Vacations and Home Security
With rising crime rates and failing economies everywhere, you may be expecting the worst out of your fellow men or women. You might be too afraid to get out of the house, too afraid to go out alone, and even too afraid to take a vacation that you deserve. However, there are still many things that you as a homeowner can do to keep yourself safe. For one, you can still take a vacation without worrying that your home will be burglarized while you are away.
First, you may need to have home security devices installed, such as alarms that will directly alert the police if someone has been espied walking into your home, or if the sensors have picked up activity inside your house while you are gone. This may be a great investment on your part, but it would be wise to part with your money if the rewards are great.
Second, lighting can play a great part in keeping your home secure. You may want to put timers on your lights so that you can have your house lighted at night. This way, your neighbors can still see if people are going into your house and if you are getting yourself some unwanted house guests. Lights are also a deterrent to crime. Another deterrent to crime is a home that does not appear to be empty. You may want to turn down the volume of your telephone, since a telephone that rings for a long while without being answered, and loudly, can be a signal that no one is in the house and it is available for burglarizing.
Third, always keep your keys and locks updated. If possible, change them every few months or years. Moreover, do not hide keys in certain places in your house. Burglars can be smart enough to look at the usual hiding places. You would do better to leave a spare key with a neighbor whom you trust, or you may take your keys with you if you are going to be away for only a short time. Furthermore, do not take anything for granted: lock all your doors and keep your windows bolted and fastened.
These are only a few tips that you may want to heed in terms of home security for your vacation. For more information on other methods that you may use in order to improve your home security, talk to a local law enforcement officer, and do as much research as you can on how you can improve the security of your home, whether or not you are going on vacation.
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Tags: home safety, Home Security, home security tips, security products, vacation
August 18th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Thanks for the tips. I would expand on your lighting suggestion … in addition to giving neighbors the ability to see, let them know you need them to be on the watch. Build relationships with your neighbors, get involved in the community and watch out for each other.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Thank you for the article. One piece of advice that I would give is to find a home security company that can offer verification of an alarm beyond simply calling your home. Many security companies will receive an alarm and try to call you to verify that someone is actually breaking into your home. If you don’t answer, they will often just dispatch the police without knowing whether the alarm is false or not.
If you can find a company that offers audio or video verification of a break in then you will have no false alarm worries when you are on vacation. The companies will have the ability to watch or listen in live to what is going on in your home and can determine if a break in is actually taking place without having to call you while you are on vacation and likely unable to answer.