Mar 27, 2014

Christmas is another festive season when most homeowners throw caution to the winds and immerse themselves in the joys of family gatherings, parties, social gatherings, gift sharing and a lot more. They tend to forget that Christmas is also a bounty season for burglars who know that many houses will be empty and people are at their lowest scale of alertness. Others who know better will take every precaution to make their home secure during the festivities. Installing the right home security products is a step in the right direction.

Priority #1 – home security

The security of your home takes precedence over all other security issues and therefore the ways and means of achieving this goal should be of high priority. Here are just a few of those them:

• Install top quality locks on all your doors and windows.
• Sensor lights installed at each and every dark section of the house will act as a deterrent to people having ulterior motives and alert your neighbours of the presence of strangers.
• Buying and installing an alarm system will add strength to the security of your home
• Consider replacing your screens with security screens. These offer extra protection against intruders, but look just like ordinary screens.

Priority #2 – feigned presence               

You can make arrangements with you neighbour to do some minor tasks for you that will make it look like you are still around. These tactics will have a huge effect in preventing burglars from robbing your house:

• Hang some old clothes on the clothesline and ask your neighbour to take your rubbish bin out for emptying and to store it afterwards. Parking a car in your empty driveway is a convincing way of making people think you are still at home. Ask a favour of your neighbour to do this for you.
• Your lights can be synchronized by an automatic timer to go on and off at regular intervals and at the usual times when they are supposed to.
• Leaving a porch light on during the day sends a signal to burglars that no one is in the house and a very sure sign of an empty house is when the bedroom lights are left on all night. Make sure you turn off these lights before you depart.
• Long grass in the yard is a sure give away sign so make sure you have the lawn mowed down before departure. Calling in a garden maintenance to do some periodic garden facelift, will give nothing away about your absence on a long vacation.
• Piling up of mail in the mailbox and newspapers strewn on the lawn are sure signs of an empty house. Ask the post office to hold your mail until your return and ask your neighbour to dispose of the newspapers.

• A classic system you can enlist help from is a home automation system. The system is so technically advanced it can do almost the same things a human can. When you have one installed you will have the control of your home at your fingertips while you are on a layback armchair sipping your favourite drink.

Looming Summer Holidays

For many people to the north, escaping the dreary cold of winter for the glimmer and shine of summer down south is always a time to look forward to. But alas, many also frown on the prospect of leaving their home unattended and left at the mercy of burglars while they are enjoying themselves somewhere in Australia or Africa and vice versa for the southerners. They certainly don’t like the prospect of having their home entered and burglarized while they are work up a suntan somewhere in Argentina or Brazil. But there are solutions and here are just a few of them.

The first line of defence

We all know that neighbours will help us when we are absent. What we don’t always appreciate is that a strong security fence can do more than that. It can actually act as a deterrent to burglars. Before you depart for your vacation this coming summer, enlist the services of a professional fencing contractor, to install a strong security fence around your property. Tell him to build a high fence at the back of your house to discourage intruders from entering your home that way.

Light up the grounds

Grounds that are covered in darkness are fertile hunting grounds for burglars. The panacea for this ailment is in having bright lights cover every dark sport around your house and grounds. You should install emergency lighting for the dark corners, back and sides of your house, the reason being that they provide potential hiding places for robbers and thieves. You can even install motion sensing lights at strategic places to assist in lighting up the whole grounds at automatic intervals. Doing so will divert the interests of burglars to other less defended robbery sites.

Have your pool fenced

If you have a pool, properly fencing it is basic common sense as it is required by law that a pool must be fenced.  Pool fencing is not only necessary but is also advisable if you want to add more security to your home. A properly fenced pool will add hindrance to burglars who may try to access your house by approaching from the pool area.

Install an alarm system

Installing a home security system in your house will add safety to your home when you are not there. Your neighbours will hear the alarm go off and will investigate. Alternatively, you should approach your local police station and tell them of your absence. They will provide periodic patrols to your house and a patrol may coincide with the activation of your alarm system.

The automated solution

One of the most efficient security options is having a home automation system installed. The system can practically do all your activities for you as if you were still in the house. Some of the tasks it can do include opening and shutting doors, draw and open curtains, turn the lights on and off at synchronized intervals from you mobile phone and so on. It’s just colossal and you’ll be surprised at its affordable price.

