Most sites need fewer cameras than people expect, but they need them in the right places. Use this guide to count cameras for your shop, office, warehouse or house, then choose the NVR and hard disk to match.
Step 1: Cover every entrance first
Every door, gate and loading bay that people or cars pass through should have one camera that can see faces or number plates. Entrances matter more than open areas, because that is where you identify who came in.
Step 2: Add cameras for the areas you need to watch
- Cashier or counter: 1 camera above and slightly behind the counter.
- Shop floor or office open area: 1 wide-angle camera per 80–120 m², placed in a corner.
- Corridors and staircases: 1 camera at each end of a long corridor.
- Car park or compound: 1 camera per side of the building; use a varifocal or 4K camera for long areas.
- Store room, server room or stock area: 1 camera each.
Typical counts
| Site | Typical cameras | Recorder |
|---|---|---|
| Small shop or café | 4 | 4-channel NVR |
| Office (1 floor) | 6–8 | 8-channel NVR |
| Landed house | 4–8 | 8-channel NVR |
| Warehouse or factory | 12–32 | 16 or 32-channel NVR |
Always pick an NVR with a few spare channels, so you can add cameras later without changing the recorder.
Step 3: Choose the camera type
- IP cameras with PoE send power and video over one network cable. Best for new installations.
- Analog (Turbo HD) cameras with a DVR reuse existing coaxial cable. Good for upgrading an old system.
- AcuSense cameras tell people and vehicles apart, so you get fewer false alerts at night.
- ColorVu cameras show colour at night, useful for car parks and compounds.
- 4G solar cameras work where there is no power or internet, such as farms and construction sites.
Step 4: Size the hard disk
As a rough guide, one 4MP camera recording all day with H.265+ uses about 15–25 GB per day. For 8 cameras kept for 30 days, plan for a 4TB to 6TB surveillance hard disk. Motion-only recording uses less.
Step 5: Plan power and network
Use a PoE switch or a PoE NVR for IP cameras, and keep the NVR and switch on a UPS or backup battery so recording continues during short power cuts.
Products to start with
See our Hikvision CCTV range, Hikvision NVR and DVR, and Reolink solar and 4G cameras.
Need help choosing? Send us your site photos and layout on WhatsApp 019-348 1168. Dealers and installers welcome. You can also see the systems working at our demo room in Puchong.