Home safety is easy. Isn’t it? We lock our doors at night, and we don’t open our doors to strangers. For many people, that’s about as far as home safety goes. But there’s much more to it. Let’s explore it in a little more depth…
Plantation Shutters
If you are not familiar, plantation shutters consist of larger wooden slats controlled with a handle (see plantation shutters from the shutters dept for ideas). Despite their size, you can open and close plantation shutters with ease. What you cannot do is get through them. Not even the most slender of burglars could fit through a gap the size of a fist (or even smaller).
If your home gets hot in the day or at night, and if you like to keep your windows open, consider plantation shutters as the perfect way to maintain safety. Simply open your windows and let the substantial shutters do the rest.
Motion Activated Lights
Lights with motion sensors are worth considering. You may have seen this type of home safety burglar deterrent before, usually when walking past a garden at night. As you walk by, the sensor is activated, causing the light to shine brightly, illuminating the garden.
At first, you may think these lights to be a good idea before talking yourself out of it. Why? Cats. Any garden in which cats roam is likely to be lit up all night thanks to motion-activated light sensors. But the alternative is to risk giving burglars a darkened garden in which to operate.
If your home is not well lit from street lighting, consider investing in motion-activated lights to help put off any would-be intruders.
Keep Valuables Hidden
Keep your valuables hidden. You may believe this to be obvious advice. However, you only need to walk past any row of parked cars to see expensive items on display (e.g., sunglasses, laptops and tablets, phones, etc.).
Speculative burglaries occur where criminals see an opportunity. For example, you could leave your watch or another item of jewellery on display atop a coffee table. If the item appears to be expensive, the thief will discern that other items in your home may hold value.
It’s not just about the number of things a speculative burglar can see through a window. It’s about any individual item that could tempt the crook.
Online Home Safety
You may not have considered online home safety matters before. In essence, online home safety means keeping quiet about any planned absences.
Savvy burglars and other crooks know to keep an eye on social media for updates of empty homes. For example, you may have seen friends or family members posting updates saying things like, “12 more days and I’ll be on the plane!”
Making an online announcement about when you are not going to be present in your home is not the best way to maintain home safety. Also, consider refraining from posting photos and videos of your trip while you are away. Anybody who is on the lookout for vacant homes in the area is going to scan social media for holiday snaps and videos. Beware!
