How to pick the best security system for your home

If you are away from your home for an extended period of time, remember these simple security tips before you leave.

• Be careful who you tell when you plan to be away from your home. Ask a trusted neighbor to watch your home.
• Maintain your lawn before you leave or have someone mow your lawn while you are gone.
• Do not let deliveries accumulate. Have a neighbor pick up mail, newspapers and packages daily. If that is not possible, then stop deliveries so they do not pile up.
• Ask a neighbor to use your garbage cans. An empty garbage can is a tip-off that you are away.
• Leave your car in the driveway. This gives the appearance of an occupied house, and prevents burglars from backing up a van for loading.
• Don’t leave keys under your doormat, flower pot or window ledge-intruders check these first.
• Use timers for lights, televisions and sound systems to turn them on and off at different times to give your home a lived-in look while you are away.

Don’t make yourself a target for looming burglars and vandalized while you’re away on vacation. Follow these simple home security tips and make sure you find your home the way you left it! Get free quotes from home security companies today!

The first step to securing your home is to make it more difficult for uninvited guests to enter. Burglars look for homes that are fast and easy to access. Therefore, the more effort or skill required to break in, or the more noise likely to be made, the less likely a burglar will even bother to try. Use alarm system signs and/or decals on your exterior doors. By incorporating some quick and easy security tips, you can help deter any home invader.

Lock Bumping & Pick-Resistant Locks

Re- key your home when moving in. You have no way of knowing who has keys for the old locks! This includes all exterior doors, garages/storage units and gates. The code to the garage door opener should be changed as well. Be sure to use high quality, grade 1 or 2 locks on exterior doors with a 1 inch throw bolt. They may be more expensive, but in the long run, the investment is far less than the cost of the average break in. These locks are resistant to twisting, prying, and lock picking attempts. Good quality deadbolts will have beveled casings that inhibit the use of channel-lock pliers, that are used to shear off lock cylinder pins. Good door knobs have a “dead latch” mechanism that prevents entry with a shim or credit card.

Use Solid, Reinforced Doors at Entry Points to Home

Experienced burglars know that the garage and back doors are usually the easiest points of entry, and typically provide the most cover. The most common way used to force entry through a door with a wooden jam is to simply kick it open. The weakest point in a door is almost always the lock strike plate that holds the bolt or door latch in place. Most strike plates are only screwed into the soft wood door jamb molding. To prevent this use a solid core or metal door for all entrance points. Preferable with a a wide-angle 160° peephole mounted no higher than 58 inches. While replacing or re-keying locks upgrade to a four-screw, heavy-duty, high security strike plates for both the dead bolt and the door latch. Install it with 3- inch wood screws so that it is secured into the door frame stud. It is also a good idea to use at least one long screw in each door hinge as well. These small steps can deter or prevent most forced entries through a door.

If any of your entry doors have glass in them, make sure that it is “shatter resistant” Any locks within reach from windows should be keyed on both sides to prevent a burglar from breaking the window, and simply reaching in and unlocking the door. Make sure that all patio and sliding glass doors are installed correctly, and leverage your patio track so that the door can not be lifted up and/or removed from the track. This can be done by simply inserting screws into the top track. It is also a good idea to install and use patio door bars. To be most effective these should be installed to both the door and the door frames.

Don’t leave valuables, keys, personal information or garage door openers inside vehicles, even if they are stored inside a garage, and last but not least LOCK YOUR DOORS at all times. In addition, make sure you have a good home alarm system installed in your home for a second layer of protection.

When you have kids (or even just children on a visit), keeping your home secure is even more important – and even more challenging. Not only do you have to be concerned about simple things with smaller kids – childproofing electrical outlets and stairs, for example – but you have to be concerned about unwanted visitors getting in while the kids are there, as well as whether or not the children in your house have a full understanding of how to keep your (or their) home safe.

Don’t Let Your Children Answer the Door

Whereas adults have a firm understanding about why it’s important to do things like lock doors and ask who’s knocking before allowing entry to a stranger, smaller children may not appreciate these dangers. It’s always a good idea to explain to your kids that, at least until they’re in their mid-teens, they should always be careful about who they answer the door to and how they answer the phone. Remind them that instead of saying their parents aren’t home, they should reply that Mom or Dad is “busy and can’t come to the phone right now,” and if a number and message are left they’ll reply as soon as they can.

House Keys & Alarm Codes

Unless one parents stays at home with the kids, there is also the chance that younger children may need their own keys to let themselves into the house – and if you have a home security system, you may find that you need to entrust your child with the pass code to disarm your alarm if they’re going to be arriving at home when there is not an adult present.

This can present a dilemma to parents who want to practice good basic security practice – frequently changing their passwords to burglar alarms and home alarm systems, as children may have difficulty remembering changing sequences of numbers.

Work with Your Home Security Company

It’s also important that your home security or alarm company understand that there are children in the house and that this may cause unintended alarm tripping. A good residential security company will work with you to come up with a strategy that keeps both your home and your children safe. Even if this impacts your home security system pricing, it’s worth the extra expense for your peace of mind and your childrens’ (and home’s) safety.

As children grow older, parents may find they have more latitude in how their home security companies manage their burglar alarms and other home protection components, and at this point it’s important to re-open a dialogue with your security as well as investigate other options for residential security systems.

Talk to your children about home security systems, burglar alarms, fire safety, and other things that can make a difference to their and your home’s security during an emergency. Help your children practice passwords, and make sure they have the opportunity to meet with representatives from your residential security company.

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