What conduit to use outside of house to run video/power?

[kensai01 0]

I just got a great deal on a cheap ZMODO system. I know I should have spent more but... money.

 

Questions regarding conduit / wire on the outside of the home:

I have a question regarding installation on the outside. I have a general idea how to mount the cameras, they are outdoor cameras but I will "try" to place them in shielded locations as best possible. However I have no idea how to run the wires on the outside of the home. My house is square and entryway's on three sides with NO entry ways on the 4th side. I will use two cameras on the front, one on the side and another in the back. There is a specific spot where a lot of wires are ran into the home from various utilities and I want to have all four cameras meet at this spot then enter the home.

 

Do I have to use some sort of conduit to run the wire along the siding of my house. This would be to prevent someone cutting the line and shield it from the elements. If so, what would you suggest?

I know I have to place the wires higher on my home (10ft+) to prevent access from the outside, so I want to make it look as neat as possible - any suggestions in this regard?

 

Questions regarding placement of DVR:

My basement is behind a steel door with a high security lock. However it gets humid, roughly 64-75% during the summer. Would I be OK having my DVR stored there? I'm worried about it having issues with the higher humidity; however, the entire system is completely useless if I have it sitting anywhere out in the open where it's accessible. I want to make sure it's #1 behind a secured door and #2 hidden still even if it's down there. Any suggestions are welcome.

[zr1 0]

Conduit protects the wiring...mostly from the elements. Hiding wiring helps keep baddens from cutting it (and if your camera can cover the area where the cable is...hehe).

There's metal conduit, of course. it's also doable to simply use PVC (or other plasticky types) of piping that is often used for putting in a lawn sprinkler system and fit them together, even with the purple-glue stuff.

 

Another thing to Google is "liquid condiut" to find the soft-flexible conduit hoses to use in irregular shapped spots.

 

heh...it is possible to spend nearly as much on conduit than a low-end Zmodo system

 

80% humidity is not typically an issue (though 100% will bring about corrosion in the tiny internal parts until failure). Also in a humid environment, some areas such as close to a window where there's a different of temperature outside the window can make for condensation for things near the window and you don't want that.

 

If you're looking at depending on a DVR for business, then taking the extra step to have a dehumidifier or A/C unit in that area to keep it drier is prudent.

 

Did a medium size business that does charter buses...these giant garages and buildings and it gets hot in there and slightly on the humid side for a few months out of the year. But the DVR (and router and switches) is in a dedicated little room in the corner of one of the big buildings..the room is sealed off well with a 24/7 running small A/C unit...it feels nice in that room!

[glasssplinter 0]

With conduit it really depends on the height you can get your cable to. If it's easily reachable put it in conduit. If you can't easily reach it just get good UV resistant cable. If someone really wants to cut the line to the camera they're going to regardless of protection. I ran all my cable high enough to not worry and when I brought the cable down, ran it inside of 3/4" PVC conduit. Thinking about spray painting it with Krylon fuzion to match the house color so it blends it more.