Downtown living has its attractions but it also is reason for some extra measures of security...not so much because of major fears about crime but more so for the assurance of being able to monitor and also review footage should something be amiss. My cameras are pretty old now, given advances in technology, but they mostly serve their purpose. At the rear door to the parking lot, though, that particular camera is not so great, as shown in the daytime video capture above.
This second photo shows a tremendous improvement, as one of my mid-summer Quarantine Task Jar items was to obtain and install a video doorbell, which is working beautifully (both video stills were captured at about the same time). However, as the owner of a 1905 house, not exactly of meager size, and with all the associated renovation and upkeep needs, I’ve regularly been asked about how much of the work was I taking on myself. My standard reply was to tell people it took me a day and a half to wire the front doorbell when I first moved in back in 2003, so I’d better leave the serious projects only to professionals. Plus, I could not afford to botch a DIY and then also have to pay someone to come do it right.
When I decided to add a video doorbell to the back door from the parking area, how long did it take to wire it? Yep: a day and a half. Pulling the interior trim was easy, but running the wire under the kitchen crawl space was the labored portion of it all. Ah, but I got it all rigged and working and tied into the smarthome and connected to my iPhone/Apple Watch…and the difference in security camera coverage is enormous.
While I am occasionally considered to be a smart man, that reputed intellect is not always fully operational. For instance, to determine the height of the drill hole, of course I thoughtlessly measured from inside the back door instead of from the top step outside...so the doorbell looks a little high.
In these last few months, it's caused me to learn that occasionally the parking lot is a cut-through option for wee-hours traversers.
Nonetheless, I’m happy to have this newest tech in place, with its two-way communication capability but especially with its camera coverage. Installing it finally incentivized me to reconnect the smart deadbolt (the SmartThings hub that controls it was one of the networked items that the now-retired LinkSys WiFi router was uncooperative with) so that it can be controlled via Alexa again. Now, somebody can ring the back doorbell and admittance can be granted without leaving the comfy confines of the third floor!
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