An advanced video surveillance system is a valuable resource for any homeowner. Survivalists and preppers can especially benefit from video surveillance because they need to keep their supply stockpiles safe at all costs. They also often have to watch over expansive homesteads, which requires more than one set of eyes.
If you fall under one or both of these categories, you’ve come to the right place. This home video surveillance guide takes you through the benefits, essential components, and set-up of an advanced security system.
5 Benefits of Video Surveillance
CCTV cameras and other security devices are common fixtures in most households and commercial buildings. Video surveillance is the most effective way to keep tabs on your property when nobody is around. Simply putting a few cameras around your home has many benefits.
1. Deters Crime
Numerous studies have shown that video surveillance decreases the crime rate in the targeted area, especially when it’s a small enclosed space like a gas station or parking garage. Security cameras are also most effective when paired with lighting, motion detection devices and other security features.
[Editor’s note: Deterrence is always the first step, and it’s a crucial one at that!]
2. Helps With Criminal Prosecution
In the event of a crime, security cameras help law enforcement identify and prosecute the suspect. If someone initially gets away with burglarizing or vandalizing your house, you still have a chance to bring the criminal to justice.
3. Protects Vulnerable Family Members
Video surveillance especially benefits the most vulnerable family members in your household — the elderly, children and pets. These people can’t protect themselves, so you need to give them extra security. A health emergency could also happen to them at any moment. Cameras can help you respond to the emergency more quickly.
4. Quicker Disaster Response Time
Along with preventing manmade crimes, advanced video surveillance systems help you respond to natural disasters, house fires, chemical leaks and other non-human threats. Specifically, cameras may enable you or your security provider to relay crucial information to first responders and help them take the best course of action.
5. Reduces Insurance Costs
With less criminal activity around your house, your insurance costs will slightly decrease. Your provider might even offer a special discount for theft, vandalism and fire coverage if you put CCTV cameras around the house. This benefit lightens the financial burden of investing in an advanced video surveillance system and, therefore, allows you more money to spend on preps.
Essential Parts of a Home Video Surveillance System
Every advanced surveillance system consists of the same handful of devices. They each serve unique, but complementary roles that drastically improve your home’s security. Here are the main devices you need.
1. Security Cameras
Security cameras are obviously the most crucial parts of your video surveillance system. They have seen great advancements in recent years, from the grainy pixelated CCTV cameras to high-definition cameras that can connect to your smartphone. These are the three main types of security cameras:
- Wired Indoor: these cameras have the best video quality and widest range of any indoor security camera. They may require professional installation.
- Wireless Indoor: this option is ideal for one-room surveillance, such as your supply bunker or gear room. The camera can be something as simple as a camcorder or baby monitor.
- Wireless Outdoor: these are the cameras that most people think of when looking for a home surveillance system. They are large, weatherproof and can cover hundreds of feet. They’re perfect for yards, fields, driveways and other wide open spaces.
If you want to maximize the effectiveness of your home surveillance system, you should use all three camera types. They might not be able to work in conjunction with each other, but they will still give you a fuller picture of your property.
[Editor’s note: I used to use Blink wireless outdoor cameras, which worked well enough. Now I use a complete wired outdoor camera system, which is certainly better. Truth be told, it was difficult to install; for ease of installation and relative price, wireless is where it’s at. For clarity of picture and overall reliability, wired is the better option.]
2. Motion Sensors
Security cameras are the foundation of your surveillance system, but it’s impractical to place them in every single room. That’s where motion sensors come in. These versatile security devices also come in three primary forms:
- Passive Infrared: these small and affordable sensors are often found in the entrances and exits of commercial buildings. They detect changes in infrared radiation, which includes human body heat. They run on low power and can stay on for weeks at a time. However, they’re also extremely sensitive. A strong gust of wind can set them off.
- Microwave: these unique sensors emit waves of radiation and detect when a foreign object disrupts the frequency of the waves. They cover larger areas than infrared sensors and are less sensitive.
