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Elderly parents

Security cameras for a 2* listed house

3 replies

Polyethyl · 24/11/2025 10:29

My parents were burgled and a week later they found a drugged person in their back courtyard, after which I fitted blink cameras to their front and back doors. But I find their batteries run out unbelievably fast, so I feel guilty every time I throw yet another set of batteries into landfill, it seems so wasteful. You can't use rechargeable batteries as they insist on lithium batteries, which you have to send off for, they aren't sold in normal shops. Blink cameras record every time a leaf flutters in a breeze, so I had to turn notifications off. And they send me "high activity warnings". Since I will not fell every tree in my parents' gardens nor stop the wind from blowing I am wondering if a different brand of camera might work.

The problem is that the house is grade 2* listed (not the same as grade 2 listed). This means I cannot drill a hole to run a power cable from an inside plug to an outside camera. I could put a camera on the garage, but there's no wifi there. Does anyone have good experiences with cameras with memory cards? My parents are 2 1/2 hours away, so I cannot be there to regularly change memory cards, if they fill up as often as blink cameras run out of batteries.
I could put a camera indoors on a window ledge.
How does that work with lights going on and off in the room, are they able to see out, into the dark night through a window?
I'd be grateful for suggestions.

OP posts:
PersephoneParlormaid · 24/11/2025 10:37

I have a camera that sits on a windowsill, and it has night vision. I’ve had it a long time, but I’m sure there are others on Amazon. I can watch it on my iPad.

Socktree · 24/11/2025 10:41

Eufy solar powered camera. We've had this one for a couple of years https://amzn.eu/d/2VX0yV7

There are more expensive ones with floodlights, face recognition etc. You can stop it detecting 'motion' eg falling leaves and animals. The camera alone stores a couple of weeks worth of recordings. You can buy the additional hub to store more (we haven't). It works through an app on your phone. Multiple people can connect, so you and your parents can all manage/view/download the recordings from your phones. It automatically deletes old recordings. No swapping memory cards needed

Edited to add: no subscription needed either

Ihateboris · 24/11/2025 10:43

Ring use rechargeable batteries

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