What affects battery life in StreetSiren and how to extend it

Updated

The bundled batteries in StreetSiren and StreetSiren DoubleDeck sirens provide up to 5 years of battery life under normal usage and by default.

Normal usage involves:

  • two arming actions and two disarming actions per day;
  • enabled indication in the armed mode;
  • indication of Delays When Entering/Leaving — 4 minutes per day;
  • no alarms at the object;
  • Chimes notifications disabled in the settings;
  • default Jeweller settings (hub—detector ping interval of 36 seconds);
  • average annual temperature at the installation site of +10°C.

Changing at least one of these conditions also changes the battery life.

To prevent rapid battery discharge, connect a 12 V⎓ third-party power supply to the siren.

How to connect external power supply to the siren

How temperature affects StreetSiren

Ajax sirens are used in different environmental conditions. In cities, where the daily atmospheric temperature reaches +50°C, and in snow-covered settlements, where temperatures may drop to as low as -25°C.

We use high-quality lithium batteries to ensure that the sirens operate under any conditions. They are less temperature-dependent and work well in the temperature range of -25°C to +50°C.

ajax streetsiren battery life

Four CR123A batteries are installed in StreetSiren and StreetSiren DoubleDeck. The capacity of the four siren batteries is 6,400 mAh. On average, the device consumes up to 1.68 mAh per day by default.

What affects the StreetSiren operation time

The battery life of the siren depends on multiple factors:

  • Ambient temperature. The lower the temperature, the slower the chemical processes, and the lower the battery capacity. High temperatures increase battery performance and capacity but accelerate its aging.
  • Jeweller signal strength. Devices adapt to the signal strength. If the signal strength is excellent/satisfactory, the transmitter does not operate continuously. At low signal strength, the transmitter operates continuously to establish communication with the hub.
  • Beeps settings. The more frequently the siren raises the alarm and the longer it sounds, the more battery power is consumed.
  • LED indication settings. The more often LED indication is activated, the more battery power is consumed.
  • Installation site. The siren can shield the signal when installed near metal objects and mirrors, resulting in increased battery power consumption.
  • Other settings of a siren, device, or system.

Changing one or more factors affects the battery life, both upwards and downwards. For example, given the experience of use in cold countries, the battery life of sirens is reduced from 5 to 3-4 years due to the effect of low temperatures.

We recommend connecting an external power supply if the siren triggers frequently or if it is used under low-temperature conditions.

Most of the energy is consumed by beeps. Ajax sirens notifies you about an alarm with a volume of 85 to 113 dB. The volume of the alarm also affects power consumption — the higher the volume, the greater the power consumption.

Therefore, if the siren reports every arming/disarming, or if sound notification of all types of events is enabled in the settings, the battery life will be less than that by default.

Each alarm that lasts 3 minutes consumes 100 mAh, which is equivalent to approximately 2 months of the siren battery life. The siren’s pre-installed batteries charge is enough to ensure 60 three-minute activations at maximum volume.

ajax streetsiren battery life

Read more about battery life in Ajax devices: How long Ajax devices operate on batteries, and what affects this.

How to calculate the battery life for the siren

To calculate the battery life of the siren, use our calculator. It shows how long the pre-installed batteries will last, taking into account alarm, temperature, and other factors.

How to extend the battery life of the siren

We recommend connecting an external power supply to avoid rapid discharge of batteries in the case of installation in places characterized by low temperatures or when frequent siren activations are reported.

After the external power supply is connected, please do not remove the batteries from the siren: they serves as a backup power source in case the external power supply is off.

When replacing batteries, use only high-quality lithium batteries — they have more capacity and are less affected by temperatures than alkaline batteries.

Do not install batteries of different models or from different manufacturers. And do not use damaged or discharged batteries.

If the system has frequent false alarms, please consult your installer or our support service. For example, to avoid false alarms after the delay when leaving expires, you can increase the delay time or enable Two-Stage Arming. This will reduce the number of false alarms at the object, the siren will not raise an alarm, and the battery life will be extended.

If the above options are not suitable:

  • Review the alarm duration settings. If applicable, reduce the alarm duration to 1 minute.

    When a real intrusion occurs, the system will receive alarms from each motion detector, so the alarm duration will be updated every time.

  • Assess the need for other sound signals and indications. For example, turning off the permanent indication can significantly increase the battery life of the siren.
  • Change the volume level of the alarm sound, if applicable. You can check the siren volume by running the Volume Level Test.

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