The company has urged users to perform a ‘healthcheck’ of their sites, paying particular attention to windy weather and changing daylight hours.
Alan Collinge, operations director at RemGuard, said: “A few simple checks now can avoid headaches later. Undoubtedly, winter is a challenge for any sort of equipment. Just as you would have your car or boiler inspected in anticipation of more challenging conditions, so it makes sense to do the same for remotely monitored, detector activated CCTV. The good news is that by paying attention to a few critical areas, from lighting to foliage, the monitoring of sites should run smoothly even in the depths of winter, without incidents being missed or unnecessary activations being caused.”
Other areas the company said should be looked at were sites being illuminated properly as the days become shorter, rejigging a timer set-up to suit changing daylight hours and watching out for cameras that may freeze in cold weather.
A statement released by RemGuard said: “When it comes to cameras more modern units will have heaters to cope with the winter weather, but it is worth checking that the ones focusing on your site have this facility. Without a heater there is naturally the potential for cameras to freeze-up as temperatures plummet.
“It is also worth being aware that the use of cameras with built-in IR lighting, such as LEDs mounted integrally around the perimeter of the lens, are far from ideal for remotely monitored, detector-activated CCTV as there is the very real potential for the IR illumination to reflect back into the lens from nearby reflective surfaces. This is especially evident when spiders’ webs have been spun across the camera lens.”
Sunshine can also cause problems in the winter months, RemGuard warned, due to the proximity of the sun.
“Even though you might not think it, the sun can become a major issue in winter, being lower in the sky. In the case where detectors are not positioned correctly, ideally in an east-west plane, or if the wrong type of detector is selected, the outcome can be a high percentage of activations where there appears to be no visible cause.”
