Guides
CCTV through load-shedding: backup that actually works
The moment power fails, an unprotected CCTV system stops recording — often the exact moment worth recording. A small UPS on the recorder and camera supply keeps a four-camera system running for one to three hours, covering typical IESCO interruptions in the twin cities for a fraction of the system's price.
Last reviewed
Protect the recorder first
Cameras with power feeding a dead recorder store nothing, so the order of protection is fixed: recorder, then the camera supply or PoE switch, then the router. There is a second benefit hiding here — an abrupt cut mid-write can corrupt the hard drive, so the UPS is protecting the footage you already have as well as the footage you are about to miss.
Sizing without drama
A four-camera system and its recorder draw modest power, so a small UPS delivers one to three hours of runtime — which comfortably matches the outages Islamabad and Rawalpindi actually experience, including monsoon trips and planned maintenance shutdowns. If you genuinely need longer than that, the answer is more battery capacity rather than a bigger inverter, and at that point it is worth pricing the solar option against it instead.
Use the inverter you already own
Plenty of twin-city homes and offices already run a hybrid solar inverter, and putting the CCTV circuit on it usually costs nothing but a wiring decision. We check for this at the survey — free within Islamabad and Rawalpindi — before quoting a UPS you may not need. One more detail: if you want phone viewing during an outage, the router has to be on backup too.
Will my CCTV work during a power cut?
Do Islamabad's short outages really matter for CCTV?
Yes. Even a five-minute cut leaves a gap in the record and can corrupt a drive mid-write. Outages also cluster around storms and disruption — the same hours when something is most likely to happen outside.
Can the cameras run off my existing inverter?
Usually, if it has spare capacity. We measure the load before connecting anything, because piling cameras onto an already loaded inverter shortens its battery life and helps nobody.
Rather have it done?
CCTV installation means a free survey of your shop, office or home, a camera plan that covers gates, counters and blind corners, cabling run through conduit, a recorder sized for the days of footage you want, and phone viewing working before handover. A four-camera 2MP package in Islamabad or Rawalpindi runs PKR 55,000 to 85,000 fitted.
CCTV installation in Islamabad — prices and scope