Link a motion sensor to your doorbell to enhance the battery life | Security Made Simple

[Yanyee1]

Hi, eufy fans,

We missed you! Today, we’re back with another handy little trick that helps to make your life easier!

We’ve recently been experimenting with different ways to get even more battery life out of our Video Doorbell range. We’ve come across a cool solution that we just had to share with you!

We discovered that linking a MOTION SENSOR to your DOORBELL (model: T8210) can improve the overall battery performance by a considerable amount!

Let’s take a look at how this is done and why it could be useful to you!

Why link them together?

When paired correctly and set up in the right locations, the doorbell and motion sensor combo can be a match made in heaven! When linked together they can:

• More flexible when selecting installation position and greater detection angles.
• Improve the performance when detecting motion and will help to avoid false detections
• Notable optimization of the overall battery life

How do I link them?

1) Choose the optimal location to install the motion sensor

• Place the sensor in an area that covers the main entrance path but does not face the street directly.

• Use the provided bracket to install the sensor in a slightly downward facing angle. See the image below for reference.

• Avoid facing the direction where people directly come from. A Sideways view is the most effective for detection.

• Choose a sheltered location to avoid direct sunlight and rain. (Motion sensor is not waterproof )

Recommended installation placement and angle:

2) Sync the devices by creating an automation

Follow the automation guide video here for all you need to know: https://youtu.be/UxSWADlZCE4

3) Turn off the doorbell’s own motion detection function during the test.

4) Adjust the working mode of the battery and change it to a custom mode.

Doorbell setting → Power manager → Customize Recording → The recording time can be set to 30-60s → turn “End clip early if motion stops” off

5) Check the effect

When you have correctly set up the automation between the two devices, test to see if the doorbell is working correctly. To do this, trigger the motion sensor by walking directly through its detection area. If if it is working correctly:

• Instant Notification: You should receive a notification via the eufy Security app informing you that a relevant event has been detected.
• Video recording: After approximately 60 seconds a video record titled “linked event” will be available to view in the event tab of the app.
  

Try it out and let us know what you think！

If you encounter any problems during use or have any other questions, please contact our customer service team through the following channels:

1）eufy Security app → Help → Call us/Feedback.

2）Ask your questions here at the bottom of this post.

3）Send us an email: support@eufylife.com.

We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you for your support!

[PF_Home]

Would it be possible to make the sensor waterproof? This is a perfect solution but pointless for small porches. For me the sensor would increase the detection range for a long sidewalk.

[motocrane]

Interesting. I like this company. They are always improving ways to use their existing products. Not just coming out with new ones making the previous models obsolete.

[Andy146]

Great, thanks Eufy.

But yes I agree, pls release a sensor with a good outdoor weather rating (IP67 like the cameras) for even more flexibility with positioning…AND then we could also use them for Eufy’s virtual fence idea and position in the yard etc!

Oh, and another battery saving idea is for Eufy to enable video recording only when someone presses the doorbell (in the security mode) - and then you don’t have to have motion detect on and recordings for particular periods if you don’t want! Otherwise if you have kids playing in the front yard (or similar) and you get unnecessary recordings, you have to turn recording off altogether and miss recording a doorbell press visitor.

[Nathan_Andrade]

@Andy146 if you turn movement detection off, it should still send you notifications when button is pressed.

[PF_Home]

But they aren’t updating their software. They have good product but without software updates other companies will pass them. Some already have with the ability to work with IFTTT AND SMARTTHINGS

[chefrd]

I lOVE this idea. Decided I didn’t want a doorbell that will show me the backside of the package thief (Recording delay). Also because I was forced to place it only one way… I would have to deal with whatever “view” the sensor had.

Let us get that motion sensor out away from the doorbell for the best “view” for detection. And give the doorbell a second to wake up and take a look early. This would require waterproofing for me.

[shadowvict]

This is a really smart tip! I purchased a separate 2c to cover the entire driveway. Can it be used in the same way?

[Andy146]

Thanks mate - yep it does but it doesn’t record - so if you miss the notification to stream, you don’t know who was there…

[keiran.hoare]

Sounds more like a cover up for the poor battery performance of the doorbell (model T8210). Why encourage people to buy motion sensors when the doorbell itself has a motion sensor?? I know why…the maximum 9-10 days of battery life of the wireless doorbell.

