Installing security cameras at home is an effective option for keeping your house and family safe and secure. Security cameras can be one of the best tools for not only catching criminals but also for deterring them from targeting you and your home. You should install Security Camera at home at strategic locations if you want the best results out of them.
Security cameras are a passive security check that is primarily used for the purposes of monitoring specific locations. This means that homeowners can keep an eye on remote parts of their homes, or set them up at advantage points that help warn them of danger in a timely fashion.
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Where Do I Install Security Camera at Home
Indoor cameras can be installed just about anywhere. Wall or ceiling mount is fine. We will show you some of the best places you can install a security camera inside your home to have the best effect. Although every residential structure is different, there are still common areas that need monitoring, the vulnerable areas. The most commonly vulnerable areas in your house that burglars can use as entry points include; the front door, back door, garage door, and if you have one your basement door, are the most likely entrances that intruders will use to gain entrance to your home. Right behind them on the list is first floor windows.
1. Main Living Areas
Install a security camera in the main living spaces in your home, and point them toward potential entrance points, like doors and windows. This is especially important on the ground level of your home. You’ll want to make sure to get cameras that can capture a fairly wide-angle to get as much of the room as possible, especially the master bedroom which is the favorite place in the house for burglars.
These cameras will be more effective in catching intruders who might have bypassed any outdoor cameras you have. An intruder might be able to avoid a security camera outside your front door by approaching from a different angle, but he won’t be able to avoid that camera pointed right at the doorway. Anyone who breaks in through one of those entrances stands an extremely high chance of being caught if you have cameras pointing right at them. This means that if you have a camera that covers your entrances from the inside, it will be hard for an intruder to avoid them.
2. Hallways and Stairways
If an intruder manages to get inside and avoid being identified on your camera, the next place for them to get caught will be in hallways. If you have a hallway that an intruder would have to walk through to get to your valuables, then they’ll be boxed in by the walls of your home. This means they’ll be forced to walk in certain places. Installing a security camera pointing at those places will deter such entrances.
Basements can sometimes be easy access points to the rest of your house. How easy would it be for an intruder to walk into your home through your unlocked and unmonitored basement! However, if you install a security camera in the stairway of your home from the basement to the ground level, an intruder will be caught right on camera.
3. Entrances
Installing security cameras to monitor the entrance to your home is very crucial, believe it or not, it has been proven that 34% of burglar break into your house using the same entrance you use. The trick here is knowing where and how to position the cameras for maximization. Most burglars will always try the front doors first, and then side and back doors next. For indoor security, the idea is to point the camera directly at the door. If possible, aim to keep the camera about 7ft off the ground (no higher) pointing down at a slight angle. This is the ideal position because your camera is low enough to capture a clear view of an intruder’s face. And it’s also high enough not to be too obvious for a burglar in a hurry.
4. Garage
Outbuildings, like garage and sheds, for the most part, are unoccupied, which is another attraction for common burglars.
Garages are probably the most overlooked room in the house when it comes to security, but when burglars are unable to get in from the usual channels they will always fall back on a garage adjoined to the main house. And guess what? Garages can be really easy to break into! Some garage has doors that lead to the main house, which probably doesn’t have a deadbolt, but have a simple doorknob lock keeping intruders out of the house. This makes the garage a pretty vulnerable entrance to the house. Hence, your garage it needs monitoring.
If your garage has a door other than the main garage door, make sure your camera can see it clearly and the windows too. You will do well to install a security camera near or on the garage door of your home. Try and install it in a way that keeps it out of the reach of the troublemakers.
5. Nursery
If you have an infant that you still monitor with a baby monitor, adding a security camera can give you a lot of comforts. Installing a camera inside your baby’s room will not only help you ensure that he/she is safe but also allow you to monitor any activity and movement in the room.
This suggestion is less about intruders and more about infant safety. Knowing what’s going on while they’re napping or playing in their crib can bring you a lot of comforts and help you prevent potentially dangerous situations.
6. Rear Windows
Your rear window is probably the one that goes unsupervised, making entering through it go undetected. A Burglar would love nothing more than gaining a convenient entry into your home via open or unlocked windows on the ground level. He can use it to enter your place, collect his booty, and make his way out as easily as he came in.
It makes perfect sense to have security cameras installed, such that they face the rear window and other vulnerable windows which may be obscurely visible. Ensure you always keep your rear window locked, and always check it whenever you leave your home and before going to bed at night.
7. The Backyard
Backyards are the attractive entry point for a burglar looking to enter your home, especially in the dark. Covering your driveway might not be enough so you need to also install a security camera in or near the backyard of your home for a clear view of it. It is a good idea to have a camera with the night-vision feature for maximum results. Apart from that, make sure that your backyard is well-lit at night and always keep them in lock and key.
Why is Strategic Placement of Security Camera in the Home Important
1. It helps maximize the effectiveness of your security cameras
The overall effectiveness of your security camera rests on where it is located and how it is placed. There isn’t a complicated or convoluted reason behind this, it is merely the fact that if your security cameras are installed in the wrong location, they will not help you get the footage you desire. For instance, if they are installed at an inappropriate height, they might be too high up or too low to capture anything that can be used in terms of security. Also, if they are not installed within the correct focus range of your camera, catching footage will mean nothing if it lacks clarity.
2. It helps achieve obscurity and visibility at the same time
Your security cameras should be installed properly and always be visible to you, in the sense that they should always give you a clear idea of what is going on in and around your home. Preferably, they should be placed in locations that give you the best advantage point to see all you need to see, both on the interior and exterior of your home. They should also be obscure enough so that, from the perspective of a burglar or unauthorized party, they are hard to spot and even harder to access. If a burglar can easily pick out your deterrents, it will be much easier for them to circumvent and gain access to your home.
Conclusion
Indoor security cameras are just one of a number of good burglary prevention tools. I know it sounds like I’m suggesting that you cover every square inch of your home, but keeping our home and family safe and secure should always be our top priority. The idea is that you install a security camera in strategic locations of your home which will go a long way in easing your worries on the issue of security. Indoor security camera systems are not there to replace strong locks doors and frames. They are simply an added layer of security.
Additional Tips to Install Security Camera at Home
- Angle camera at a downward angle: Do not point security camera directly at doors or window when you install in your home because of interference from reflection and backlighting, which can make the intruder unidentifiable, instead set it back a bit, pointing at an angle. Check for lighting issues that may impact image quality. You may need to move the camera around a bit to find the ideal spot.
- Use multiple cameras to cover blind spots: Ensure you position the camera in a way that it catches the burglar coming in. This way you get a good face shot because you can’t do anything with side or back-of-the-head shots.
- Focus on specific areas: Use one camera for one door or two close doors at most. You won’t want cameras pointing to all doors in your home as that would be impractical or you can look for bottleneck positions or places the burglar has to pass on their way in and out.
- Placing cameras in gathering points like the kitchen or living room is a great way to see if the kids are doing what they’re supposed to do, if the babysitter is attentive, what the pets are getting into, or to check on household help like cleaners and repairmen. Consider prioritizing any rooms that have large ground-floor windows that way you can see if anyone tampers with them or uses one as a break-in point.
- Entry and Exit points: Monitor entry and exit points including a gate, garage, front & back doors, basement doors, floor windows among others.
- Place the security cameras out of reach: All cameras should be out of reach so they can’t be easily knocked down or destroyed. Place exterior cameras at a second-story level at least nine feet above the ground and keep interior cameras near the ceiling. Make sure the cameras are installed securely, as well.
- Don’t be afraid to make your security cameras visible, it might help to scare away potential burglars.
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