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If you’re looking to improve the level of safety in your home, installing a security camera represents a great solution. This can be an effective method for deterring potential thieves looking to break into your home and steal valuables. Home security cameras used to be very expensive and complicated to set up, but this is no longer the case nowadays. Keeping the inside and the outside of your home properly monitored can now be done easily by most homeowners as the technology is more accessible.
Anyone can put up surveillance cameras around their property but that doesn’t necessarily mean a great upgrade in terms of security. It’s important to figure out which areas around the house you should focus on and which spots need to be avoided. Pointing the camera to the wrong place will give you a false sense of security and make the entire process needlessly wasteful. Check out the worst places to avoid when setting up your security camera system.
1. In a Side Alley or the Back of the Home
Burglars like to creep around the back of the home or use side alleys that are more hidden from view, right? This is a common belief but it doesn’t hold up in real life. It turns out that malicious people looking to break into your home tend to do it by using the most easily accessible areas like the front door or first-floor window. These are the best places that should be surveilled with the help of a security camera.
Putting up cameras for monitoring uncommon burglar routes will make it likely that you’ll miss the action. Remember that a security camera isn’t really enough by itself to protect your home from burglars. Its main role is that of a deterrent which is best achieved when the camera is pointed at the front area of the home. Therefore, it’s strongly recommended to avoid locations like the side or the back of the house when you install a home security camera.
2. Behind Obstructions
When you’re trying to decide on a good spot for your security camera, take a close look at the surrounding elements. There might be some obstructions that you haven’t taken into account and they can potentially impact the camera’s field of view. A good example is setting up the camera in a tree. Even though it seems to provide a good view of the house, tree branches might easily act as moving obstructions over time.
It’s tempting to keep a security camera hidden to catch burglars unaware but this is not a good idea. Never forget about the importance of this type of camera to act as a reliable deterrent. It needs to be placed in a conspicuous place to discourage potential burglars. Disguising the camera outside using the surroundings of the home will not have the desired effect of improving the overall security of the house. The best place should be somewhere with a clear view of the front of the house without the risk of some nearby obstructions getting in the way.
3. In Private Areas
If putting up security cameras outside the house leaves you unsatisfied, you might also consider setting up a few of them inside. Although there’s nothing really wrong with this idea, it’s worth mentioning that extra cameras in your house will probably not have a significant effect in terms of increasing overall security. You might actually introduce some privacy concerns, depending on the exact placement of the camera.
Avoid setting up security cameras in private areas like the bathroom or the bedroom of the house. Even if you have good intentions, other members of the family can feel very uncomfortable. Assuming that family members get used to the idea, this is still a big privacy invasion for guests. Monitoring the inside of your home with cameras can be done properly by choosing only common areas such as kitchens or hallways.
4. In Hidden Areas Where the Deterrent Element Won’t Achieve Its Purpose
99% of the time security cameras work as a deterrent against thieves, robbers and burglars and only in very few cases their use hinges on the ability to identify the suspects after the crime has already been committed. If a sophisticated criminal sees that a home has an extensive surveillance system they will most likely skip it and go to a home where security is lacking because they have to work quickly and avoid being seen or recorded. Having the cameras stashed somewhere they are not obviously visible can actually work against you even if you still have footage of the incident afterwards. You would most likely prefer avoiding the burglary altogether than having to find the criminal after the fact, right?
5. In Areas Where Only The House Is Visible But Not The Land Around it
No matter if we’re talking big or small homes, your best bet is to have the cameras placed so that you can also see the criminals approach your residence and not only the house itself. The benefits of having the land around your house also under surveillance (ideally with security cameras that provide motion alerts on your smartphone) is that you can have extra time to prepare yourself beforehand if an attack is about to occur and you feel that your life is in danger. There is also an added advantage when you are not at home because you can alert the police or your security company before the criminals actually gain entrance into your home. Those precursory minutes before the burglary actually occurs are vital in protecting yourself and your property because the burglars won’t have the advantage of the surprise element.
6. On the Second Roof Line of Your Home
The first obvious reason you shouldn’t place a camera behind the second roof line of your home is that it will have a limited line of sight and is going to be obstructed from surveilling most of the important footage if a burglary occurs. And secondly, since the video quality drops the farther the camera is from the subject you will not even be able to distinguish the body type of the criminals let alone how they gained access into your home or what they sound like, making their identification almost impossible.
