Do You Need A Home CCTV System?

Home CCTV systems have never been cheaper to buy or easier to install.

But do you really need a home CCTV system?

In this article, I’ll have a look at some pros and cons of installing a home CCTV system in order to deter and detect criminals and opportunist thieves committing criminal acts in and around your property.

Home CCTV System Pros

Here are the pros of having a home CCTV system.

Home CCTV System Cons

Let’s talk About The Pros

The biggest pro of having a home CCTV system is that it acts as a huge deterrent for anyone thinking of breaking into your property or even entering your property to steal or commit criminal acts.

It’s a layer of security that’s featured in our article on 75 ways to improve home security.

Layering security elements is really important, because every layer of security adds another hurdle or problem for people who want to enter your land to commit crimes.

A criminal that glances at a house that has an overt piece of detection equipment, like CCTV cameras, will instantly think again about entering the property or land that has the CCTV.

We say this time and time again throughout this site, but the most important part of home security measures is making it harder for people to commit crimes and gain access to your property. Every security measure you implement, no matter how small, makes it harder and hopefully deters anyone trying anything in the first place.

Let’s Talk About The Cons

From a personal perspective, big, unsightly cameras on the front of residential property cheapens the look of a home.

I’m specifically talking about the old style, large white ones like the one in the image below.

I don’t know about you, but it just cheapens the look of a home, and automatically makes me think I’m in a high crime area.

Modern looking, smaller, stylish cameras win hands down any day of the week.

The other big con is the installation and maintenance of your system.

Of course, the scale goes from cheap and small, easy to install one camera system that is linked to your smartphone, to a more expensive and expansive option of a multi camera system with seperate DVR recording box that needs to be hard wired into your electrics.

Another alternative is a DIY Home Security System. These systems are usually modular, meaning you can add extra functionality to the system as and when needed at a later date.

So this really does depend on how big you want your home CCTV system to be.

What About A Dummy CCTV System?

Yes, if money is tight, a dummy CCTV system will add an extra layer of deterrent to your property.

We have articles on whether you should buy a dummy CCTV here, and another article with our Top 3 Dummy CCTV Cameras here.

Do You Really Need A Home CCTV System?

We recommend having some sort of CCTV system in place at your property, even if it is the cheapest, most basic system that covers at a minimum, the front of your property.

One of the major positives of having CCTV is the deterrent factor. Couple the CCTV with some well placed signs, and this then becomes a major deterrent and could mean the difference between a criminal choosing a different target.

But it also depends on things like the area you live in, the type of property you live in and your own personal peace of mind.

One thing I would say though, is a CCTV system is no good if you are not getting the basics right.

Do make sure you follow our guide here on ways to target harden your home and make it more secure in the first place.

Questions & Comments

Let me know what you think in the comment section below. Have you got a home CCTV system setup? Is it useful?

Does it give you extra peace of mind?

Was it easy to set up and use?

Let me know in the comments below.

Stay Safe. Stay Secure.