How long will the battery last?

A battery camera on a quiet side door and the same camera over a busy driveway are not the same camera. Tell us how busy your spot is and this works out roughly how long it runs between charges, using Alarm.com’s own power figures for each model.

How busy is the spot?

Busier areas make the camera wake up more often to check whether something is worth recording.

Recordings per day

How many clips the camera typically saves to your account each day.

Activity at night (%)

Share of recordings, motion and viewing that happen after dark. Night vision uses extra power.

Doorbell call video (min/day)

Time spent watching live video after someone rings, or from the Doorbell section of the app.

Wired to a doorbell circuit

Connected to a compatible doorbell transformer, the camera charges continuously (temperature permitting).

Live view (min/day)

Time spent watching the camera live from the Video section of the app.

High dynamic range (HDR)

Better detail in bright and shaded areas, at a small cost in battery.

Less common settings

Live view (min/day)

Live video started from the Video section of the app, not from a doorbell ring.

Perimeter Guard triggers (per month)

How often the camera's deterrent (light and siren) goes off in a typical month.

Spotlight turned on manually (min/day)

Solar panel

Partial sunlight (hours/day)

Hours the panel gets at least some sun.

Direct sunlight (hours/day)

Hours the whole panel sits in full sun.

Partial and direct sunlight can't add up to more than 24 hours.

When it does need charging: on the 781B doorbell the battery lifts out, so the doorbell stays on the door — Alarm.com's video shows how. On the V731B camera the whole camera comes off its magnetic mount, or you add the solar panel and it looks after itself.

These are estimates, not a promise. Deep cold, weak Wi-Fi and an older battery all shorten real-world life, and an Ottawa January shortens all three at once. If the number here looks tight for where you want the camera, a wired camera is usually the better answer — tell us the spot and we will say so honestly.