There’s a lot of people who buy a door peephole camera because it’s a great way to add a touch of security to your front door. This isn’t an aspect you should be neglected, especially since a lot of burglaries start at the front door, and you’ve also got a lot of salesmen that you’d rather not interact with. Oh, and did we mention porch pirates?
Well, a door peephole camera is a great way to make sure none of those things impact you in any meaningful way and protect yourself. Now, one thing we should mention is that you shouldn’t be confusing a peephole camera with a video doorbell. They may seem like they do the same thing, but at the end of the day, they’re different. Therefore, let’s kick things off with what the differences are between them, and we’ll move on to installing your peephole camera.
You can find the best peephole camera here!
Why you want a peephole camera
Video doorbells are another thing that’s pretty common when you’re building out your home security system. However, the main difference between that, and a peephole camera, is the fact that a video doorbell requires you to replace the doorbell itself. It also means that you don’t get a screen on the inside either. When you have a peephole camera, you’re merely replacing the peephole, and as you’ll see in a minute, it’s something that you can do by yourself pretty easily.
The other thing that is worth mentioning is that peephole cameras and video doorbells don’t really have the same function. The video doorbell is just that, a doorbell. When someone rings it, you will also get an alert on your phone, so you can see who’s outside your door. However, you don’t get a display with it, and it relies on your home’s internet connection and your smartphone to show you who’s outside your door.
On the other hand, a peephole camera does what a peephole would – show you who is outside your door, but using the display that’s inside, mounted to your door. While this does require you to go to your front door in most cases, it often shows a much clearer image and is a bit more reliable. The other thing is, if you’re quiet, you won’t be blocking the peephole and the person outside your door might not know that you’re there. Some also come with Wi-Fi to give you some of the video doorbells’ functionality, as well as portable displays for you to take with you throughout the house. Combine this with the ease of installation, and it’s obvious why a peephole camera is the way to go.
See what’s inside
When you want to see how to install a door peephole camera, the first thing you should to is see what you got in the box. There are two things you’ll definitely find inside – the camera, and the display for the interior. You’ll also get a mounting bracket, too. The mounting bracket goes on the inside of the door, and you mount the display to it.
Some peephole cameras might even come with an SD card. Most of them use SD cards as their storage of choice, and some brands try to make the entire deal a bit more appealing by including one in the box.
Oh, and one thing that you will also find is a step-by-step instructions guide. While the steps below generally apply to all peephole cameras, it’s worth to know how to install a door peephole camera that’s your actual model, it might come in handy if it has some specifics you should watch for.
On to the good part
When you want to install it, you should first have all of the package’s contents laid out, as well as your toolbox nearby. Start by checking out your door. It’s going to either have a peephole, or not. If it does, you’re in luck, since you won’t need to modify much. If it doesn’t, however, you should grab a drill because you’ll need to open a hole for it.
Let’s start with scenario number one. If you do have a peephole, you should remove it, completely. This will leave you with a hole in your door suitable for the camera you’re installing. Scenario number two starts by you choosing a suitable place to put the camera. Then, you drill either a 12mm or 14mm hole inside. You should look at your camera’s specifications and instructions to see which size yours is. See? We told you it might come in handy.
Now that you’ve got a hole in your door, don’t rush with installing the camera. First, assemble the viewer. It will very likely require that you insert the batteries and SD card while doing so, and that’s why you want to do this before you connect everything. Use the ones you got with the camera (if you did), or your own, it’s up to you.
Next, you should insert the camera, with the lens facing outside your home. The mounting bracket should be attached on the inside, and you should make sure that everything is secure. No wiggling and no empty spaces should be present. If this is the case, it’s time to install the viewer on the bracket.
Most of these peephole cameras come with a twist-and-lock mechanism. This isn’t just simple to set up, it’s also pretty secure and lets you easily and quickly remove the viewer when you want to remove the memory card and transfer footage, or when you need to change the batteries. (1)
Once you did this, you should be good to go! Give your peephole camera a try, and see whether everything is okay and the field of view is like you’re expecting it to be. If it is, congratulations, you just learned how to install a door peephole camera!
Here are some learning guides that you can check: Running a Coax on a Door Peephole Camera and Can Someone Steal my Ring Doorbell. I hope this would help you! Until next time!
Resources
(1) – twistlock mechanism – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twistlock
