Rather stupidly, and possibly naively, we have never had an alarm fitted. We are the only ones on the street not to do and I am aware that this isn't exactly recommended. Money and other things being a priority are the reasons behind this, but with all these things going on recently it has brought it to the forefront as a necessity so next week the alarm is being fitted.
I am even more conscious os home security when we are away from home and often wonder what we can do to increase this when there is no way for us to be there to keep an eye on things. I have a few methods we put into place whenever we travel so I thought I'd share them on here.
1. Set your alarm. Yup, this will be a new thing for us. Just having an alarm is all well and good as a deterrent, but when you're not in your house it is definitely wise to actually set it.
2. Give a neighbour or close family member a key. If you're like many of us out there, a house alarm going off is more a nuisance than an alert to trouble. I can count many occasions when different alarms have gone off in our street and nobody has batted an eyelid. My husband always goes out to have a check and to see if he can tell what has caused it, but generally there is little anyone can do. Making sure someone nearby has a key means they can actually get in your house to check everything is secure and then turn off the alarm. A neighbour once had a huge leak in their house when they were away and it took us ages to track anyone down who could get in and turn off the water which meant thousands of pounds of damage was done in the meantime. Not good. On that note, also make sure your home insurance is up to date!
3. Invest in a security camera. If you have the budget you can now get security cameras of all different kinds, some of which you can link to via your mobile whilst you are away and actually have a look through your cameras. Incredible!
4. Leave a light on. A pretty simple thing but worth doing just to act as a deterrent. I generally leave a hallway light on and maybe one upstairs just to try and put off any would-be intruder. You can also buy a light switch timer that comes on automatically when you set it for, which creates a more natural setting for would-be intruders and saves on your electric bill.
5. Don't tell everyone you're going away. Whilst you may be excited about your upcoming holiday, plastering it all over social media isn't the best idea. Who knows who can catch wind of it. And leave uploading your snaps until you are home.
So there are my suggestions for keeping your home safe, what do you do when you go away to put off any intruders?
