What Is The Best CCTV Kit For Home And How To Choose One
Everything we have at home is important to us that’s why we store a lot of valuable items here since we know that it is the safest place we can think of. Aside from that, our homes are also a special place where the whole family lives so we have to make sure that nothing and nobody can harm us in our humble space. However, it won’t be enough to simply lock the doors and close the windows to say that we are safe because there will always be intruders around and they will come for our valuables whenever they want.
This is why we have to install security cameras not only to find out if someone would like to steal something from our properties. Some of these devices are easy to install anyway but if you doubt your capability, then you better allow a professional to do the installation since this also requires electrical skills. That would be an ideal way rather than troubleshooting for a long time just because you cannot follow the manual and can’t get the instructions done right.
However, you need to choose the right Closed Circuit Television or CCTV for home use because you surely have a variety of kits or packages to choose from the contractors. Such devices are continuously advancing because this is a technology that is not only important to residential buildings but to every commercial establishment as well. It could be confusing to choose one so let me share with you a few tips on how to get the best kit offered to avoid wasting money on this investment.
Cost and Location
First of all, know your budget because you’ll be paying the contractors, though sometimes installation is free. But you have to buy the devices which could either be on a cash or installment basis. By the way, newer models are usually expensive because they are more advanced and with better features.
Now, before choosing the type of CCTV, you have to decide first where you would like to mount it. Some devices are only designed for indoor use, while others can be mounted outdoors.
Type
If we are not familiar with the type of surveillance cameras, then we have to consult with the experts to help us choose which model or type is best for our homes. Some of the features include infrared for night vision which is good for capturing clearer footage when it’s dark. Another feature is the optical and digital zoom for zooming in or out of the recorded footage so this depends on the lens – see https://www.diffen.com/difference/Digital_Zoom_vs_Optical_Zoom for further reading.
When you are on a tight budget, you may choose a kit with an analog camera but with a low resolution, though also good for monitoring movements in various areas. IP or Internet Protocol and High-definition cameras are better even if they are more expensive because the image resolution is higher. With this, the recording would be high-end so if you would like to invest in a more advanced technology, then make sure to choose these types.
With resolutions, such as 5 to 8 MP, the quality of the images would be high even after zooming in digitally. I guess you prefer this to a 2MP resolution which could be cheaper but might not satisfy your security requirements. If the area that you will monitor is wider, then you need a higher one.
Storage
If you prefer a CCTV kit with high resolution, then you will surely need big storage because the capacity of the footage will be bigger as well. So if this device will be recording for 24 hours, then it might even need unlimited space so make sure that you are going to have extra hard drives for such long operations – you can find here a sample calculator. You can always get data storage from 16GB – 1TB and add additional storage so memory cards alone won’t be enough.
Anyway, you have to ask the experts how you can maximize the storage so that you’ll know where to store footage. Some of you might want to delete the recording after a week or month, then that is also possible to save some space. But make sure to have backup storage as well just in case the system fails or someone breaks the CCTV.