- Hybrid: these sensors use both infrared and microwave technology. They are the best options available, but they’re also the most expensive.
Your home surveillance system should ideally include all three types of sensors, but infrared and microwave sensors are more than capable on their own. If you’re trying to minimize your budget, small passive infrared sensors are the way to go.
3. Security Lighting
The only way your security cameras can get clear footage is if you provide sufficient lighting. You need to keep your property illuminated so you can still see your camera footage at nighttime and during cloudy weather conditions. These types of lights play unique roles in home security:
- Floodlights: every homestead needs floodlights. These powerful lights cover hundreds of feet, leaving trespassers with nowhere to hide.
- Motion-sensor lighting: these energy-efficient lights automatically turn on when someone walks in front of them. They are the most effective when placed around driveways, sidewalks and other walking areas around your property.
- Automatic timer lighting: AT lights enable you to set custom timers that intruders can’t predict. Many homeowners set their timers for sunset and sunrise to keep their homes safe at night.
- LED lights: LED lights don’t have a specialty like the other types, but they last longer and have better light concentration. They only shine downwards, which puts a spotlight on the targeted area and reduces light pollution.
All of your outdoor security cameras should have at least one light nearby. Be sure to mix up the lighting varieties to make your home’s security more unpredictable. Thieves often stake out homes to learn more about the security devices. If you make your lights too predictable, a smart trespasser can figure out how to get around them.
[Editor’s note: Most surveillance cameras that I researched have some night vision capabilities, but unless you spend a good chunk of change you’re not going to get anything great. Outdoor lighting that works with your camera system will make a difference in nighttime video quality, but I believe it will largely depend on the intensity and placement of the outdoor lighting. Definitely ask somebody who knows more about this topic if you want the best out of your system.]
4. Video Doorbell
A video doorbell would make a fantastic addition to your home surveillance system. It’s a camera, motion sensor and intercom system rolled into one device. You can monitor everything that happens outside your front door. The camera even learns to detect familiar faces over time, which helps with identifying potential intruders.
Perhaps most impressive of all, video doorbells enable you to talk to strangers at your front door even when you’re home. You can connect your phone to the doorbell and control all of its features with a mobile app.
[Editor’s note: Yes, these are great to have. I’ve got a Ring doorbell and like it a lot. Plus, they automatically upload clips to the internet, but I think I had to pay a modest fee for that feature.]
5. Glass Break Detectors
Windows are one of the primary entrances for thieves, so you may want to include glass break detectors in your home surveillance system. If you’re away from home or even if sleeping, this device will sound the alarm if someone breaks in through a window. It senses high-frequency noises such as shattering glass, snapping wood and creaking doors.
[Editor’s note: Although you might think you’ll hear a window breaking, you might not under the right circumstances. I don’t have window breakage alarms, but then someone is almost always here, people sleep in the basement, and my dog can even hear me tiptoe away from the bed in the middle of the night. I think we have our windows covered.]
Estimating Equipment Costs
On average, you can expect an advanced home security system to cost $199-399 for equipment, $100-200 for installation and activation, followed by recurring payments of $25-50 for monitoring. These numbers are based on homeowner surveys conducted by HomeGuide.
The costs of your surveillance equipment can widely vary based on the provider and security package. Some providers require you to sign long-term contracts, while others keep the relationship open with six-month contracts or shorter. Since you’re looking for an advanced system, a long-term contract might be in your best interest.
If you want 24/7 monitoring, expect to pay a premium price. Of course, you can also keep track of your security devices by yourself. The DIY monitoring approach is only a good idea if you’re proficient with computer and cell phone technology.
If you decide to let your security provider monitor the devices, they will give you three options:
- Landline: the provider connects your home’s landline to the monitoring center.
- Broadband: the provider uses your internet connection to link you to the monitoring center.
- Cellular: a chip built into your phone connects you to the monitoring center.
