How to Install Security Camera at Home
When you talk about how to install a security camera system in your home, your mind should always do two things.
They include how to install outdoor security camera wiring, and how to hide security camera wires outside. If the camera or the wire is exposed they are subject to attack by intruders.
You can run a security camera outdoor and indoors depending on your choice. You can run it on the driveway, or any other place that is isolated from your house.
You can use the camera to monitor what is happening in your house. It is important that such wires be not detected after you have run them and installed the cameras, otherwise, the aim would be defeated.
When you’re going to install a security camera, some important factors must be considered. Most important among them is the powering system.
Even if you decide to use a wireless security camera in your home, it would still be powered before it can work. It is either you use the public power supply in your home or you use a battery backup system.
Even at that, there is still the need for the battery to be replaced as the need for that arises.
There are different kinds of security cameras out there such as analog cameras and PoE cameras. You can run security wires for your outdoor PoE cameras.
If you are finding it hard to install wires for your wireless outdoor security cameras, here are some guidelines that can assist you to have them installed.
When you run such security cameras to your home, it is going to help you to stay protected.
Apart from powering the security camera systems in your home, it can ensure video monitoring and recording events twenty-four hours of the day, and seven days of the week.
Furthermore, it can work well with two network solutions, and it can work with and without networks.
To ensure that the wires are not easily detected, it is recommended that the wires be buried. This is not an easy thing to do, but it still possible.
Guide to How to Install Security Camera Wiring and Hide Wires Outside
Here are important steps to wire your outdoor security camera. They are as follows:
Step One
Before you begin this type of wiring, the first thing to do is to sit down and plan how the wire would go. Ensure that the wiring route is as short as possible.
This would make the burial job easier. Remember that conduit pipes may be used for the wiring and the pipes are to be buried.
Plan the route in such a way that the route would be easy, and it would not be difficult to bury the pipe.
Step Two
You have to procure the pipes to use for the wiring such as metal conduit pipe, or PVC, and so on. The essence of using pipes is to hide the cables from public view, especially intruders.
Moreover, it protects cables from natural and human attacks. It equally protects it from birds, squirrels, and other attacks.
Step Three
Powering factor is an important issue as said earlier. Perhaps you may have the need to power your PoE security camera located outdoors.
To do that, you have to fish a CAT5/6 cable. PoE cabling is great because it can do at least two things, which include providing power to your security cameras as well as providing data connection.
If however, you want to use wireless security cameras outdoors, you are required to run wires to the outlet, and this supplies power to your security cameras hidden outside.
For protection and longevity, it is recommended that the outlet be weatherproofed and waterproofed.
Step Four
Before you proceed, it is necessary that you mark those points you want to make a hole.
Step Five
The next thing to do after you have identified and marked the places to make a hole is that you follow up by drilling holes to run that security camera wires.
When you have cut the hole, you have to insert the drill gradually to drill holes for you, so that you take your wires through it.
When drilling, it is recommended to use only a right-angled drill attached with a hole saw. This makes for large holes boring and so on.
Moreover, always keep the holes centered on studs. It is recommended to drill such holes through walls than doing that through the floor.
Just take it slowly and avoid taking it too hard. If you think that it penetrating through a wall, stop it.
Step Six
Bury network cables as well as electrical wires. Bury the PVC conduit for at least eighteen inches. For metal pipes, it is recommended that you bury them six inches.
This is the National Electric Code specification.
Step Seven
When you have successfully drilled the holes and inserted the pipes, it is time to run your wires through the cables or wires. Fishing the wires remains the easiest way to run them.
All that you need to do is to run the wire using fish tape or you can use a pull wire. Twist the wire end and wrap it through the fish tape eye.
Insert the electrical tape toward the fish tape end and pull the wires.
Step Eight
Pull the security camera wires. You need assistance to do this. At least one person would be needed to feed the wires for you. While pulling the wires, ensure that you pull them evenly.
Moreover, ensure that the wires are untangled. The person pulling the other end has to do it slowly and it can be done in two to three feet intervals.
When it is done fast, it could wound the other person and it can nick the wires.
While running the wires, ensure that it does go far away to a place it may not receive signals easily.
