15 Home Security Tips
There are some very simple steps you can take to protect your home and family. Many are low cost. Many of these items are common sense, but ones that most families don’t use regularly. By enacting some simple measures, maybe the burglar will skip your house and move on to an easier target.
Home Security Tips
1. Install good exterior lighting on porches, walkways and near doors, in both the front and back of the house. Turn them on in the evenings.
2. Install motion detector lights or photocell lights that turn on at dark and off at dawn.
3. All exterior doors and windows must have working locks.
4. Install deadbolt locks on doors, they are difficult to unlock by intruders. (Be sure you use a turn-bolt, not a key bolt, to avoid getting trapped in the house in a fire.)
5. If you lose your keys, change your locks.
6. Always lock all doors and windows when you leave the house unattended, even for a short time.
7. If you have sliding doors use a heavy wooden stick, like a broom handle, in the track to prevent the door from sliding open. And consider installing a device to prevent the slider from being lifted out of the track. Smaller wooden dowels work for sliding windows.
8. If your home has an alarm, set it whenever you leave the house, even for a short time.
9. Don’t hide a spare key outside near the door. Give a spare key to a trusted neighbor or wrap it in foil and bury it some where in the yard where you’ll be able to locate it.
10. When you move into a new home, change all the locks.
11. Keep bushes trimmed around the home to remove any hiding spots for burglars.
12. Don’t store ladders outside your home. Burglars can use them to access second-story windows.
13. Use timers on interior lights so it appears that someone is home in the evening.
14. Return bicycles, toys, tools and any expensive items to the garage or storage shed after use. Leaving them out in the yard is an invitation to steal.
15. Make sure to discuss basic safety measures with all members of the family and to review how to call for assistance in an emergency.
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