Hey guys, first, I’m sorry if it seems like I don’t have a very clear understanding of how the Wyze Sense works since I’ve only seen a brief video of its capabilities, so pardon me if this is a dumb question.
The question I have regarding the Wyze Cam v2 and Wyze Sense working together is, do I have to leave the Wyze Cam v2 on (powered on) in order for the Wyze Sense detection to work once it detects… lets say a door being opened?, or will there be a ‘sleep mode’ feature coming in the future for the Wyze Cam v2 so that I don’t have to leave the camera on the whole time for the Wyze Sense to work properly?
For example, how I hope it’ll work is, once the Wyze Sense is triggered, the Wyze Cam v2 will automatically turn on from it’s sleep mode state and start recording, is this how it’s going to work? Sounds like a pipe dream I know, but I truly hope it works like this. Fingers crossed.
I ask this because I’d rather not have the Wyze Cam v2 on and running for hours and hours possibly overheating it (just for peace of mind sakes), which is what I currently do with my Wyze Cam v2’s where if I need to use them, I will turn them on, but if not I’ll just turn them off. I mean I have left my Wyze Cams on for hours in the past and have noticed that they seem to heat up quite a bit, so this is why it’s a concern for me.
Hope one of the devs or something can answer and help clear this up. Thanks.
Even in OFF mode, the power consumption of the camera is about the same as on. So, no, even if it collected sense inputs while OFF (which I don’t think it will) you would not be saving any power consumption.
The thing is I’m not too worried about the amount of power consumption that I’ll be saving as opposed to the amount of heat that the camera can produce while it’s on. Again, I just rather have the camera be off (or in sleep mode with the Sense fingers crossed) than to keep it on for hours and hours, potentially risking the internals to be overheated overtime, which can affect it’s life span and durability.
As @gemniii says, the heat and the power consumption are closely correlated. The cameras do get warm as do many electronic devices, but are intended to be able to be plugged in 24/7.
Let me ask you this: you say you have been in the habit of turning off the camera when not using it. When you say “turn off”, do you mean unplug it or do you mean turn it to OFF state in the app? If you mean turning it to OFF state in the app, do you feel the camera is much less warm in this state? (That would surprise me.)
Hi Vince … I think the WYZE camera would generate heat in the off state unless you unplug it. Like a TV, in the plugged in off state, the camera is constantly looking for an “on” command over wifi like a TV waiting for the remote control.
As for longevity … Desktop manufactors used to recommend that you leave desktops on because what caused problems was hitting cool components with sudden jolts of electricity and heat.
And think about incandescent lights bulbs and when they usually blew … usually when you turned on the light … not after the bulb had been burning for hours on end.
Not sure either desktops or light bulbs apply to WYZE cameras … but powering up any electrical device can cause problems. I say let WYZE cameras run … and if you are worried about longetivity, buy a couple of spare cameras for backup!
@gemniii Huh? I don’t understand. At least for this post in particular, It doesn’t matter to me about the power consumption since @Loki mentioned that I “would not be saving any power consumption.”
Instead I’m more worried about how hot the Wyze Cams get when you put your hand on it after it’s been left on for hours versus feeling it when it’s in the off state in the menus.
Let me ask you this: you say you have been in the habit of turning off the camera when not using it. When you say “turn off”, do you mean unplug it or do you mean turn it to OFF state in the app? If you mean turning it to OFF state in the app, do you feel the camera is much less warm in this state? (That would surprise me.)
@Loki Off state, not unplugging. Yes the camera is much less warm to me in the off state.
Again, I don’t know why I have to keep reiterating this since I’ve already mentioned it in the original post, It’s a peace of mind thing for me. All I’m looking for is an answer to my question, not about the power consumption or any that stuff.
@todwatts Okay maybe it does generate some heat in the off state, but I think it generates more heat when the camera is on, which I don’t mind as much.
I say let WYZE cameras run … and if you are worried about longetivity, buy a couple of spare cameras for backup!
I rather not do that. I mean of course they are only ~$20 cams, but it adds up.
Anyways, I’m still going to mention this as it’s a peace of mind thing for me rather than it having to do with anything factual like the examples you have used.
I’d like to see some objective evidence of this since I really don’t think that heat generation would be much different in OFF state vs ON state (given that power consumption is the same).
Your question is whether a PIR motion sense event will cause the camera to change from OFF to ON state and record a video clip. I have said that I do not think it will, but that is just a guess. We won’t really know the answer until someone tests this to find out.