Cellular is the most convenient option, but it’s also the most expensive. Most people don’t have landlines anymore. Plus, intruders can easily cut the landline connection. Broadband is a happy medium because you can access your security camera footage with a computer or laptop, but if your internet connection crashes, so does the monitoring service.
[Editor’s note: I don’t much believe in someone else monitoring my home; that’s my job. Besides, this is more for home alarm system, in my opinion.]
Home Evaluation
Before you install any security devices, you first need to perform a thorough home evaluation. Start by asking the following questions:
- Who and what do I need to protect?
- What internal and external threats does my home need protection from?
- Where are the possible entry points for intruders?
- How can I stop them?
Your answers will vary depending on the size of your family and property, your house’s architecture and your surrounding community.
Camera Placement
Your camera placement is arguably the most important aspect of your home surveillance system. Ideally, each of your cameras should cover a maximum amount of surface area with minimal overlap. The most obvious locations are the entrances, exits and walkways around your property. Make sure you put cameras at these spots before experimenting with any other location.
The camera’s environment is another important factor to consider. If the camera is in a shaded area, you need to put extra lighting nearby. Outdoor security cameras are supposed to be weatherproof, but you might have to provide additional shelter if they face frequent exposure to precipitation.
[Editor’s note: Consider camera height also. If someone can get to a camera relatively easily simply by standing on a deck chair, then maybe it’s too low to the ground. Personally, I placed two cameras on all four corners of our house. None are super easy get to, though I’d imagine that a tall man could reach a few if he tried; there was just no way around it. Regardless, a person would’ve already been captured on camera long before getting to them, which is why it’s crucial to ensure all approach angles are covered as well.]
Camera Maintenance
The main types of surveillance camera maintenance are security patches and firmware updates. Your security provider will take care of these tasks for you. However, you are primarily responsible for the physical upkeep of your cameras. That means you need to perform frequent tampering inspections and confirm that nobody has been messing with your cameras.
Although CCTV camera tampering is uncommon, thieves and vandals have been known to mess with video doorbells because they’re in easy-to-reach places. They might block the camera with a foreign object, stifle the microphone or disable certain buttons on the touchpad. Keep these risks in mind if you install a video doorbell.
You might also have to repair or replace your cameras after extreme weather events. You can perform this job by yourself or call your security provider for help. You might be proficient with tools, but it’s better to leave bigger repairs to the professionals as a general rule.
Surveillance Policy
Once you set up your cameras, you have to implement a surveillance policy. If you don’t set clear guidelines, you could run into legal issues down the road. For example, if you capture a violent encounter between family members on camera and hide it from the police, you could be found guilty of withholding evidence.
Some of your cameras might also partially capture footage of a public area. You might have a valid reason to point your cameras in this direction, but it might draw complaints from neighbors. If you have to place cameras in these areas, post a sign nearby to warn people that they’re under surveillance. Private rooms, like restrooms and dressing rooms, are not allowed to have cameras.
Make sure you address these important points when writing your surveillance policy:
- Intended purposes of the surveillance system
- Appropriate camera placement and operation
- Hidden cameras that aren’t always used
- Video proprietary rights
- All people who have access to the camera footage
- All channels used to watch or obtain the camera footage
- Details of archived or archival camera footage
Your security provider will help you put together a surveillance policy upon request. This request is a good idea if you want to be 100% confident that you’re legally operating your security system.
[Editor’s note: One more point to consider, at least for hardwired DIY systems, is the security of your DVR system–the box that records all video footage. Although not ideal, I locked ours in the hall closet because thieves have been known to simply break in, steal whatever they want, and then walk off with the DVR system in hand as they leave. Don’t make it that easy for them.]
Keep Your Family and Belongings Safe
An advanced home video surveillance system will be difficult to install and maintain. There are many moving parts, and it takes a lot of commitment to constantly monitor the cameras. These efforts are all worth it. Keeping your family and belongings safe is your greatest responsibility.
Use this guide to build your ideal custom surveillance system and keep unwanted intruders off your property once and for all.
[Note: This was a guest post.]
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