With the holiday season just around the corner, many are looking forward to a few days off work and a few more precious moments spent with friends and family. For many, however, it’s a time of year spent travelling to be with other family; this means potentially leaving your home unoccupied and perhaps a target for burglary.
You might be able to rest a little this Christmas season, but home security never rests. There are many ways to get a little more peace of mind this year, but there are five that stand out for optimising home security.
The below tips are borrowed from British Neighbourhood Watch schemes which promote the idea of WIDE(N): Windows, Interior, Doors, Exterior and Neighbours (optional).
After doors, the primary means of unauthorised entry to your home tends to be via the windows. If you wanna make it like Michael Jackson and tell would-be burglars to “just beat it” then you’ll want to have sturdy, secure aluminium windows along with latches or locks to make the task of burglary too much effort to be worth it.
The fact of the matter is that no matter how tough your window frames are, a determined burglar can smash a window. But in reality, most burglars are opportunistic and won’t bother to do this, and even if they do they’ll likely cause enough noise to arouse suspicion.
If the interior of your home looks like there may be someone home – as in, the lights are on – then that’s often more than enough of a deterrent to burglary and vandalism in the first place.
You don’t need to keep your lights on the whole time that you’re away and throw money at energy bills. Instead, you can buy timed lights that switch on and off periodically to give the impression that someone’s home.
Your front door is the first line of physical defence against burglary attempts. Having robust aluminium doors can frustrate any attempts at forced entry, but of course, a good set of standards-compliant locks will be essential, too.
Although we do want to promote sturdy aluminium doors for our valued clients, the fact of the matter is that good locks are essential. That includes a mortice lock as well as sash locks (or night locks) for added security.
The exterior of your home is important to safeguard. That could include physical deterrents like tall fences and a gate, but it could also include trimming any hedges or bushes so that any burglars won’t have a cosy place to hide.
You should also have motion-sensing lights and/or a CCTV system in critical areas to monitor any unauthorised approaches to your property. Google Nest and other similar products are increasingly popular for monitoring the front door and could make for an excellent investment into home security.
The last step of the WIDE(N) is optional but good nonetheless. Neighbours that are alert and vigilant can be your best ally against burglary, so long as you’re on reasonably good terms with them and they’re trustworthy. You could let your neighbours know you’re going away (if you think it’s safe to give them this information) so that they can keep an eye on your property, for example.
Invest in secure aluminium doors and windows from Melb Wide Aluminium.
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