Support

Battery Life

What is an AirSuite long-life battery, and how long does it last?

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AirSuite devices with LTE connectivity (Glance LTE and Sense LTE), and not fitted with an add-on sensor, are equipped with a long-life battery that is designed to last for up to 5 years, depending on device configuration and network conditions.

The long-life battery is not rechargeable, and is built into the device, so it is not user-replaceable, but we can replace it for you for a small fee if it reaches the end of its lifespan, or you can plug the device into any standard USB power supply to keep it running.

Which devices have long-life batteries?

LTE devices are equipped with long-life batteries by default, unless they are fitted with an add-on sensor. They use a type of next-generation, modern cellular network called LTE Cat-M1 (sometimes known as LTE-M) to connect to the Internet, which allows the devices to operate in an ultra-low power mode, with the same global coverage you get on your smartphone.

On the other hand, Wi-Fi devices such as Sense Wi-Fi use a lot more power, so they aren’t suitable for use with a long-life battery. Sense Wi-Fi is equipped with a small rechargeable backup battery, so that you can move it around if needed, and to keep the device running for up to 24 hours in the event of a power outage.

How long will the battery last?

Battery life depends on two main factors: device configuration and network conditions.

Device configuration affecting battery life includes:

• The reporting interval (how often the device sends measurements to the Cloud)
• Whether the device is set to sleep overnight, or during weekends, to save power
• Whether the VOC sensor is enabled
• Whether BLE is enabled (for usage with the AirSuite app)

We highly recommend discussing these settings with us so that we can optimise them for your needs.

Network conditions affecting battery life include signal strength, known as RSRP (how close you are to the nearest cell tower, and obstruction from hills, trees, buildings and walls) and signal quality, known as RSRQ (interference/congestion from other devices using the network).

An AirSuite Glance LTE device with a moderate signal strength is likely to achieve at least 3 to 5 years of battery life, as tested in our lab in Hamilton, New Zealand (RSRP -100dBm). We recommend connecting devices with consistently poor signal strength (below -115dBm) to mains power.

How do the network conditions affect battery life?

In most cases, reporting to the Cloud uses the most power on any given device. When the network conditions are optimal, your device will be able to operate very efficiently, and should last for about 3 years with the default 15-min reporting interval. However, network conditions aren’t always perfect, or predictable.

If you notice any of the following, it might be a sign your device is using more power than expected:

• The estimated battery percentage is dropping more quickly than expected, or;
• The predicted battery life remaining is lower than expected, or;
• The battery voltage is fluctuating significantly (e.g. above and below 3.6V), and not remaining stable above 3.6V.

In the first two cases, our system has noticed there are some network conditions that are causing your device to use more power than expected. In the third case, our system may or may not have noticed the change in conditions, but a fluctuating battery voltage is a sign that the device is either struggling to connect to the network, or is getting ‘stuck’, remaining connected to the network longer than expected.

In any of these cases, we firstly recommend plugging the device into mains power if possible. Otherwise, you should change the reporting interval, and enable sleep mode when you aren’t expecting to need to look at the data in real-time.

Changing the device’s reporting interval has a linear effect on battery usage. For example, changing the reporting interval from 15 minutes to 1 hour will reduce the power consumed by 75%, which can make a huge difference when the network conditions are poor.

Please get in touch with us for help configuring your devices.

Can I have a device with a long-life battery and an add-on sensor?

Unfortunately, not at the moment! There are two reasons for this:

• The add-on sensors (such as PM and CO) require significantly more power to operate than the standard built-in sensors, so the battery wouldn’t last long enough to be useful (we’re talking months of useful life, rather than years).
• They won’t fit! The add-on sensors take up quite a bit of space inside a device, and we can’t fit both the add-on sensor and the long-life battery at the same time.

If you’re shopping around for a battery-powered device that can measure PM or CO, you’ll find that this is a common limitation between manufacturers.

Generally, any solution represents a trade-off between battery life and the number of measurements taken per day. For example, current solutions on the market may achieve multi-year battery life by only taking one measurement per day, but we don’t think this is sufficient to meet the needs of most customers.

Why is the battery not rechargeable?

Non-rechargeable batteries have much greater energy density than rechargeable batteries: for example, the battery in AirSuite Glance has a 10,800mAh capacity (which is about twice as much as most mobile phones), whereas a rechargeable battery of the same physical dimensions would have about half as much capacity. This high capacity is what allows us to achieve our target of 5+ years of battery life.

With ongoing advances in battery technology, our hope is that we’ll be able to offer a rechargeable battery option in the future, without compromising on our goal to provide exceptionally long battery life as standard.

My battery has run out. Can I get it replaced?

Of course! Please get in touch with us to arrange replacement. A fee may apply depending on your organisation’s support arrangement with us.

For business customers, forward replacement is available if needed: we can send you a new device to replace the old one, to avoid downtime.

Don’t forget: you can also plug the device into any standard USB power supply to keep it running indefinitely.