Projectors Can Be Left Outside, But Do This First

Introduction

I recently hosted an outdoor movie night that went really well in our backyard. The weather in California can be hit or miss with rain and cold night temperatures as the weather begins to warm up in the summer. One thing I always didn’t like doing after my outdoor movie nights were packing up all the stuff and bringing it inside. I just wanted to go to bed inside and not have to worry about it.

But can you leave a projector outside?

A projector can function outside for hours of enjoyment during movie nights. You only need to store a projector indoors when it’s not in use to prevent morning dew from forming the next day. If you want to leave it out overnight, cover it with a towel after use and place it in a safe bin to minimize the effect of weather.

What I Learned From Leaving My Projector Out: 2 Days Later

I left my projector out for two continuous days and nights doing back to back movie nights.

Don’t worry, my projector didn’t break! It just had a louder fan noise for a couple days after for some reason. It took longer to start up but once I kept it inside for a while, the room temperature eventually brought it back down to normal.

Here’s the things I learned from my “experiment:”

Dew developed on the outside. Even though it didn’t contain any moisture already, it was still a little bit wet each morning. The sun dissolved a lot of it once the light broke through the trees, and it didn’t get into any important cracks.
It took longer to turn on and heat up the bulb (my projector is an LED Lamp). I think this is because the internal bulb was still extremely cold and it retained more of the coldness than the plastic external body. Even when I turned it on, I don’t think it was still at room temperature yet.
It would have been easy to store it inside I still had to go inside to grab pillows, use the bathroom, or put away food so bugs didn’t come to eat away at it. I could have just unplugged the projector itself and brought it in during one of these trips inside.

Why People Leave Projectors Outside Anyway

I’m not saying that if you leave a projector outside you will indefinitely break it, it’s just not advised from a technical standpoint (yet plenty of people do it anyway and they’re fine).

Here’s why people will leave projectors outside:

They’re on a camping trip. My friends and I set up a projector inside a tent with a screen and watched The Conjuring during a Sonoma Lake camping trip a while ago and it was an awesome experience! We just made sure to pack it up in a bin and keep it safe from the rain (yes it did get rained on but it was okay).
They’re too tired after a movie night to bring their projector indoors. If the weather is nice enough, most people will just fall asleep outside- especially kids will want to do that. After my movie nights, we had outdoor couches that were comfortable enough to sleep on so I preferred to just do that instead of take everything down.
They’re setting up the projector for the next day / morning. Maybe there’s a pool party going on and they want a projector to playing a rolling slideshow of photos during the day but they want everything set up the night before.
They’re taking it on a road trip and it sits in the car the whole time. It’s nice when friends and family can be within driving distance, and taking your projector to their house a days drive away is a great idea. But if you’re staying overnight in a hotel along the way, you should take your projector indoors with you instead of leaving it in the car if it will be extremely cold that night.
People like to store outdoor movie gear in a shed. Outdoor sheds are more common these days. If you only use your projector for outdoor viewing, then it might be tempting to want to store it in a shed or area that doesn’t have temperature regulation in it.

Why You Shouldn’t Leave A Projector Out Overnight

(I’m talking about when the projector is not in use in this section)

Projectors be left in an environment that goes below freezing at night.

In short, it’s bad for the electronic pieces inside and the bulb in particular. It makes the projector have to work 10 times harder the next time you turn it on after its been in the cold all night

Moisture and morning dew will accumulate.

This will happen on your movie screen as well depending on where you live. I live in California which is extremely arid and dry (and even we get morning dew and relative humidity every now and then).

Your projector’s temperature regulating devices will be overworked.

If your area has hot summer days followed by cold nights, the weather will strain your projectors self regulating temperature devices such as the fan sensors. The best practice to mitigate your projector overworking is to let it naturally come back to a normal temperature before turning it on (take it indoors for a couple hours, let the sun warm it up etc).

Dirt, grime, and sand can get inside.

Movie nights on the beach is a great idea, but limit how long your projector is exposed to it. Sand will inevitably get somewhere in the cracks of it and you want to minimize that as much as possible. Particles of dirt can also accumulate on it if it’s a windy night.

It can get easily bumped in the night.

If people are moving around after your movie night in the dark setting up sleeping bags and cleaning up food, they might accidentally knock it over if they forget it’s there.

How to Store a Projector Outside Properly (if you insist)

Storing a projector outside is still completely feasible. From my experience and my personal research, I recommend you do the following to mitigate the effect the elements have on your device:

Let it come up to a normal temperature before turning it on. Don’t turn it on in the morning right after it’s been cold all night. Take it inside for a couple hours and then turn it on. In the evening, turn it on immediately after bringing it outside and keep it on eco mode.
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Keep the lens cover on or cover it with something soft. Most projectors come with a lens cover- use it! It’s easy to forget about that feature. I even recommend completely covering the projector with a microfiber towel when it’s not in use.
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Have a dedicated plastic bin to store it in. This will minimize the effect of morning dew if you store your projector in a container wrapped in a towel. The towel will absorb any moisture and the bin will protect it from the elements incase it rains.
Check the temperature settings when you power it on. A lot of projectors actually tell you what their min and max temperature settings are. START GERE

Conclusion

Thanks for reading! If you have any additional questions or comments, feel free to reach out at entertainmentden.ns@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to respond. I’m currently taking article suggestion topics so feel free to send those over too if you have any. I appreciate the feedback I’ve already received from so many of you.