Home Removal Services Blog

For many households, installing an outdoor security camera is more than necessary. That is why one of the most common forms of home security is a simple lighting system. It’s one step up from no security, and an effective deterent to potential intruders. The different techniques are dusk-to-dawn lighting, motion activated, and combination high/low lighting.

Dusk to dawn lighting the simplest, oldest trick in the book. The idea is that a lit home will discourage a burglar because they can no longer operate under the cover of darkness. It is both real and a psychological tactic that makes the burglar feel less secure.

The lighting system uses a photocell control either external or built into the lights that detect light levels and switch on when lighting levels get low.

The cost of running electricity and replacement lamps is the downside of this technique. Since the lights are on all night lamps burn out much faster and the electricity bill can really add up. Also, since the lights always look the same, there is nothing to alert anyone nearby of suspicious activity.

The motion activated lighting is one of the more popular techniques. It is a very effect deterrent and since most of the time the lights will stay off and only go on as needed the energy costs as well as replacement lamps are much lower than the previous technique. Imagine the flood lights coming on while the would-be perpetrator is still 30 yards from the point of entry.

A combination high/low lighting technique is just as the name implies. It combines the two lighting techniques. A lower beam light, usually 20%, turns on and stays on all night and the full wattage high beam light is motion activated.

Its costs is not quite as low as the motion activated system but not as expensive as leaving the lights on all night. It also provides a nice glow all night which is comforting for most people.

When it comes to protecting your home and your family, security lighting does a good job as a simple yet effective prevention measure against intrusions or other criminal activity on or to your property. It will definitely aid in the detection of intruders, to deter intruders, or in some cases simply to increase the feeling of safety.

There are two types of CCTV cameras. You can choose from CMOS or CCD which are differentiated by the image sensor. Cameras that are CMOS based are cheaper of the two but do not produce the same quality of image in terms of sharpness and clarity as the CCD camera delivers.

Depending on your needs you can find the camera that is right for you. If you need to identify faces, you’ll need a vastly different security camera from a need to simply monitor crowd traffic patterns.

There is a difference in cameras designed for indoor versus outdoor use. There are additional durability standards that the camera would need to ensure it survives the harsh conditions, unlike an indoor security camera.

The overall size of your security system, including the number of cameras you will need, will determine your spending ceiling. If it was just one camera you might spend a little extra for extra features, for example higher resolution. But across a 20 camera system that little extra you spend per camera will definitely add up to some serious money. Your budget will directly impact your buying decision and needs to be sufficient for the right cameras to adequately serve your needs.

One of most important consideration is lighting of the area you want to monitor. If you plan on installing an outdoor security camera to protect your detached car garage from thieves but buy a high quality day camera that isn’t designed for low light environments, your video feed will be different shades of black frames.

For nigh scenes, black and white cameras are recommended since they can deliver sharper images in low light settings. There are also day/night outdoor cameras with lighting sensors that adjust the camera for optimal recording at different lighting levels.

There are also dedicated night vision cameras for true low light recording. The minimum amount of light required for the camera to record properly is measured by the LUX rating. A camera of lower LUX rating requires less light and a rating of 0 means the camera is designed for complete darkness.

When it comes to the sharpness of the image, this is measured in resolution. Higher resolution cameras will produce higher quality images. Entry level cameras will have resolutions of about 330 lines and up to 400 lines in higher end cameras.

When it comes to recording the video feed from the camera, most people will do with the DVR, which stands for digital video recorder. In more advanced monitoring systems there are controls for panning and zooming the camera in real-time to get closeups or follow a particular object.