Well I’ve two cams in easy reach. I turned one off via the app, waited 30 minutes.
Ambient temp - 70 degrees F
Camera that was left on and working 88.5
Camera turned “off” with the app 88.0
Measured on the top with an IR thermometer gun.
/edit - with proper funding I can buy a dozen cams and do a controlled experiment.
Your question is whether a PIR motion sense event will cause the camera to change from OFF to ON state and record a video clip. I have said that I do not think it will, but that is just a guess. We won’t really know the answer until someone tests this to find out.
Just going to copy and paste the original question because I feel like it wasn’t or hasn’t been answered yet. In my opinion, you only brought up another issue which was the ‘power consumption’ aspect, which isn’t a concern to me.
The question I have regarding the Wyze Cam v2 and Wyze Sense working together is, do I have to leave the Wyze Cam v2 on (powered on) in order for the Wyze Sense detection to work once it detects… lets say a door being opened?, or will there be a ‘sleep mode’ feature coming in the future for the Wyze Cam v2 so that I don’t have to leave the camera on the whole time for the Wyze Sense to work properly?
For example, how I hope it’ll work is, once the Wyze Sense is triggered, the Wyze Cam v2 will automatically turn on from it’s sleep mode state and start recording, is this how it’s going to work? Sounds like a pipe dream I know, but I truly hope it works like this. Fingers crossed.
@gemniii Wow you went out of your way to do this. I don’t think this was necessary even though I mentioned the overheating concern that I have. I still have it and it’s still a peace of mind thing more so than actual tests like the one you just performed. Just think of it this way, in sports, they have statistics (facts on paper) and then they have the ‘eye test’ with what you see and what your gut feeling is telling you of a certain player.
It doesn’t sound like anyone is going to convince you that you can just leave the camera on and not worry about it.
So, I’ll try to get an answer as to whether the camera will respond to a Sense trigger while in OFF state. (I’m guessing no.) I will say that because of the comm channels that are shut down when the camera is in OFF state, it either is or isn’t going to work. If not, it’s not something easily changed in the future due to the design of the comm architecture.
@Loki No offence, but I’m not looking to be convinced. I guess I just feel a little differently than others about it. Some people leave their computers on the whole day, others turn it off when they’re not using it, (etc etc with other hardware and devices).
I’m pretty much expecting nothing will be changed in the future in regards to this because of what you said and how complicated it will be.
I think there would be like a IFTTT that you could program into the WYZE app like what we do with shortcuts now. if sense detects motion, turn on camera, turn on motion detection, upload to cloud. it wouldn’t make sense there would not be an option like that. That’s the whole point of the motion detection wyzesense.
I think the problem with that may be that during the time it takes the camera to come back to fully online and capture a motion clip, the trigger of the motion may well be gone.
I have no problem with wanting to turn the camera off when you’re not using it. That’s certainly your choice. I’ve just been trying to make sure you’re aware that in the case of Wyze Cams, the OFF state does not reduce heat generated (or power consumption). Its purpose is to disable certain functions (SD card recording, event recording, etc). But it is not a sleep state or off state in the traditional sense.
I have no problem with wanting to turn the camera off when you’re not using it. That’s certainly your choice.
What you said earlier, “It doesn’t sound like anyone is going to convince you that you can just leave the camera on and not worry about it.”
So are you trying to convince me or you don’t have a problem with it? It doesn’t sound like it’s both, so I’m confused.
I’ve just been trying to make sure you’re aware that in the case of Wyze Cams, the OFF state does not reduce heat generated (or power consumption).
What you said earlier, “I’d like to see some objective evidence of this since I really don’t think that heat generation would be much different in OFF state vs ON state (given that power consumption is the same).”
It seems to me like you’re still not sure about this. Either way, it doesn’t matter as I’ve stated over and over, it’s a peace of mind thing for me and nothing to do with facts.
Well, I was trying to convince you that you don’t need to turn it off for the reason that you stated (heat control and camera longevity) because the OFF state will not affect either of those. However, if you understand that and still wish to turn it off, I won’t be trying to change your mind on that.
Prior to @gemniii’s post, I had not seen any objective evidence that OFF does not reduce heat output, and so my comment was somewhat speculative. Now that he did the experiment, I no longer have any doubt.
We do try to deal with facts around here, and I can only try to help based on the facts that I know. If it gives you peace of mind to switch it off, that is your prerogative. You own your camera, not me.