My doorbell last 10 days max. It looks to be activating everytime a car drives past or the trees move, even if I’ve set the motion detection activity zone to my front lawn only, where nothing moves…unless someone is walking up to the door.

I would rather a firmware upgrade than you telling me to buy motion sensors to “to improve battery performance considerably more”

[Adrian22]

This a great idea, but the implementation is kinda limiting the Eufy ecosystem.

MOTION SENSOR should be used under AUTOMATION with any record Camera, Doorbell or Flood light.

I’ve got a feeling that Eufy is not really an ecosystem …

[John0]

It’s a way to improve the battery life, I think it’s nice that eufy is coming up with these tricks.

The camera does indeed activate when any motion is detected. It must, because it has to detect a human and needs the cam for that. I have mine set at a fixed recording length of 45 seconds. When I drive on the road in front, and then back into the driveway, step out of the car and walk past the doorbell, the entire sequence was captured. Only because in the last few of the 45s I walked by, it pushed a notification because it detected a human: me. The recording started when my car drove in front of the doorbell.
For me personally this is very nice, it also catches delivery guys when they stop at my house.
My doorbell is connected to the existing wires for constant power, which is why this is possible for me.

Eufy recommends to either wire up the battery doorbell or buy the wired variant if the camera would look out over a (busy) road.

[OdCam]

It’s an amazing idea that generates more sales for Eufy.

A respectable company would provide this for free to all existing customers since its a product fault. I suppose Eufy don’t fall into that category.

[colinsnoeyer]

The motion detection on my doorbell is way to slow! Movement almost over when he starts recording… plz fix it with update ore something cause now detection is worthless Function

[PF_Home]

The whole point of a battery doorbell is for people who can’t get it wired. Eufy is making a claim they can’t back up. Oh and now you have to buy another one of their products to make the existing product function like they say it should in the first place. What’s the point of Eufy even having the battery version then? How can you as a moderator defend Eufy for making people buy another product to fix an issue they created? It’s not a trick. It’s a fix.

[Andy146]

Can’t seem to buy a motion sensor locally for me though (Australia) even though many of their other products can be…

[neil.holsgrove]

If the motion sensor isn’t waterproof…This is nothing more than pointless marketing trick…Stop it eufy I’ve been very happy with my wireless doorbell. I don’t want you constantly pushing products onto me that doesn’t even fully work in all use cases.

[John0]

Eufy is not forcing anyone to buy anything. They always stated that battery life may vary in different situations.
Weather, mounting, how busy the lookout is and user settings all play a big part in how long it lasts.
I bet if you put any other doorbell brand on the spot the eufy battery doorbell is mounted, they would also not live up to the expectation. That’s what you get with battery powered cameras.

I do believe this is something eufy could do better, communicate that battery life is subject to a lot of factors and may very based on that. For more transparency, they could provide the test results on which the claim is based. Although I do think it’s based on an extrapolation (10% drop in 18 days for example), this would make it clearer for everybody.
I don’t think they released a doorbell which, by design, is flawed and will under no circumstance ever reach 180 days on a charge.
The other thing eufy could could have done is ignore the complaints and not think with the user.

If really you get only 10 days worth of battery, something is wrong and that should be visible (many recordings, long recordings, Power Manager stats etc). I’d be happy to look at those statistics and doorbell settings to see if something can be improved before going through the replacement hassle.

[keiran.hoare]

John i know why I have poor battery life on my doorbell. It is because they ai is filtering every single movement in the capture area. As a result I’ve had 2,500 events filtered in 3 days and lost 30% battery.

My eufycam 2 pro, which faces the exact same street, from the other side of the house has been going for 33 days and only lost 35% battery and filtered 8,000 events. Im really happy with my eufycam 2.

If I extrapolate the 2,500 events over 3 days for the doorbell over the same 33 days it is the equivalent of 27,500 events filtered vs 8,000 on the eufycam, which captures essential the same area.

Why can’t the doorbell only filter events in the motion activity zone I set? If it didn’t my doorbell would last months before needing a recharge and I would be really happy.

But eufy want me to buy motion sensors that aren’t even water proof.