Before taking the necessary measures to protect your home, it is good to conduct a security assessment to know the level of security you will need. While a security company can help you with this, you can also do it before calling them. Identify the weaknesses in your current home security situation, then take the necessary measures. Here are ways you can assess your home security.
Check Whether Pathways and Entryways are Well-lit
A poorly lit entryway and pathway can attract burglars. Also, you may fall and trip if you do not see where you are going. Therefore, ensure that the exterior of your home is well lit. You should consider motion lighting for your home. It will help save on electricity bills while deterring criminals at the same time.
Where Are Your Valuables Located?
Walk down the street, then look at your home. Can you see the valuables inside? If you can, then an intruder can see them as well. If you look at home invasion statistics, you will realize that more break-ins are happening in residential properties than commercial ones. Intruders will ‘window shop’ the homes in a neighborhood, observing which one has valuables. If they notice valuables through your windows, they might break in. To be safe, keep valuable things like jewelry, cash, electronics, and guns out of sight.
Have You Installed Light Timers?
While daylight burglaries are common, a dark house is an invitation for thieves to break in. When a thief notices your home is dark during the night, they know no one is at home, and so they may break in. To avoid this, install a timer on your lights. It will make your home appear as if there are people inside even when you are out of town. Also, many types of light timers in the market are simple to operate yet effective. Alternatively, you can ask the security company whether they have apps where you can turn on and off the lights from your home even when away.
Is The Person at The Door Visible Without Opening It?
Opening your door without checking who is at the door is not only scary but dangerous. Despite the level of safety in your neighborhood, always ensure that you can see who is at the door before opening. When buying a door, check that it has a peephole. If you already have a solid door, but it lacks one, buy the peephole and have it installed. Always go for wide-angle peepholes for a greater range of view.
Do You Have a Home Security System?
Your home security system should be more than an alarm system. Not that an alarm system is not effective. However, it is not sufficient to protect your home. Consider other types of security devices like security cameras, video recording devices, intrusion detection gadgets, among others. This is particularly important if there is no one in the house the whole day. Learn more about home security and get to know the cost of these devices. You can install one at a time to lower the financial burden of installing everything at once.
Check Your Doors and Windows
Most burglars break into a home through the door, and some use the windows. Check that both your doors and windows are strong. For the door, ensure that it is firm, especially if it is wooden. A hollow wooden door can be broken into easily. Get solid wood doors or something metallic that will be hard to break down. For your windows, install shatterproof glass that thieves will find hard to break.
These are just some of the few security checks you can conduct in your home to understand which areas can compromise your safety.
