My Ring Smart Solar Lights are losing power faster than I expected them to. What's going on?
Check the following if the battery in your Ring Smart Solar Lights is dying faster than expected:
- Remember the season
- If it's winter and you're in an area that gets less than the recommended eight hours of sunlight per day, you may need to move your unit or the solar panel to catch as much light as possible when the sun is in the sky.
- If you have a Solar Floodlight, you can purchase another Ring Battery Pack on the Ring website to upgrade your battery capacity. Adding another battery might make it easier to make it through the winter.
- While you cannot add another battery for the Solar Steplight or Solar Pathlight, you can always take those devices inside for a quick charge usingt he micro-USB cable whenever you need to.
- How often is your light activating?
- If your light is activating more often than necessary, you can always reduce your motion sensitivity in the Ring app.
- Pro tip: if your lights are in a group and you find too many are turning on when you don’t need them to, you can disable motion sensors on those lights and use only certain lights and trigger point sensors. This will help save your battery life and reduce unnecessary notifications.
- What is your light sensor threshold set at?
- All Smart Solar Lights have a light sensor inside which prevents your lights from turning on during daylight hours. To keep your light sensor activated and lights off during the day, try to keep your setting between one and three. If it is any higher, your lights may be detecting motion and activating when they don’t need to be.
- Do you have any schedules set?
- All Solar Smart Lights allow you to schedule your lights to turn on from dusk to dawn at a preset low lumen level. As long as your device is getting adequate sunlight, this feature isn’t a significant drain on your battery. However, if it’s winter and you are not receiving sufficient sunlight to charge your light, we recommend you disable or shorten your schedule. You can shorten your schedule by going into your device light schedules in the Ring app and adjusting its time frame. For example, instead of having your light on fully from dusk to dawn you can schedule your light on for evening (7pm to 11pm) and early morning (5am to 7am). This saves you six hours of unnecessary battery drain.
Click here for more information on setting light schedules.
- Are your lights at maximum brightness?
- Try lowering your brightness during the winter to help save battery life.
- Do you have linked devices?
- If you linked your Solar Smart Lights with any of your other Ring devices, make sure that link is not causing your lights to activate too much. This can significantly drain your battery.
If you want general information on Ring Smart Lighting, click here.