Security cameras are meant to receive signals from three hundred feet while at three hundred and thirty feet distance they can receive internet signals.
Remember that in doing that, it should be done according to the National Electrical Code.
While installing your security cameras in your home, it is important that you hide both the wires and the camera from the public eyes.
When thieves or vandals attack, they can attack both the cameras and the wires. They know that when they attack the wires, it would cut the supply to the camera, and this means that the camera is going to become useless.
There are various ways you can hide your security wires. You should know that how you hide them depends on the location of your camera.
Here are various steps you can take to hide your wires from public access.
Step Nine
The first step that you can consider is to use a cable run to prevent access to the wires. This is important if you did not drywall your ceiling.
In the same way, if you have the intention of carrying out a massive remodeling, then you can always consider using the cable run.
Cable run is recommended because it is a flexible tube and it can easily encase the wire. Such a run is usually placed in your ceiling and this means that intruders cannot easily detect it.
Step Ten
Another option you can take to prevent intruders from having access to your security camera wiring is to run your cables through your suspended ceiling.
If you want the camera to be mounted high on the ground close to the mounted ceiling, you can supply cable to the camera through ceiling tiles wirings.
The wires would not be detected. This is another way you can prevent intruders from observing your camera wires, and from damaging them.
Step Eleven
The other measure that you can take to protect your camera wires from being easily detected is by wiring them within your baseboard and under the carpet.
This is good for those who have enough doorways in their homes. They can hide it under the baseboards, and it is going to be tricky.
Intruders would hardly detect it. Furthermore, the place you hide the camera can determine how best to hide the wiring system.
If for instance that the camera was hiding low, then you can decide to run the wiring system under the floor. When you pass the wire beneath the floor, it would not be easy to detect.
You can hide it under the carpet or under the rug, it cannot be easily detected.
Step Twelve
Moreover, it is safe to pass the wire behind the wall straight to the camera. This means that you have to cut a hole in the wall. Pass the wire through the hole direct to the device.
If you thread the wires through the drywall, you would notice that the camera and the wire are not going to be visible for intruders.
This is another unique way you can wire your security camera and yet prevent intruders from having access to the wire and the camera.
Step Thirteen
Most importantly, if you have the money, you can opt for a wireless device. This is good because it would not require a wire for the camera to work.
This means that you have to look for any of the wireless devices out there.
When you use the wireless device, it is going to reduce the cost of installation, because it would not require wiring and which means that you are not requiring to drill any hole and so on.
Materials Needed for the Installations
When you want to carry out security wiring in your home, you have to assemble important tools needed for the installation.
For the installation of the PoE security cameras, you need the following tools, they include fish tape, drill as well as Cat 5/6 cables, and so on.
If you want to carry out a wireless security camera in your home especially those that would not require a battery, here are materials needed for the wiring. They include fish tape, drills, as well as electrical wires, and so on.
If you want to have an analog security camera wiring in your home, you also need the necessary materials to get started. Here are some of the materials needed for the installation and they are as follows:
- RG-59/syv-75-5 coaxial wires
- RG-59 BNC connectors
- RG-59 crimping tool
- RG-59 stripping tool and so on
- Electrical tape
- Standard wire crimp tool
- Wirecutter
- BNC barrel
There are instances that you need metal and PVC pipes, and this is the situation when you need underground wires for effective monitoring.
There could be other important tools you require for security camera installation, but that depends on the type of installation that you want to carry out.
PoE camera system
PoE stands for Power over Ethernet systems and from the way it is designed, it reduces the number of connections before you can use it for surveillance.
Many people would always go for this brand because of the fact that it is easier to install. It is relatively new when compared to several other cameras out there.
If you want to install this type of camera, it is important that you get the necessary components such as NVR which stands for Network Video Recorder, as well as the PoE injector, Cat5E cable, injector power adopter, Ethernet cable, hard disk as well as PoE capable IP camera and so on.
Because it is easier and better to use these modern cameras, many people do not bother about analog cameras.
Installing an analog camera is more difficult to do because it requires a lot of work to be done.
Conclusion
The tips provided above would assist you in installing outdoor security cameras in your home as well as hiding such outdoor security wirings from intruders.
