Ever forget to close the garage door? Since closing the garage door is second nature, you really don’t think about it. That is, until you are twenty miles away from the house or in bed ready to go to sleep. Pointing a good security camera at your garage door allows you to scope it out without driving back home in a frenzy or getting out of bed.
But what makes a good security camera for checking the status of the garage door?
Well for one, it doesn’t need to be a full featured security camera. When you stop and think about it, do you really care about motion detection or cloud recording? Probably not. You’re looking at the garage door to see if it’s open or not. Don’t care much on what is moving for you’re likely to find the camera alerting you to the usual creatures in a garage like a moth.
There are several important features to consider for a security camera being used as a garage door monitor. Night vision is important. A dark garage is one of the places where night vision comes in mighty handy. Keep night vision turned on so that you can easily see the status of the door at night.
Video quality is somewhat important but don’t go overboard. You will easily get away with a 720p camera. Clear video is important but you really don’t need to see the brand name of your garage door opener so save some money and go with a lesser video quality.
Speaking of saving money, an inexpensive but reliable camera will do the job. We love the Nest Cam but these sell at a premium. It seems wasteful to spend all that money on something used to monitor a twenty foot wide object that is fifteen feet away. This is one of those opportunities to get peace of mind at a lower price.
The camera that accompanies this article is the Yi Home Camera Wireless IP Security Surveillance System in a garage. This home security camera made our list as the best low priced model for 2017. The Yi entry is a low priced home security camera that touts several high end features. Night vision works quite well and the camera even comes with some limited cloud capabilities for motion events. It has 720p video quality and the camera adjusts the quality based upon available bandwidth to ensure a reliable connection. The Yi Home Camera is easy to setup with the trick being to set it up while in near proximity to the wireless router. After setup, move it out to the garage.
Another good entry to consider for monitoring the garage door is the Blink Home Security Camera System. This differs from the Yi camera in that it is truly wireless. The Blink is a good choice for places where a power outlet is unavailable. Powered by long lasting batteries, the Blink Home Security Camera can last up to a year depending upon usage. The camera has night vision provided by a series of LED lights versus the usual infrared found on the Yi entry. A base station accompanies the camera. The camera connects via wireless to the base station which then attaches to the home router. A 720p video quality is more than adequate for checking the status of a garage door.
Either of these cameras will provide reliable connectivity and an adequate view of the garage door without costing big bucks.