How to protect your home whilst you’re on holiday
All year we look forward to jetting off on holiday to soak up the sun, stretch out on a sunbed or simply enjoy the sights of a new town or city. But someone else might also be looking forward to you heading out and leaving your home unattended too – your local, neighbourhood burglars.
In today’s world, burglars will scour social media and keep an eye out on homes in their local area to see if their owners are away, with your social feed often signalling to criminals that your home lay vacant for days or weeks on end. So, before you head out for your well-deserved break, it’s important you do all you can to ensure your home security is up to scratch.
So, the security experts at Yale have shared their top tips and advice to ensure your home protection is up to scratch this summer, so you can enjoy your hard-earned holiday in peace.
Step up your simple security solutions
Getting your home security up to date ahead of your holiday doesn’t have to cost the earth. One of the best ways you can keep your home protected from opportunists is by upgrading to a high security door lock or cylinder, ensuring that your door can protect against a range of attack methods.
The front door is often the most common form of entry into the home for burglars, and visibly weak locks are a clear signal to a criminal that your door security isn’t up to scratch.
A simple door lock replacement, which offers a significant level of protection to homes, is an effective way of showing to burglars that you take your home security seriously, whilst also securing your property against potential attacks.
Alternatively, you could even give your home a 21st century security makeover by introducing a smart lock.
A smart lock is a great option for allowing you to keep an eye on what’s happening around your home when you’re not there – particularly when you’re away on holiday. For example, if you plan to share spare keys with trusted friends and family members to check in on your home whilst you’re away, a smart lock allows you to control your front door remotely.
Whether you want someone to water your plants, pick up your post or simply check nothing looks suspicious around your home when you’re abroad, a smart lock lets you be fully clued up on who’s coming and going from your home, anywhere at any time.
This peace of mind is invaluable when you’re away, as you have the complete control over your door through your smartphone app. Letting you grant remote access to friends and family, and to see who’s coming and going, so it’s well worth the investment if you’re looking to upgrade your home security.
Always alarmed
And talking of smart security, a smart alarm is another worthy investment to give homeowners the ultimate protection over their home when they’re away.
A smart alarm is designed to give homeowners the opportunity to arm and disarm their alarm remotely via their smartphone, ensuring they have complete control over their home security. Most high quality smart alarms also allow for motion detection functionality, ensuring that users are notified immediately if any movement is detected within their property at any time.
Being able to always be ‘in the know’ over your home security is invaluable, particularly when you’re leaving your home unattended for longer periods of time. Being able to remotely arm and disarm your alarm also means you can ask friends or family to pop in to check your home when you’re away, making your home look ‘lived in’, and therefore less of a target to opportunists.
Having the ability to check in on your home security is certainly a huge benefit if you regularly leave your property unattended, so a smart alarm is a great investment to secure your home this summer and beyond.
CCTV
And whilst keeping your home protected on the inside is essential, outdoor security cameras are just as essential for securing your home from the outside.
Security cameras have long been known as one of the biggest deterrents for opportunists, and new ‘smart’ versions allows for even more control and surveillance for homeowners looking to check in on their property remotely.
Smart security cameras have the ability to be connected to a smartphone, allowing homeowners to check in on the outside of the property from anywhere at any time. With motion detection and live viewing functionality, they can also have the chance to conveniently check in if any suspicious activity is occurring, allowing the homeowner to be the first in the know.
Stay off social
Finally, don’t forget to stay off social media when you’re away. Sharing your whereabouts in a different location can clearly signal to thieves that your home is unattended.
Many people enjoy sharing wonderful pictures of their holiday with family and friends on social media. But, if they have insufficient security settings on their account, they are vulnerable to local thieves scouring their page for this useful information. This is a new technique that criminals are using to be able to understand a person’s whereabouts, and if they know you and where you live, sharing your location could easily be setting you up to be a target for theft.
So, the home security experts at Yale would recommend you hold on posting about your holiday until you get home, so you can feel safe in the knowledge that you won’t be targeted by opportunists.
With an array of tips and smart security products that can help you to protect your home while you’re away, by doing a home security audit and upgrade before you leave, you can ensure you enjoy your holiday with the peace of mind your home is protected.