Your home is your sanctuary, and you should do everything in your power to protect it. Burglars are looking for easy targets, so it's important to make sure your home doesn't qualify as one. There are plenty of simple steps you can take to ensure your home is safe.
Here are a few security tips and tricks to secure your home you may be interested in. Implementing even a few of these can make a huge difference.
Whether a traditional home alarm system installed by a professional or a DIY home security system, the first step in making sure to secure your home is having a system.
Home security systems can come with many components depending on your needs, including security cameras, motion detectors, door and window alarms, a control panel, alarm systems and a monitoring system, which can be self monitoring or a professional 24/7 monitoring service, which will alert the local police department as soon as it becomes necessary.
Even a front door and window alarm won't do much to protect you if you leave your doors and windows open, unless your system alerts you when this happens. Especially before going to bed at night and when leaving your home, double check that your front door, patio doors, and windows are properly closed and locked. Especially first floor windows.
This makes your home a more difficult target, working as a deterrent. And if someone does open one of the exterior doors, the alarm will let you know. There are even remote monitoring systems that let you know if your alarms have been triggered when you're not home.
The garage is another potentially vulnerable spot. If your garage door opens and closes manually, double check it's properly closed. If you go away on vacation, it might be a good idea to padlock it. Make sure you never leave your garage door open unnecessarily. At best, it allows anyone walking down the street to see what's inside, at worst it's an open invitation for burglary.
If possible, use a smart garage door opener. This allows you to monitor, open, and close your garage door remotely. This is especially convenient if you forget to close the door while on a rush, you can close it even from miles away.
Another important thing to take notice of when securing your home is exterior lighting. Poor lighting is a beacon for burglars, keeping your home's entries well lit keeps your house safer. Your front porch and your driveway, for example.
One popular and effective option, which is also cost and energy efficient, is motion activated lights. Your lighting should be placed strategically, so that any intruder can't deactivate it. Ideally, it should be installed 10 to 12 feet high.
A lot of trees and shrubs outside your home make the ideal spot for a burglar to hide. Trim them or opt for smaller bushes instead to take away that hiding spot. If there are any trees near your windows, you could either remove them, or make sure the windows in question are reinforced and secure.
Don't forget the backyard. Lock up the shed or any other outdoor buildings and gates, put away ladders and hide any valuables out of plain sight. To scare a potential burglar away, you can also place security yard signs or stickers.
A UV pen is a permanent marker that can only be seen under ultraviolet light. This is an effective deterrent for theft, since a burglar really doesn't want to be found with items that could be identified as belonging to someone else.
Additionally, if any of your valuables are stolen, this improves your chances of the item being returned to you if it's recovered. You wouldn't believe how many stolen items are recovered that never make their way to the owner because the police have no way of knowing who it belongs to.
We know, if you're moving into a new house you probably have a million things to get done and don't need another thing to add to the list. But security should always be a top priority, no matter what.
Since you have no way of knowing you may own a set of spare keys to your new door, the only way to maintain key control is to change your locks. Key control means being able to account for every spare key and who has it.
An open Wi-Fi network is a vulnerable Wi-Fi network. An unauthorized person signing onto your Wi-Fi could mean no harm, but on the other hand, it's also vulnerable to criminals.
Through your Wi-Fi network a criminal could download illegal files, which could trace back to you, attack your connected devices and even steal your personal information.
Another of our home security tips is investing in smart home automation means increased security. Surveillance cameras, smart locks and motion detectors, all of which can be monitored remotely through your cell phone.
There are many different ways a smart home system can protect your home. For example, you can set your lights on a random schedule while you’re on vacation, so the house won't look empty.
A pile of uncollected mail will let anyone walking by your house know that you're not home. If you're going away on vacation, or for work, you want to be able to travel without worrying about your house. Ask one of your family members or your neighbor to collect your mail for you, and, when they're away, you can return the favor. Another option is to ask your postal service to hold your mail temporarily.
This is all part of not making it obvious to a burglar that the house is empty. So if you have a lawn or landscaping service that comes to your home regularly, have them keep doing it while you’re away.
Your house is at its most vulnerable when you're not there. You could even consider a house sitter. The more activity surrounds it, the more it looks like someone's home, the less likely burglars will be particularly tempted to target your home.
We know you're probably excited about your vacation, at least in part because of all those pictures to share on Instagram. But you can never be entirely sure who's looking at your pictures, even if your account is private.
Avoid advertising that you're not home, and wait until you're back to post all the pictures you took. Plus, it gives you time to go through them and carefully pick out the best ones, without wasting vacation time on it.
We know you want to keep your home safe. And the peace of mind that a few home security tips can provide is worth far more that any home security systems out there. Safety should be a top priority for everyone. By following these Home security tips and tricks, you can keep your home pretty much burglar proof.
