Are you considering getting your own CCTV and getting a installer to just provide a Installation only service? We’ve done many installation only services however we wanted to do a little analysis as to whether it’s feasible to get your own CCTV or just let the installer take care of it. There are few things to consider:
-Cost
-Quality of the CCTV
-Workmanship
Cost
Cost is probably the main factor as to why you’ve considered getting a installation only service however if you do the number crunching does it really have a huge benefit?
Let’s assume you’ve bought a 1080p Swann 4 camera kit from Maplins (we honestly don’t know how people buy CCTV from Maplins its sooooo expensive) their kit is no less than £400, again let’s assume it’s on offer between £300-400. Now the labour can vary anything between £40-£60 a camera depending on your installer and the installation itself, so that’s £160 (minimum) for 4 cameras. That’s £160 +£360 (Maplins current offer at the time of this post) that’s £520. This doesn’t include any other equipment or fixtures needed such as waterproof junction boxes, power line plugs if you’re wanting to view it on the mobile:
Maplins Equipment
CCTV Kit and Installers Labour = £520
4 Junction Boxes= £15
Power line Plugs for a internet connection £20
Total Cost= £555
Now our 4 camera 1080p kit costs £580, this includes everything needed to get the CCTV working and on your mobile. So you’ve saved £25 but suppose you’ve got the CCTV cheaper or the installation cheaper and you paid £500 that’s £80 saved by getting a installation only service.
However 10 months later, one of the Maplins cameras becomes faulty but your warranty is with Maplins only and not the installer, now you have to pay for someone to come down and take it off and pay again to come and fix it back up again once you get a replacement from Maplins.
So for the sake of £50-£100 savings is it worth the hassle of finding and sourcing the right kit, getting all the extra bits and bats and then to ring around and get an installer to fit, but most of all having the worry to pay again if anything happens to the cameras.
We offer 12 month warranty on all our kits that’s including labour, so if anything happens it’s a simple replacement no questions asked.
Quality of the CCTV
The Quality of the equipment is another thing to consider, from ease of use to the actual picture quality. When getting a 1080p system majority of installers will use “Hikvision” the leading brand in CCTV, there are many dvrs that support 1080p recording however when you’re paying £500+ you want something more than just a basic DVR. We use Hikvision not only because of its reliability but because of its functionality and features such as the popular push notification which majority of other DVRs don’t support. Majority of non-branded Dvrs are static and dont have two way communication with their manufacturers so upgrading firmware is up to you to find and install where as a quality dvr like Hikvision is always communicating with its servers to see if any firmware are available.
Workmanship
When installing any CCTV we aim to keep the job as clean as possible and show as less cable as possible as you can see from our gallery page however when you’re buying the kit yourself 9/10 times the cables will be premade, this type of cable has the connectors already fixed to the ends and cannot be cut and reconnected, therefore when you’re drilling holes to feed the cable through walls or other obstacles you have to drill bigger than the connectors which means you could have a 1″+ hole.
Also because its premade to certain lengths such as 5,10,20,30 and 40 metres you have to work around the cable meaning you can only position the CCTV cameras within the cable length. furthermore if your kit came with a 20 metre cable and the camera is positioned 5 metre away you’d have to nicely role the excess up and leave it next to the recorder or make alternatives to hide the cable as the excess cannot not be cut.
Installers tend to use either cat5/6 cable or the RJ59, we can cut this to as little or as long as we need as this usually comes on drum rolls or boxes at lengths of 300+ metres, therefore cameras can be positioned anywhere around the property without the worry of running out of cable also no excess cable would be left inside the premises as the cable would be cut to size. Because the power and video connectors are crimped on after, the holes drilled to feed the cable through walls and other barriers only have to be few millimetres bigger than the cable, which itself is only 5-10mm thick compared to the 1″+ hole you have to drill for premade cable.
Conclusion
If you’ve already got the cameras and the return policy has expired or you’ve been given the cctv etc then yes installation only service would be suitable as you’ve already paid money towards it however if you’re still considering CCTV options then 100% get few installers to give you prices for a supply and fit service and way up your options. If you’re adamant about getting your own CCTV then you may want to consider just buying the main equipment such as the cameras, recorder, hard drive and ask the installer to provide the cabling and other small bits and pieces.