Best Spots To Put Your Home Security Cameras

If you’ve decided to install home security cameras in and around your home, that’s an excellent decision. Home security cameras help deter would-be burglars, vandals, and neighborhood kids playing pranks they think are funny but which create headaches for homeowners. And when a bad actor does strike, high quality home security cameras can help identify them so that law enforcement can apprehend them. In some cases, they can even protect you from liability claims by creating a record showing you (through your property) were not the cause of someone else’s injuries.

After deciding to install home security cameras, the next thing to do is to decide where to install them. Since no two homes and yards are exactly alike, and because budgets and priorities differ from property to property, there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to where to place home security cameras. However, there are, as a rule of thumb, locations both inside and outside that tend to be ones where people most commonly set their security cameras. There are also places not to put them, and this article will cover all of those considerations.

 

Exterior Placements for Home Security Cameras

Let’s start with the exterior of your home. What typically are the best spots to put your home security cameras? Let’s take a look.

Front Door

 

Burglars always try to sneak around the back or the side, right? Actually, about a third of all burglars use the front door. It’s the most visible entry point to begin with, and because it receives the vast majority of a home’s in and out traffic, it might also be the entry point most likely to be left unlocked because someone forgot to. Burglars who are skilled at picking locks might also choose the front door because they would look less suspicious there than if someone saw them at a different door.

The front door is also where a lot of package deliveries take place and the location many vandals and pranksters target, so security cameras there can deter or record them when they strike. Security cameras at the front door also create a record of everyone going in and out of your home, including maintenance workers, babysitters, and anyone else, so you will have a way to tell who was there and when in case the need arises. Many people pair security cameras with their doorbells.

 

Back and Side Doors

Even though a third of burglars use the front door, around a fifth of them use a back door to break in. While traveling to a back or side door might attract notice and arouse suspicion, if a burglar does get there unnoticed, there’s a better chance of not being seen while attempting to break in. This is especially the case with basement doors because their location, particularly those with steps leading down to them, provides quite a bit of “privacy” for criminals to do their work.

Concerns about unwanted entry and exit don’t extend just to criminals. Kids often sneak out, or sneak things in, at times when they shouldn’t (we’re not moralizing here; after all, there’s a pretty good chance you did the same back in the day), and home security cameras around back and side doors may help discourage those activities as well or create proof if that becomes necessary.

If you don’t think outdoor home security cameras are necessary for every back and side door, you should at least consider one for any such door that gets a high amount of use. As with the front door, the more a back or side door is used, the more likely it is to be left unlocked. Also, consider installing one for any door that might look really appealing to a criminal (like the basement door example).

 

Garage and Driveway

People commonly leave garage doors open during the day and sometimes forget to close them at night. Garages themselves often contain valuable items such as cars, tools, bicycles, sports equipment, and kayaks, so they are targets all on their own, and garages attached to a house present another potential entry point via the door into the house, which is frequently left unlocked.

If you have a camera pointed at your garage, whether the garage is attached to the house or not, you can keep tabs on activity there. A camera aimed at the driveway or at a gate at the end of the driveway helps you monitor who is coming and going on and, in the case of the gate, who might be trying to get in.

 

Front, Back, and Side Yards:

Criminals frequently use a person’s yard to approach the house discreetly or to case the property for a future break-in attempt. The yard may also be the preferred means of approach for vandals and pranksters, and trespassers sometimes use people’s yards to take shortcuts from one place to another. If a yard has a lot of trees, it becomes even more enticing to any of these people because of the cover the trees can provide. Security cameras in the yard can deter and record all of them.

Here’s another bonus of security cameras in the yard: recording wildlife. If you live somewhere that has a lot of wildlife, you might enjoy seeing who or what visits your property, especially at night when more elusive animals tend to come out.

 

Interior Placements for Home Security Cameras

Now let’s consider the interior of your home. Where should you install indoor home security cameras to catch bad actors on the record and create evidence that can identify and convict them?

Common Areas

Kitchens, living rooms, and other common areas are where babysitters spend most of their time, kids do homework, and pets roam or lounge about. Security cameras in these areas can help you make sure people are doing what they’re supposed to do or that pets aren’t getting into things they shouldn’t. They can also monitor possible break-in points such as large ground-floor windows. Also, although workers like contractors and house cleaners rarely steal or break things, it does sometimes happen, and security cameras can record that so that you can back up a claim of theft or damage.

Common areas are also places burglars tend to target first because they’re easier to access and, at night, there’s less of a chance that there will be somebody in them. Security cameras in these places don’t keep burglars from entering, but they can record them and help authorities identify and prosecute them.

Stairways and Hallways

Breaking into a room requires movement about a house, which means the criminal will be using stairways and hallways. Security cameras positioned in these locations can capture intruders on the record and can also detect movement and send alerts to you and/or an alarm company. They’re also helpful if you need to know who’s going out of their rooms and about the house at times they shouldn’t be.

 

Where Not To Install Home Security Cameras

There are also places where you should never install a home security camera. Basically, these are locations where security cameras would intrude upon people’s reasonable expectations of privacy. There are three that really stand out.

Bedrooms: No one would blame you for wanting to pay extra attention to children or to elderly relatives who might have health conditions that require assistance. People with rental properties might have concerns about guests stealing or damaging things. However, security cameras are not the answer to this because bedrooms are places where people have a reasonable right to be left on their own and unobserved. These are places where they get dressed and undressed, engage in intimate activities, and generally want to do what they want without anyone watching.

Better solutions to legitimate concerns include baby monitors, motion detectors for doors and windows, and sensors that pi

ck up on breaking glass are some examples, and they can be connected to a home security system.

Bathrooms: Bathrooms are off limits to security cameras for most of the same reasons that bedrooms are, and the same kinds of alternatives are applicable. In bathrooms, people are in various states of undress, they are attending to bodily functions, and so on. Also, think about this: if you have security cameras in a bedroom or bathroom, what happens if a guest discovers that and sues you? What happens if a hacker gains access to recordings and has video of you or your family members, including children, undressed?

Locations That Would Violate Neighbors’ Privacy: Most of the time, it’s okay if outdoor security cameras capture a neighbor’s property in the background, but laws make clear exceptions when it comes to places where neighbors have a reasonable expectation of privacy. If your security cameras are recording activity inside a neighbor’s windows, especially bedroom or bathroom windows, you’re asking for trouble. Even if the neighbors don’t close their curtains or draw blinds shut, they have a right to privacy and freedom from being recorded in such places. The same may apply to locations such as swimming pools, decks, and patios. In general, it’s best to position security cameras so that they don’t record a neighbor’s property at all and, in cases where that’s not possible, they can only record the most mundane activities. Always look into local privacy laws first.

 

Professional Home Security Camera Installation

If you’ve decided that you want installation of home security cameras, Premier Tech Home Security has you covered for any property and any needs. Get in touch with us to discuss your needs and come up with a plan that’s best for your needs and budget. Let’s talk today!