7 ways to repurpose an old or broken smart doorbell

Published Sep 8, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT Adam has a degree in Engineering and has a life-long interest in technology. He has been writing for over a decade for various print and online publications, with a focus on consumer tech. He joined How-To Geek in 2024 while working at Pocket-lint. As well as being a long-term fan of Apple products, he also has a strong interest in smart home tech, running a Home Assistant server at home to automate all his smart home devices. He believes that the ideal smart home should work with minimal interaction from the user, with automations running as if by magic rather than requiring you to push buttons on a control panel. You can find more of his work on Muck Rack. Smart video doorbells can be incredibly useful, but they don't last forever. If you have an old or even broken video doorbell, you don't need to throw it away. There are plenty of ways you can put it to good use. Use your smart doorbell as a security camera A battery-powered doorbell can be placed almost anywhere If your video doorbell is still in full working order, but you've replaced it with a different model, then there are plenty of things you can do with it. A video doorbell is effectively a security camera with a button, so if you stop using it as a doorbell, you can use it just like any other security camera. If your video doorbell is battery-powered, this is even better. It means you can place your security camera almost anywhere you want. Turn it into a smart button You can still use it even if the camera doesn't work Credit: Adam Davidson / How-To Geek If your video doorbell is broken, you may still be able to put it to good use. If the camera is no longer working, it may still be the case that the doorbell ringer is functional. If this is the case, then you can repurpose your video doorbell as a smart button. Many smart home systems allow you to use doorbell rings as a trigger for automations. This means that when you press the doorbell ringer, you can run whatever automations you want. Set up a dedicated wildlife camera See what critters visit your backyard The TP-Link Tapo C660 at night with the flood light off.Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek If you don't need your video doorbell to work as a doorbell anymore, it can make a great way to track local wildlife. Most video doorbells can detect motion, and many can record motion-triggered video and offer night vision features. You can set up your old doorbell in the backyard and have it record video whenever motion is detected. You can then watch back the recordings of all the animals that have snuck into your yard at night. Use it as a 3D printer monitor Keep tabs on your print remotely Credit: Tim Brookes / How-To Geek One of the biggest benefits of a smart video doorbell is that it allows you to see who is at your door even when you're not at home. You can access the live doorbell feed remotely to see who just rang your bell. This feature makes an old video doorbell a great fit as a 3D printer monitor. When you start a print, you can walk away and leave your doorbell focused on your printer. You can then use your phone at any time to see how your print is getting on. Leave it mounted somewhere as a deterrent Even a broken doorbell can give you protection Credit: Adam Davidson / How-To Geek If your doorbell is completely broken and no longer functions at all, you might think that all you can do is dispose of it. However, it could still serve a useful purpose. Security cameras only have limited views, so a single camera is never enough to cover the entire exterior of your home. The more cameras you have, the fewer blind spots you have. If you mount your broken video doorbell outside your home in a prominent position, it's hard to tell at a glance that it's not a working device. This may be enough to deter people who might otherwise see your home as an easy mark. Repurpose it as a dedicated pet camera Keep tabs on your pet inside your home Credit: Goran Damnjanovic / How-To Geek If you have pets, an old video doorbell can make a great dedicated pet camera. Most video doorbells have motion detection, and some have pet or animal detection too, so that you can receive alerts when your pet is spotted by the doorbell. You might place the doorbell pointing at your pet's food or water bowls. You can then track when they eat or drink and monitor the bowls remotely to see when they need refilling or if there's been a spillage. You could also monitor a cat flap, or place the doorbell externally to track when your pet has gone outside. Use the housing to hold your own smart doorbell Keep an ESP32 doorbell protected Credit: Adam Davidson/How-To Geek If the internals of your smart video doorbell are completely dead, that doesn't mean it's useless. Many video doorbells have high-quality weather-resistant housings to protect the electronics from the elements. You can use these housings for your own projects. For example, you can build your own video doorbell using an ESP32-CAM board that combines an ESP32 with a camera module. The problem is that you can't stick an exposed circuit board to your front door. By using the housing from your old doorbell, you can keep your DIY doorbell protected, and it will look smart, too. Video doorbells don't have to become e-waste There are plenty of reasons why you might want to upgrade or replace a video doorbell, but you don't need to throw your old ones away. Repurposing old tech can save you money and help to reduce unnecessary e-waste.