How Camera Housing Protection Levels Are Defined

Camera housing is often divided into two categories termed "indoor housing" and "outdoor housing" which correlate with the amount of protection the housing offers. Obviously, an outdoor housing would offer a higher level of environmental protection than an indoor housing. Indoor housing typically is enough to protect against dust but does not have a built in fan or heater for temperature extremes.

The terms are actually misleading since it refers to the camera housing's capacity to withstand environmental demands rather than where the camera is actually installed. For example, a security camera used to monitor a freezer room would require an outdoor housing that can accommodate the extreme cold.

There are more standard ways to describe the amount of protection provided by camera housing. While there are various standards worldwide, in the United States camera housing use standards set by NEMA, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

Camera Housing For Security Cameras

Camera housing may be required for security cameras which are very often placed in harsh and demanding environments. This is especially true of outdoor security cameras where they are exposed to weather extremes, temperature fluctuation, vibrations and vandalism. There are several ways to handle these challenges and the most common are to encase the camera in a protective housing, using some intelligent detection system that alert users when there is a change in operating conditions, or a combination of the two.

The camera housing is required when the environmental conditions exceed the camera’s capacity to operate normally. Camera housings range in quality, shape and size, and features. Wireless cameras will need an external antenna if the housing is metal but should work fine inside a plastic housing. For that reason, metal camera housings tend to have built in antennas for wireless security cameras.