Statistics tell us that burglary is here to stay but this knowledge should act as catalyst within the cities and suburbs of Australia, that urges us not to be complacent but to continue fortifying our homes in the most effective way we can. For cities like Melbourne and Sydney the figures are alarming while for Australia generally, they are less so. Nevertheless, the right mentality to adopt is that of being proactive rather than being complacent. We need to identify the ideal home security system and install it in our homes.

What is available on the market?

The market can offer 3 types of home security systems like the:

• Audio alarm systems
• Visual alarm systems
• Physical security systems
• A combination of all 3

• Audio alarm systems

Alarm systems range from the basic models to the more sophisticated models and perform different functions. The simpler alarm models can do singular functions like activating sirens while the more sophisticated models can perform a myriad of functions such as wireless activation, sounding alerts and video feed injection into the used system. CCTV systems are also very popular mainly because they can provide a 24 hour monitoring service and they can scare away burglars by their seen presence.

• Visual security systems

Because of the forbidden nature of their activities burglars tend to pick the right moment for carrying out their robberies. They are excellent opportunists and their core strategy is of course to execute their deed without being caught. They will conduct a careful inspection of the robbery site and identify the best places for hiding and for rapid entry into and out of a house. To thwart this enterprising survey, you should thoroughly clean the side of your house from shrubs and other potential hiding places. Use outdoor lighting at the sides and back of the house to deter burglars from entering.

• Physical security systems

From statistics, we know that 80% of thieves use the front and back doors as their main gateway. The panacea is simple; get a locksmith to replace all the door handles and locks with dependable locks and deadbolts. with high security locks and deadbolts. In addition, tell him to make all your windows lockable by fixing locks that can only be opened with a key.

• An impregnable system

The perfect system is of course is one that can never be burglarized. A system of that calibre can only be realized by combining all the systems that can be put in place. If for example your home had a security fence, screened doors and windows, outdoor lights, alarm and CCTV systems, it would be near impossible to break into it. By the time you add a home automation system to what you already have, you will have what would amount to be a totally impregnable fortress and that would be fantastic! It will definitely cost you though and you would have to weigh the cost of installing such a system against the benefits that you will enjoy from such a system.

Every now and then the urge to just leave everything behind and go out of your home comes by. It really doesn’t matter whether the outing is for the day or a week to enjoy the countryside hiking or mountain climbing, or whether it is a long trek overseas. Whatever the reason, fulfilling the urge will mean that you will be leaving your home turf. You definitely don’t want you place to be an easy target for burglars especially if even your neighbours will be absent, so you need to secure your property prior your departure. But what should you do?

Addressing the security issue

You can make sure that a few things are in place before your leave your house:

• The street number is the first thing police, fire and ambulance will look for when an emergency happens. Ensure that it is clearly displayed and visible for them to see it.
• Make sure that your fences and gates can effectively prevent unwanted intrusion. The most effective deterrents against burglars is strong steel fencing or concrete fencing.
• Clear visibility of your house and surroundings can effectively dampen the enthusiasm of burglars in knowing that any approach to you home may likely be spotted by others. Cut any excess foliage around you house and grounds.
• Empty out your mailboxes before leaving you house. The mailbox acts like a magnet to thieves and valuable information left in it may well become their property.
• Unsecured windows are weak entry points that burglars find as favourite targets. To make sure that your windows are burglar proof, install locks on all your windows that can be opened only by a key.
• If by chance thieves do find their way in and take away some of your belongings, the only way to retrieve them is by having their serial numbers recorded. Make sure that you record the serial numbers for your items.
• Make sure that you never forget to lock you doors and windows the moment you exit your home, even if your absence will only be for short period.
• Deception is a form of protection that you can use to secure you home. For instance, when you go out to a restaurant for dinner, leave the lights, radio and/or television on to give the impression that someone is still in the house.
•  A serious mistake that homeowners often make is to leave a key outside the house. Make no mistake. A seasoned burglar already knows all the likely places where a key may be hidden so refrain from committing this mistake.
• Always ensure that all other access points into the house are securely locked anytime you are viewing the television or doing gardening outside.
• Having all sorts of valuables in your house is one very good reason why you should invest in a safe. Otherwise, you should install a fully integrated CCTV system to protect your valuables.
• Be warned that the favourite entry point burglars target most during their robberies is the garage, the bedroom and the kitchen.
• Keep in mind that the most common entry point got a burglary is the garage, followed by the bedroom and kitchen and secure your home appropriately.