Something or someone has
been triggering our security lights on the side of our house at night.
But despite my best efforts to catch whoever or whatever
it is in the act, I was always too late to see what it was
and the time it took me to get off my back when the floodlight came on.
So I kept out of my window. The area was empty.
House already has a network of security cameras, courtesy of Hikvision and Google.
Nest devices, plus a wise CAM V3.
Unfortunately, none of them were in a suitable location
to monitor the side of the house due to a lack of convenient power connections.
There was a stolen three
and one floodlights turned out to be the perfect add on for my Wyze Cam v3
and this video I run through the features, installation and performance
of the floodlights in my quest to solve the mystery of the unseen visitor
right
I've been a long time fan and user of Wyze camera products for a while now.
The versatility and low costs
make them ideal for smart home and home security enthusiasts.
Most recently I was delighted to take a look at the WASSERSTEIN'S camera
mounts to use for a personal project for my now deceased pet dog. C.C.
the cameraman for the wise can be three helped as many
as the last months of her life, so she was more comfortable for this video.
Wasserstein sent me the very intriguing
three and one floodlight, which is compatible with Wyze Cam V3.
It's the perfect upgrade to our old floodlight
that was already installed on the side of our house,
not least
because we have an ongoing mystery that I wanted to solve during the night.
Sometimes our floodlight would turn on triggered by the motion sensor
when I was away, got off to be in the family room
or kitchen on that side of the house, and the light would catch my eye.
However, every time I tried to investigate, the passageway
that leads to the backyard was empty.
Now, with the West Stone three
and one floodlight, I had the perfect tool to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Using my trusty wyze can be three.
The first thing I noticed unboxing the three
and one floodlight is the weight of the unit.
The floodlight is quite hefty,
which gives you the impression it's going to be very durable.
The power of the Wyze can be three.
There's a USB port and a supplied short micro USB cable, as is an even tidier
alternative to the original one that comes with the Wyze can be three.
It's a device that's going to be exposed to the elements.
It features the necessary protection.
The three and one floodlight USB socket, micro USB cable.
A mount are all IP65 waterproof rated.
The port is covered with the rubberized material
that makes the connection quite watertight.
Once everything is connected, the USB port is also oriented down.
So to minimize the chance of water collecting inside the port
and instead runs down and away from the power connection thanks to gravity.
Also included in the box is an EVA or ethylene vinyl acetate gasket backplate.
This foam cutout creates a watertight seal when the screw tightly
against the south of your house,
stopping the water from entering your siding through the outlet box.
The floodlight also comes with a quarter inch attachment for the included base
mount for the Wyze Camp.
It's designed to fit the original wyze can be three articulated mount to enable
you to adjust the angle of the camera and the front of the housing
as the motion sensor, which triggers the lights.
The official documentation for the floodlight
says that it's sensitive up to 33 feet from its location.
First thing to note when it comes to buying the floodlight
is that it requires being hard wired to your home's power supply to operate.
That isn't an option to use an exterior power socket.
You'll need to run your house wiring to the location.
You want to install the floodlight.
If you have some experience in home DIY, then the installation
shouldn't be too difficult for you.
However, for anyone who isn't comfortable with DIY electrical work, I'd recommend
hiring a professional.
An electrician is definitely recommended if you don't already
have a preexisting place to install the floodlight
with the necessary power outlet and a suitable flat service pre-installed.
For those that are
more familiar with electrical installations, the
what's a stunning floodlight comes with very detailed and clear instructions
to wire the device.
Plus, the wiring itself is clearly labeled for your convenience.
And my home, I already had an old floodlight installed
in the location I wanted.
So it's just a case of removing it
and replacing with the was a stone version using included instructions.
The most important step for tempting the installation was to turn off
the power at the circuit breaker panel and invest in a voltage tester.
You can pick up a voltage tester for as little as a few dollars at any good
hardware store.
This device test for an electrical field
to let you know if a wire has a current passing through it
and depending on the model, will beep and light up when a car is detected.
The tester should be the difference between a safe installation
or receiving a nasty shock.
Safety precautions taken.
