A lot of drivers are confused about whether or not a dashcam will drain the battery. The answer to the question is yes, but only a little bit.
In this blog post, we’re going to discuss how much energy a dashcam uses and what its impact on your car’s battery life is.
What Factors Vary the Dashcam Power Consumption?
There are various factors like what type of camera you plan to use; will it be powered by your car battery or an external power source like USB? How often do you erase and record new videos? All these questions matter.
A non-touchscreen dashcam will need less electricity than a touch-screen one. And an HD display will consume more power than a low-resolution display. Another factor for an HD dashcam is the higher resolution and pixel density.
A 1080P display will consume more than a 720P screen because it takes more power to produce bright colors on high resolutions. The same goes with video quality as well, so if you record in full HD, your battery life may be compromised. You might want to look at a screen with lower resolutions for optimal battery life.
Plus, the higher the refresh rate, the more power it consumes. A display with a 30 Hz refresh rate will consume less than a 60 Hz display.
A larger display will also drain more of your dashboard cam’s battery, so if you’re looking to preserve power, consider reducing the size of the video and adjust it accordingly. You can make these changes by using Android settings or adjusting system parameters in iOS devices. The LCD display that your dashcam uses can also be a large factor in power consumption; LCDs consume more battery than an LED screen.
How Much Electricity a Dashcam Consume?
Now, let’s talk about how much electricity is needed for the dashcam to run. The answer varies depending on the above-mentioned factors.
However, Dashcam usually consumes about the same amount of power as an interior light, which is negligible compared to other things like your car headlights and air conditioner. So if you have a small camera with a low-quality display, then it shouldn’t drain the battery in any way. But going higher quality display with high-quality video product adds more power consumption.
Unless you use a fancy dashcam filled with a ton of features, there is no need to worry about the battery life of your car. Make sure the dashcam is working properly without any technical issues and you are good to go.
Read: Can Dashcam Deliver Accurate Speed Reading?
Do Dashcam Have Significant Impact on Battery Life?
Dashcam’s impact on car battery life is negligible unless you use a fancy dashcam, as we said.
Unless the dashcam has been installed incorrectly, there should be no worries about battery life. If it’s working properly and without any technical issues, you are good to go!
However, if you have an HHD setup that operates on your car’s battery and this is installed in a vehicle with no alternator (the type of engine where the generator doesn’t automatically kick in when the engine is off), then the camera will need to be powered by your car battery when the engine isn’t running. To avoid draining your vehicle’s battery, you should start and stop recording as needed so that it doesn’t overload or get drained.
Another factor is whether or not your camera will be powered by an external battery with USB connectors. Most of the time, dashcam users choose this option because it won’t drain their car’s battery and can easily swap out batteries when needed as opposed to an internal battery.
Will Dashcam Kill My Battery in Parking?
There is very little chance of happening that because when the camera is off, it won’t be drawing any power. But if the dashcam keeps functioning when in parking mode, which is true in most cases, then it will be using the battery.
However, a dashcam doesn’t draw a significant amount of power that can kill your battery within a few hours.
If you feel that your car’s battery is getting drained if the dashcam runs in parking mode, one solution is to turn off it when parking. That way, there won’t be any power drain on the vehicle, and any worries about a dead battery.
How to Reduce the Dashcam Power Consumption?
If you’re looking for a way to reduce power consumption, we recommend that you use an alternative display mode like energy-saving or night vision / infrared modes if your dashcam has these features. You should also turn off the screen when not in use and always let your camera’s auto-off feature work as designed.
This will help you reduce the time your camera is consuming power and also stop it from accidentally draining the car battery.
The bottom line
Dashcams do take some power from your car battery but not that much to kill or drain the battery within a few hours. However, an unattended car parked for a day or two with a dashcam running at full pledge can turn the story around.
If you want a dashcam that operates on its own power supply (i.e., an independent battery), then you will need to invest in a more expensive model.
However, if you want a dashcam that plugs into the car’s power socket to operate and monitor your driving habits on the go, then you shouldn’t worry about its battery life. You have prioritized features over an hour of extra battery life.