Keeping your home safe is always a priority. Even if you live in a safe area, there’s always the chance that you’ll be the victim of a robbery. A lot of people don’t realize just how bad it is being broken into because they’re only thinking about the material cost. Sure, you’ll get most of your stuff back on the insurance if you’ve got some so you don’t need to worry about losing any of your things but that’s not the only cost of a break in. What about the emotional cost? Your home should be a place where you feel safe and secure at all times, but after somebody has invaded that sacred space and stolen from you, it no longer feels like that at all. People often experience some severe emotional stress after a break in and they really struggle to feel comfortable in their home again.
Theft isn’t the only security risk to your home either, what about things like flooding or fires? They can cause serious damage to the home which is going to take a long time to repair. Often home insurance doesn’t cover those things if you don’t have a very good policy, in which case, you’ll be in big trouble. But the good news, all of those dangers can be avoided if you put a bit of thought into security around the home. These are the security upgrades that you should make in your home right away.
Smart Technology
Smart technology is revolutionizing people’s homes in so many different ways. Now it’s possible to have the lights, the fridge, the washing machine or your thermostat controlled with your voice or your phone from anywhere. It makes life so much easier and frees up a lot of the time that you would ordinarily have spent doing boring household chores. But smart tech isn’t just great for convenience, it’s also an absolute must when it comes to security. There are some great smart locks available that you can control with a voice assistant as well as an app on your phone from anywhere as long as you’ve got internet. Think about all of those times that you worried you hadn’t locked the door properly. That will never happen again because you can just check on your phone and if it is unlocked, you can secure the house with the click of a button. Most of the locks fit easily over the existing lock and they’re incredibly secure.
You can also get some great smart doorbells with a built in camera that you can view from anywhere. That means you can always see outside if anybody is snooping around. It’s also very useful because criminals will often knock on the door to see if anybody is home and come with some excuse if you answer. But if you don’t answer, they know that you’re not home and they can target you. If you’ve got a smart doorbell thought, you can speak to them through the camera and they’ll think that you’re home even if you aren’t.
Smart light bulbs are great for security as well because you can set timers when you’re out of the house. When you’re away on vacation, that’s when you’re the biggest target. But if you set a timer so the lights are coming on and off as normal, nobody will know that you’ve ever been away.
Secure The Garage
There are a couple of important reasons that you need to secure the garage. The first one is obvious, you need to keep your car safe if you’ve got one in there. If you’ve got a broken, flimsy garage door that’s easy to get through, you’re just inviting trouble. If that’s the case, get a garage door repair company to come and secure it for you. Most thieves know the different types of door and how to spot one that will be easy to get into so it’s a good deterrent.
As well as the car, you need to think about whether the garage is an entry point into the house. If it’s completely separate from the rest of the house it’s not too much of a problem but if you’ve got a door leading directly into your home, that’s going to be a common entry point for potential burglars, so it’s extra important that you secure it properly.
Secure The Garden
The garden is another very common entry point because they aren’t likely to try to come in the front where they’re more visible. If you’ve got a short garden fence that they can easily climb over or a gate that they can kick through without too much trouble, your house is at risk. It’s an even bigger risk if you’ve got an outdoor dining area or a garden shed that’s filled with a lot of expensive stuff like lawnmowers or barbecues. It’s a lot easier for people to get into garden and steal that stuff without having to go near the house at all so make sure that you protect the garden properly. A tall fence is a must and make sure that you’ve got a robust lock on the back gate. You could also consider putting some spikes along the top so people can’t easily climb over the fence.
As well as securing the fences and the gates, you should put some security lights in the garden. That way, if somebody does manage to get over the fence and approach the house, you’ll be alerted right away and they’ll run off quickly because they don’t want to be seen. Often, just having the light on the house in the first place is enough of a deterrent to stop people from coming anywhere near the property.
Secure Doors And Windows
If somebody does manage to get past the rest of your security and get to the house, they’re going to be looking for a way in. The windows are going to be their first port of call and they’ll be on the lookout for any that are easy to break open. Often, older properties have wooden framed windows which look great but they’re not that secure. It’s not too much of a problem to have them on the upstairs windows but on the ground floor, you should consider switching them out for something a bit sturdier. The locks that come as standard on most new windows are pretty flimsy as well so you should buy some better ones and replace them.
The same can be said for doors because, even though the locks themselves are usually fine, the screws that are used to put them on are quite shallow. This is a good tip whenever you move into a new house, just buy some longer screws and swap them over. It’s only a five minute job but it makes it so much harder for people to break your door down.
The glass in the windows is something that people don’t really think about that much but it’s worth considering. You don’t want people looking into the house and eyeing up all of your stuff so you might want to put frosted glass on certain windows or, at the very least, get some netted curtains over so nobody can see in.
There are a few great security devices that you can use to alert you if anybody does manage to break into the windows. You can put sensors on there that will sound an alarm if the window is opened. This should send them running if they do manage to get it open. You can also buy a sensor that responds to the sound of breaking glass so if a window is smashed, it will set an alarm off.
CCTV
Security cameras are obviously one of the best deterrents against burglars because they’re not likely to rob a house if they’re on camera. You might have seen some of the fake security cameras for sale. They’re way cheaper and they claim to be just as good because the main benefit of having cameras is to deter people rather than catch them in the act. But the truth is, those fake cameras are pretty much useless. They’re easily recognisable to burglars so they don’t actually act as a deterrent at all, and they’re not recording anything so you’re just wasting your money. There are plenty of reasonably priced home security systems these days so you’re better off going for the real thing.
Alarm Systems
Some criminals are pretty clever and they might be able to bypass all of the other security measures that you’ve put in place. In which case, you need something to scare them off if they actually manage to get into the house. That’s where alarm systems come in. There are some great ones that come complete with a subscription to a security service. That means if an alarm goes off, somebody will be there to check up on the situation in minutes. Criminals know this so they’ll be gone before they can take anything.
If you’re at all worried about the security in your home, you need to make these basic changes right away.
These lights come in a wide range of sizes and models as well and depending on what model you buy there are many features available including but not limited to an adjustable shutoff, manual on/off and built in daylight sensors. best outdoor security lights reviews Last but not least is the standard hard wired motion sensor light.
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