The first step was to remove the crossbar for the old floodlight and a fixed venue,
one that comes with the Wasserstein floodlight
on the crossbar.
There's a screw attachment for a ground wire
if your home's wiring doesn't already include one.
You can connect the floodlight to the ground wire here
as an extra safety precaution.
My house wiring already includes a ground wire,
so I fed all three wires from the house through the rectangular hole in the gasket
and then poke the screws stem of the crossbar
through the center hole in the gasket itself.
That done.
The hardest part of the installation is identifying
the correct wires to connect and use included wire nuts.
On the floodlight, the live neutral and ground wires are labeled,
and it's just a case of matching the same wires
to your house wiring for my house to live in neutral wires
or easy to match as they are black and white.
However, my ground is a bare copper wire, but by a process of elimination,
you can't get the lost connection wrong.
If it's anything like my setup, then strip off the conveniently precut
plastic on the floodlight wires
and insert the corresponding pairs of wires from the floodlight to your home.
Into each wire nut and then twist until tight.
This step requires a bit of careful juggling of the floodlight
while you get the first wire attached, but once securely connected via
the first wire, you'll be able to tie off the remaining
two wires without fear of dropping the light.
One final safety check is to make sure there's no exposed wire on the alive
or neutral wise outside of the wire nuts to avoid shorts.
You shouldn't be able to see any metal of the wires at all,
which is especially important before you feed them back into the cavity
behind the gasket and into the outlet box.
The wires will be in close proximity, and it's a significant hazard
if they are not properly insulated from each other.
The final step of the installations to thread the floodlight over the main
screw to the crossbar and then using the screw craft
to fix the floodlight tie it to the siding.
The final touches a little rubber stopper to cover the screw cap hole.
Then you're ready to attach the base
plate bracket to attach the wires can be three.
The bracket can be attached to the right signed up or upside down.
And the upside down configuration.
You have more articulation on how far the camera can twist.
This is a better setup
for when you have to turn the camera left or right for better lower viewing angles.
If you mount the camera upside down in the air,
you can go to advanced settings and flip the video feed.
180 degrees, which is a nice touch by wires
As a side note, the base play is designed to enable you to apply a bit of pressure
and pop the camera base into the bracket and it will clip in.
Finally, the last step is to connect the supplied micro USB cable.
There's actually quite a bit of excess cable,
so some cable management is required to tidy up.
Now you're ready to turn on the power again of the breaker.
Test your wyze cam and wait until nighttime to test the motion sensor.
The light is bright and the motion sensor works as described by Wasserstein.
In testing, the light bathes the area around the side of our house in bright
white light.
For some meters in either direction, which is perfect for our security purposes,
the l.e.d.
bulbs are rated at 2000 lumens,
while the wise cam is capable of some great night vision
performance for security, the floodlights increase the level of detail
you'll get from the cameras over just the infrared light
as well as being a deterrent.
The lights should provide
more than enough illumination to enable identifying any potential burglars.
Now, with the floodlight and the Wyze Cam setup, it was time to try
and catch out our mysterious nighttime visitor on camera.
And it didn't take long.
The first night was uneventful.
The camera didn't pick up any movement.
I checked the playback
manually because I didn't even receive a notification about any kind of motion.
However, the subsequent night revealed
not one but two regular visitors to our backyard.
It would seem that we're the host of a game of raccoons.
Hopefully to be a nursery if our local raccoon stopped breeding
as it's springtime at the time of this video,
Bo a rather less exciting visitor, is one of our neighborhood cats.
While less remarkable, the fact that the cat,
like the raccoons, uses our side anyway as a thoroughfare is quite entertaining.
We should probably come up with a road name and a sign just for fun and
but overall, I'm really pleased with the floodlight
and the ability to safely and securely attach.
My hard working wise can be three
The lights are bright and the motion sensor is good enough
to catch wildlife using our house as a shortcut to the garden.
I'd be keen to get a second one for the other side of the house too
in the future,
if only to find out what kind of animals are frequenting that side too.
Thanks for watching
and as always, please like this video and subscribe to my channel
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