topic Re: Would frost stop motion detection? in Arlo Essential Wire-Free Cameras

Would frost stop motion detection?

Mikey_BB — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 13:46:18 GMT

We had quite a heavy frost last night and it seems a motion may not have been detected this morning.

It is likely that there was dew on the device, which then froze and frosted.

The doorbell is located on the North (colder) side of the house.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Re: Would frost stop motion detection?

jguerdat — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 14:14:30 GMT

I suppose it's possible but my cameras have never done that. We can have heavy frost and blowing snow which can cause false triggers but the cameras still work. One doorbell is mostly uncovered and never had a problem (the other is well protected).

Re: Would frost stop motion detection?

StephenB — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 14:11:46 GMT

@Mikey_BB wrote:

It is likely that there was dew on the device, which then froze and frosted.

The cameras use a passive infrared (PIR) sensor to detect motion. Water does absorb some IR frequencies, so the performance will be degraded when frost is covering the sensor.