How do cameras fit into your home security strategy?
Here’s the latest in a series of articles looking at different aspects of home security systems, hoping that you’ll be able to figure out just what you need for your home or apartment.
You want a security system that is perfect for you and your situation. A system that doesn’t match your needs may be inconvenient to use, unreliable, too expensive, too complicated or just provide an insufficient level of protection.
In this article, we turn our attention to cameras. Previous articles have looked at sensors, overall design, and securing your doors and windows.
Cameras
Cameras are a recent development in home security—at least practical home security. They’ve been around for a while in super high-end systems.
Cameras can be an incredibly alluring option, especially when combined with the ability to watch video via the internet.
But they must not be confused with burglary prevention. A prominently placed camera can deter an intruder, but a camera is more likely to be a tool to help you identify a burglar after the fact than a tool for preventing burglaries.
Because of this, be careful about investing too heavily in cameras as part of your security system or even relying on cameras solely.
Cameras are expensive and because they don’t help much in prevention, you may not get as much protection if this is where you spend your security budget.
They can be used in conjunction with remote monitoring as confirmation that there is an intruder in the home, so they can definitely still be a valuable part of your strategy.
Issues with cameras
There are issues with using cameras so make sure your expectations are realistic.
It’s not realistic to expect that a security camera might catch a burglar in the act and the police will see the captured video and then immediately know who to go round up.
If a burglar knows there’s a camera present or even is concerned there might be a camera, he can disguise himself, even if it only means putting on a ski mask.
Think about it: A ski mask costing a buck or two can make hundreds of dollars of your investment in cameras practically worthless.
Even if he doesn’t conceal his face, it’s not like he’s going to wear an ID badge. Neither you nor the police will likely know who he is.
To get good facial recognition, a very high-resolution camera is required unless the burglar is kind enough to get up close to the camera and pose.
But no burglar is likely to stop and pose for the camera, even at a distance, so that you can get a great shot of his face. More likely, he’ll just walk through the field of view, probably quickly and you get what you get.
This brings up my next point.
Lighting
An often overlooked point is that cameras need light. A camera in the dark isn’t going to help you much.
Even in daylight or evening hours, less-than optimal lighting conditions make more difficult to get a good look at his face.
Night-vision cameras are available but are expensive (if they’re good).
If getting a clear and decent face shot in good lighting is challenging, it’s really difficult at night.
Placement and number of cameras
Think about where you’d place cameras. You’re not likely to find one optimal location where you can catch all possible activity.
Instead, you’ll likely be faced with the option of getting multiple cameras (the expense will really start to add up) or sacrificing coverage. If you have only limited coverage, how much will you want to rely on cameras for security? You’ll need more.
Motion-activated
Depending on how the cameras will be monitored or how video will be stored, you may want motion-activated cameras. This adds additional expense and may detract from your ability to watch live video from your home (one of the “cool” factors that helps sell the idea of cameras).
Indoor vs outdoor
You’ll need to decide whether you want to place your cameras inside or outside.
If you place your cameras outside, you can get them to act as a deterrent. But outdoor cameras are also more expensive and more complicated to install.
Weather can take its toll on even the most-expensive cameras and most certainly on less-expensive cameras. If you live in environment with temperature extremes or high humidity, expect a camera’s performance and lifetime to be affected.
Outdoor cameras are great at catching the activity of birds, spiders and all sorts of wildlife, even in the city. Be prepared for lots of false triggers.
On the other hand, indoor cameras can be less expensive and easier to hook up.
An indoor camera will provide no deterrent factor.
And you’ll be faced with the issue of privacy. If you have an external monitoring service or hook your cameras up to the internet, you will want to consider whether or not it’s possible that someone could be watching you.
Even if not, you, your spouse, partner, family and friends may not feel completely at ease with cameras in your home.
Cool yes, but…
If you’re thinking about including cameras in your home security system, ask yourself whether this will compromise your budget for protecting your home.
Cameras are a cool feature to have, but don’t sacrifice your protection for a cool feature!
How Can Home Security Cameras Systems Make You Feel Safer In Your Home?
Most people would agree that the most valuable possessions they have are their families. They want their families to be safe from outside intruders. It is solid peace of mind to know that you can go into your home and be protected from the undesirable criminals that could be breaking into your home. There are several different ways you can get home protection and aside from a regular burglar alarm system, you can install home security cameras systems in strategic locations around your home.
They come in a variety of set ups. Most people like to have the CCTV cameras located in places that are hard to watch around the outside of their homes. In this way, they have eyes everywhere. Some surveillance cameras can be set up to record movement with a motion detector. When the security surveillance cameras are set up to record only when there is movement, you will save space on the hard drive of the system and won't have to search forever when you are looking for a certain event that was taped.
When considering a home security camera system for your home, it is advisable to include some of the monitoring accessories as well. For instance, you can have your CCTV cameras set up with night vision so that you will see all action night or day. You will be able to see what is going on directly on your monitoring screen. You can record the action on DVD. If your cameras record someone trying to break in, then you will be notified by phone if you add that accessory to your system as well. A recording the perpetrator can be used in court later if it is a good clear shot to identify the person or people trying to break in.
You will have your choice of a hard wire system or a wireless home security cameras systems. The wireless cameras don't have any wires connecting the receiver to the camera, so it is easy to relocate it from place to place as you need. The hard-wire cameras do require wire access from the camera to the receiver and cannot be moved around to other locations. If you choose a hard-wire, however, it can be more permanent and won't require batteries in most cases like the wireless system. Protecting your family and your home, whether you are in it or thousands of miles a way on vacation is the true meaning of peace of mind.
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