Every season carries different activities and lifestyle patterns – and home security is absolutely no exception! In the following blog post written by the home security and lock installation experts here at DKNY Locksmith, we will detail some incredibly vital Winter Home security tips that you should utilize for the rest of this Winter season, and every Winter to follow!
Home Exterior Maintenance
It’s essential to maintain the exterior of your home during the Winter, most importantly if you have any sort of trip, vacation, or extended absence from home on your schedule. Criminals often have a smart ability to use the external appearance of homes to determine if they are unoccupied. Signs that your home is empty during the Winter include, but are not limited to:
- Driveways, garage paths, and walkways covered in snow
- Mail, packages, and newspapers piled up
- Zero lights in the house
- Zero signs of home activity
If you are planning on leaving your home for an extended amount of time during the Winter season, make sure to make your home look like it’s being occupied. Contact a trusted friend or neighbor to pick up your mail and packages, and pay somebody to regularly shovel snow off of your driveway. Additionally, you should consider installing a monitored alarm security service system at your home that can automatically detect strange goings-on at your property and automatically contact the authorities if you are not there to detect it yourself.
Home Lighting
The lighting of your home is a very underrated and oft-ignored aspect of home security. Make sure to install the following lights at your property:
- Smart Lights allow you to control all lights inside and outside of your home from a distance, and set them on timers if you want, to create the appearance of movement and use inside and around your home.
- Flood lights should be installed in areas in and outside your home that are much darker. They are built specifically to help brighten wide and large areas like backyards and front yards.
- Motion activated lights are a must for around all entrances of your home – they automatically turn on and illuminate when they detect movement, which will serve to deter any potential criminals from attempting entry into your property, as they will risk being seen by people around them.
Locks
This is a simple must; you must ensure that all doors and windows of your home are locked before you go to bed or leave your home for any amount of time. It’s estimated that nearly 35% of burglars enter homes through unlocked front doors. If you often forget to lock your doors, consider installing a smart lock system throughout your home that eliminate your need to have a key, and allow you to remotely lock and unlock your home through a smartphone application. This provides peace of mind in knowing that your property is protected, not to mention the benefits of a dedicated keylog that tracks who enters and exits the home. It’s even possible to have your smart lock system send you security alerts if door tampering is detected!