Our neighbors are in their 80s and Fred is loosing his sight. We have had a crackhead approach several houses in the neighborhood and they are now nervous. Fred cannot see well enough for a peephole in their door to work.
They have asked that I recommend a video doorbell. They have some interesting ideas of what they want: No subscription, a permanent inside screen (they loose their phones and don't want to rely on them), and no changeable batteries (since they won't). They have an existing electric doorbell (14v I believe), so picking up power for the camera from that would be ideal. The screen can be mounted within about 24" of the doorbell and there is 120v power nearby. I think the system could be wired, but a wireless connection would obviously be easier for me to install.
Any thoughts?
Edit: I guess if it was a wired system if the screen powered the camera, that would work.
Seems like an always on camera and screen might be a viable option. Not sure they really need a "doorbell".
Sort of a security cam that does not record. Then again, if you go that far, maybe just go with a security cam setup.
Are you trying to do something with the Monitor next to the door ?
Something like a back-up cam which can be wired to the monitor or WiFi
also an alarm doormat that can be wired to a buzzer to give him a heads up
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GUNX7WY/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
We just installed a complete system here at our house from LOREX. 8 outdoor cameras, 2 doorbell cameras and 1(so far) indoor camera. I would take a look at their offerings. The customer service folks were great at answering system questions once I got everything set-up.
In reply to californiamilleghia :
They really want to see who is there
In reply to aircooled :
Exactly. I thought doorbell because they want to see their visitor's face.
Ring doorbell with a cheap Alexa screen seems like the easy button.
Doorbell rings, it chimes/and the Alexa unit will make an announcement that someone is at the door.
I have a set of Swann video cameras and their digital recorder. Wired, so you only need to power the recording unit and no batteries to deal with. Always recording. You'd need to add a monitor for it, but any standard monitor will work. It can send its pictures over the Internet, but only if you want it to. No subscription of any sort, ever.
When we did a DIY alarm system install, we got a IOT doorbell camera. But it works with an app not just a screen.
IMHO, if you are honestly worried, a doorbell camera isn't the best option, since it's pretty obvious its there, which means it's also obvious what to do to remove it. Something that can largely be hidden in a corner and isn't obvious seem to be a better fit here.
alfadriver said:
When we did a DIY alarm system install, we got a IOT doorbell camera. But it works with an app not just a screen.
IMHO, if you are honestly worried, a doorbell camera isn't the best option, since it's pretty obvious its there, which means it's also obvious what to do to remove it. Something that can largely be hidden in a corner and isn't obvious seem to be a better fit here.
I'm not sure I completely agree with that. If it's hidden in a corner and they don't see it, they may think nothing of going ahead and kicking in the door.
Actually SEEING they are being recorded, much like at large events you see police wearing shirts with POLICE or SECURITY, can be a strong deterent.
z31maniac said:
alfadriver said:
When we did a DIY alarm system install, we got a IOT doorbell camera. But it works with an app not just a screen.
IMHO, if you are honestly worried, a doorbell camera isn't the best option, since it's pretty obvious its there, which means it's also obvious what to do to remove it. Something that can largely be hidden in a corner and isn't obvious seem to be a better fit here.
I'm not sure I completely agree with that. If it's hidden in a corner and they don't see it, they may think nothing of going ahead and kicking in the door.
Actually SEEING they are being recorded, much like at large events you see police wearing shirts with POLICE or SECURITY, can be a strong deterent.
This.
All of my cameras light up when they are recording. Several times I have recorded people walking into my back yard who see the led on the driveway camera light up, look closely at the camera, and turn around and leave. As a bonus, when the vandals went though the neighborhood spray painting cars, they skipped every house with obvious camera systems. All 10 of mine are obvious and you cant take out one without being recorded by another.
I don't want to catch them, I want them to shop somewhere else.
alfadriver said:
When we did a DIY alarm system install, we got a IOT doorbell camera. But it works with an app not just a screen.
IMHO, if you are honestly worried, a doorbell camera isn't the best option, since it's pretty obvious its there, which means it's also obvious what to do to remove it. Something that can largely be hidden in a corner and isn't obvious seem to be a better fit here.
Or you can have both an obvious camera at the door for deterrent, and a hidden camera to watch anyone who tries to remove the obvious camera.
mtn
MegaDork
12/3/21 10:41 a.m.
Are they looking for a security camera, something that will presumably be saving video somewhere, or are they just looking for remote viewing - i.e., a peephole magnified on a screen so they can see it?
MadScientistMatt said:
alfadriver said:
When we did a DIY alarm system install, we got a IOT doorbell camera. But it works with an app not just a screen.
IMHO, if you are honestly worried, a doorbell camera isn't the best option, since it's pretty obvious its there, which means it's also obvious what to do to remove it. Something that can largely be hidden in a corner and isn't obvious seem to be a better fit here.
Or you can have both an obvious camera at the door for deterrent, and a hidden camera to watch anyone who tries to remove the obvious camera.
I should have phrased it like that. If you are really desperate, you do whatever you need to do. And disabling one view that you know about is pretty easy. Doing that to the one you don't know about....
Especially since this isn't a monitored system.
Heck, if the goal is to just deter them, just get the cheapest doorbell that looks like a camera. If it just needs to be there, you don't need to even monitor it.
