All Ring doorbell owners warned of battery issues as freezing temperatures hit the UK
HOUSEHOLDS with Ring doorbells are warned their battery may be affected by the bitter cold snap sweeping across the UK.
Last night temperatures plummeted as low as minus 8C in rural Scotland and northern England.
The Met Office has issued a yellow alert for snow that will be in force from noon tomorrow until 9am on Monday, covering all regions of England, other than the south west, most of Wales and parts of southern Scotland.
About two inches of snow is expected widely across the Midlands, Wales and northern England.
But high ground in Wales and the Pennines could see up to 16 inches fall.
Motorists have been warned to take extra care on the road.
And public health officials have issued their own amber alert covering all of England, over concern that deaths are likely as a result of the weather.
Households with a Ring doorbell will also need to watch out as their expensive device could struggle as a result.
Extreme cold negatively impacts lithium-ion batteries.
But Ring says even devices wired to an external power source like a powered doorbell chime can suffer too.
The Amazon-owned firm says that the battery may not hold a charge “as effectively” if temperatures drop to 3C which may mean you’ll need to charge it more often.
However, if the chill worsens to 0C, Ring warns your doorbell’s battery “may not charge at all”.
“Even hardwired configurations may not charge the battery,” the company’s website reads.
And should it ever go to minus 20.5C or lower, the battery may stop working completely until temperatures warm up – fortunately there is nothing that extreme forecast.
Ring urges users to bring their device inside when the battery runs out during cold periods.
“Bring your entire device inside and charge the battery with a USB cord,” the firm says.
“This will allow your device to warm up while the battery charges.”
You should also make sure the battery is charged to 100 per cent so it lasts as long as possible.
“It’s important to constantly monitor your battery life when it gets cold to make sure your device is always working,” Ring adds.
If recharging doesn’t work due to the cold weather, you should bring the battery inside and allow it to adjust to room temperature for a bit before attempting to re-charge again.
How to stop over-active Ring doorbell alerts
IF your Ring video cameras are a little over-active you should try this trick.
Turn on the Geofence feature, which is a virtual perimeter or invisible boundary around a specific geographic location that you define.
- Open the Ring app, and go to the menu, which is the three lines in the corner
- Now head to Settings
- Select Geofence
- Here you can adjust the position of the Geofence as you see fit
- Tap Confirm
- Now set up Auto-Snooze
- Choose which devices you want to snooze notifications for
- You can also set a Snooze duration
- Tap Continue
- Then check the Arm/Disarm Reminders – these will alert you to change your Mode when you enter or exit the Geofence
- Tap Continue, then Finish & Save