The Seven Golden Rules for Selecting Camera Positions for Surveillance Systems in New Homes

Selecting camera areas is not so much an art as it is a common sense visual drill. After all, just what is it we are planning to achieve by installing a video surveillance system? Of course, we want to be able to see the bad guys and with any luck acquire some video of them to turn over to the police. In addition, more recently people also want to bag video related to their lifestyle.

Out of the Weather

Yes I know, many of today's cameras are waterproof or at least weather resistant. While that it true, it still doesn't hurt to make an effort to find locations which are out of the weather as much as feasible. For example, if you are externally installing a camera on the side of your home to see burglars in exposed locations, you might as well mount it horizontally under the eaves as opposed to vertically on the fascia.

Not Too Steep

If you are trying to bag video of visitors at your front door, you will want to make sure the camera is not installed too high on the wall. It doesn't hurt to climb up on a ladder and peer down at around the five foot height near your door. If a person was there wearing a baseball cap would you be able to even see his face?

Not to Large an Angle

Another error I see with installations at the front door is when the camera angle is too wide whereby only pictures of the side of a visitors face and body are captured. You must select a location closer to the front door to install the camera as opposed to a side wall or post. To best serve this purpose there are video entry systems with color cameras installed in the front door station.

Not Too Far

I know what you're thinking, "Of course mounting a camera too far away from the actual zone one wants to capture on video is a no brainier." However, you'd be shocked how many times people install video cameras so that their video image is small and fuzzy. The way to solve that is to install a megapixel camera to capture the front gate or a similar distant target. The ability for this type of camera to reach out and touch someone is noteworthy.

Pool Area

One of the primary locations that should be captured on video is in and around the pool and BBQ area. The reason for this is twofold. The first reason is that you will want to keep an eye on children or elderly people near the pool for safety. The second reason for having a camera zoomed in on the pool area is to see who is at the pool in case you would like to join them or some other lifestyle related reason. One good solid use of video I have had many customers request is the ability for mom to see what dad is cooking on the backyard BBQ near the pool. She can clearly see him on the screen in the kitchen to decide something like the right timing to take the potato salad out to the backyard picnic table.

Around the Sides and Back of the Home

You will really want to install cameras to peer along all sides of your home. For one thing you will want to be able to see these vulnerable areas in case you hear noises in the middle of the night. In addition, if you do have an animal or burglar crawling around the periphery of your home you'll definitely want to record the incident.

Inside Your Recreational Room

Mounting cameras inside your house has to be done in a way that all family members know and approve of the camera positions. Obviously, we're not talking about mounting cameras in bedrooms or anything like that. One of the positions where I most often install a camera which can be seen on the whole-house video system is the recreational room. In my house I often look at that camera to see who in my family is there in case I want to go downstairs and visit with them. Of course, there are many other video camera locations to be considered whether it be for security or lifestyle purposes.

Well, there you have them. These are seven of the best pointers I can offer for selecting positions for video cameras in and around the home. As you can see video surveillance is not just about viewing likely areas for burglars, it is also a awesome way of improving your lifestyle. Today I have given you several of the most important guidelines to follow when installing cameras in your home. Enjoy the video!


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You can get Glenn Bell's FREE 10 Video Mini Course on Surveillance Video and how to install electronics in homes. Glenn also provides a free eBook about Video Entry