CCTV Articles

Weather Affects Surveillance Cameras

Introduction

As the years progress, so does our technology every year…non-stop. More and more people are beginning to install home security systems for their safety. Whether they are hard-wired from home’s electric system, they protect people against burglary and able to monitor inside or the outside of the home or business.

Extreme weather, climate changes, drastic changes from high or low temperatures, either over a short or long period of time will and can affect the operated reliable electrical device like any other device.

Electronics such as surveillance equipment and cameras ranges through a certain operating temperature because different types of weather has its effects on various components in the surveillance camera.

Various Weather Elements

There are various weather disruptions based on the area of environment. If you are aiming to install a very well positioned security system through out your business or home for safety outside the perimeter, I suggest you get cameras that are well suited for the environment that surrounds you in order to get no failures or disruptions from your surveillance system. There is rain, ice, snow, heat, and severe winds that can all penetrate a surveillance outdoor camera and disrupt all its functions.

Ice and Snow
Cool temperature weather which will be factored as snow and ice affect outdoor surveillance system cameras in optic and mechanical disruptions. An unshielded camera can be damaged by ice. If there is moisture around an outdoor camera below the temperatures drop below freezing, the frost that is formed by that moisture and temperature can form on the cameras lens and disallowing the viewer to see any activities going on outside besides the crystalline patterns from the snow. If you have a powered moving camera such as an auto tracker the ice that has been formed by the past moisture from rain or sleet can cause the camera to lock in place and prevent movement from occurring.

Heated Cameras
Heated cameras are a very reliable method to go with when it comes to outdoor surveillance cameras. It prevents ice related disruptions. These heated cameras have a built in temperature sensors and heating elements to make sure that the camera never goes below a certain degree in temperature. This type of technology will obviously be of more cost and possibly more expensive to install in your home. But even though these types of cameras are able to process heat through severe cold conditions, the heat the camera generates for such an extend period of time that the heat may be insufficient to keep the camera at its temperature from freezing and continuing to process and work and may occur many power failures.

There is also a normal operation of surveillance cameras which produces certain amount of heat to keep it functioning. The use of these cameras such as video compressions can raise the temperature of a camera past it’s point making it very challenging for it to function at its normal rate. The positioning of a camera can affect the cooling airflow within the camera to allow it to perform regularly. To prevent heating of your cameras also recommend not to install cameras near heat conducting materials outside.

Weather-Proof Cameras
There are weather proof surveillance cameras to endure rough and harsh, crucial weather conditions. Their thermal designs are designed so that outdoor surveillance cameras can operate under extreme temperatures for an extended period of unusually high, low, and harsh rains or winds. These cameras have a less risk of damage under these harsh conditions which will help and save in replacing and repairing costs it may need on previously used cameras.

Weather-Proof Housing
Weather proof housings on cameras are able to be used on outdoor network cameras from prevention of damage caused by rain and dust, occasionally against solid objects thrown at the housing or liquid.

Cameras in Cities
Cameras that are placed in outdoor locations, big locations such as towns or cities to monitor stores, alleys and even traffic and crossings all are more vulnerable than most cameras installed at local homes. These cameras are always being exposed to many threats for a surveillance cameras. The heat and all the different types of weather it must go through may cause the camera to break down or cause it to erode away and begin to fail to function and begin to restart and shut off on its own or damage the lenses. Constantly, the variety of birds cause it to move from the direction it’s purposely recording by flying and landing on the camera. Just a variety of ways for a camera to break or malfunction in a city with all the dust and all different weathers it goes through.

Prevention
For outdoor installations, it is recommended to not have so many issues with the weather affecting your cameras to be positioned in a sheltered location even if they are weather resistant. Under shelter the lens of a camera can be protected from most types of severe weather such as rain or snow or heavy winds which all affects the clarity through lenses to view. You may even have it installed underneath a homemade shelter such as a plastic flower pot you may have made by cutting a piece and drilling it to the wall over a camera or possibly a box made of wood covering completely the camera except the lenses. All this will help shield weather resistant, weather proof cameras and non-weather proof cameras from these harsh conditions which will affect the video quality.

In summation, all outdoor surveillance cameras that are placed outside for security will come in conflict with the weather often more than a couple of times. Severe weathers may occur for more than a whole day and suiting how well and where your cameras have been installed will affect its video quality and function. Weather such as very low temperatures or dry heated areas and even locations that receive very heavily strong winds will cause a surveillance outdoor camera to erode or damage the lens. So to avoid many damages being done to a camera by weather I suggest to cover a camera with some kind of homemade shelter or install them outside under shelter or a more pricey factor but money well spent can be buying weather-proof cameras or cameras that include housings as protection to stand up against severe weathers.

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