Hello everyone, just added a 5th camera and this one will go outside in the back yard. I built a little fake birdhouse to keep the camera safe from the driving rain and scorching sun we get here in South Florida, but now I’m wondering if I should add a small computer fan to exhaust hot air from the birdhouse since it will be almost entirely enclosed otherwise. Specs say the Wyze Cam V3 is ok up up to 122F, but temperatures here in the shade with a breeze will regularly be 98F, and enclosed places in full sun can exceed 120F. The birdhouse is built with 1x4 pieces of pine wood, so the roof and walls are relatively thick compared to its size, and leaves roughly 2 x 5 x 4 inches of internal space. Enough for the camera, voltage converter and coiled up USB cable. I could probably fit a 40mm computer fan at the bottom, exhausting air down through the floor. Has anyone else done something similar in super hot climates? Or is the birdhouse good enough by itself?
You could probably even get a USB powered fan and use a more powerful wall wart to power both. I don’t think it will get that hot in there though, it isn’t clear glass, and the camera itself doesn’t put off much heat.
The distance to the camera is too far to run USB power from the Wyze wall wart, so I’m running 12v out to the birdhouse via burial cable with a 12v 2a power supply, and then a step down voltage converter will live in the birdhouse with the camera providing 5v USB power. So I have 12v and 5v power available in the birdhouse which gives me a lot of fan options.
I’m not using any glass for the lookout hole, and I’m planning to paint the roof of the birdhouse white with some elastomeric roof coating, so it might be alright. It’s just that the inside of my porch roof can get to 115F even with a bed of pine needles on top.
Certainly can’t hurt, as long as the fan isn’t exposed to water. If you want the camera to record audio, obviously choose a larger, quieter fan, but a low speed 40 should be pretty quiet. Not like you need to move a ton of air.
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