbells will only get supplied a “trickle charge” to the battery, which means you might still need to recharge it manually every once in a while.
To be compatible, your existing doorbell system must have a transformer that supplies 8-24 Volts AC (VAC), or you need to install a Ring Hardwired Transformer Kit. Before installing the doorbell, you should always disconnect power to the installation area, but you still might need a qualified electrician to install your doorbell, depending on local laws and codes.
Want to leave it up to the professionals? HelloTech can send a certified technician to your home as soon as today. All our technicians are hand-selected, background-checked, and insured to install video doorbells, and your tech can even provide and install a transformer if there isn’t enough power.
7. Replace Old Batteries
If your batteries are several years old, you might need to replace them. Most of the latest Ring Video Doorbells all use the same battery, so you can easily find a replacement. But you might also try contacting Ring’s contact customer support. Depending on your situation, they might send you a replacement or provide other solutions.
How Long Does It Take to Charge a Ring Video Doorbell Battery?
According to Ring, it takes 4-10 hours to fully recharge a battery, depending on the device. However, it matters what kind of charger you are using. It will take about 4-5 hours to charge a Ring battery with a 2.1 AMP charger, but it will take twice as much time (around 9-10 hours) with a 1 AMP charger.