security

5 Easy Ways to Use Light for Home Security

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Home security is a priority for many homeowners. No one wants an intruder to gain access to their loved ones and belongings. While you can’t eliminate the risk, you can greatly reduce it. One of the biggest tools you have is lighting.

Most thieves are opportunists. That means it’s not that they are personally targeting you, but rather you look like an easy mark. They want the minimal hassle so they can break in and leave with less chance of getting caught. You can use this to your advantage. When you understand what a criminal looks for in a potential target, you can make your home as unappealing as possible.

  • Light Up All Sides of Your Home

This is one of the most important things Connect Electric can recommend homeowners do for security. The more light there is around your home, the harder it will be for someone to get close without being noticed. While many families have lights on their front or back porches, it’s important to make sure all sides are covered.

There also needs to be enough light to see things in the area. Powerful floodlights are the best choice for this application. You can buy fixtures with dual floodlights to cover more area.

This can also bring peace of mind in case you hear strange noises at night. It will be much easier to identify a stray cat or raccoon without going outside with a flashlight and putting yourself at risk.

  • Keep Landscape Lights on All Night Long

It’s best to leave your landscape lights on all night. This creates more illumination, making it easier to see what’s outside. If you’re concerned about utility bill costs, use solar lights. They have a cell, usually on top, that gathers sunlight during the day. Then they turn on at night so you can easily see.

Most models are designed to automatically come on at dusk. This is great because you don’t have to worry about forgetting to turn on your landscape lights. Use them along pathways but also arrange them in out-of-the-way places for extra illumination.

  • Install Motion Sensors as an Early Alert

Motion sensors are a great way to frighten would-be thieves. They also serve as an early alert system for you and your family. Even if you have a security system on your home, it may not detect someone until they try a window or door.

Motion sensor lights catch movement before they reach your house. When the light pops on, you know that someone or something is moving out there.

  • Place Lights in Out-of-Reach Places

Criminals don’t like lights, and they will remove them if they can access them. That’s why you need bright lights placed in out-of-reach places, like high up on your home just under the roof. If they can’t reach the bulbs, then they can’t easily darken your property without you noticing.

  • Use Timers When You Aren’t Home

Timers are a must-have, especially if you plan to be away from home. These devices can be plugged into a lamp or light and then set up to switch on and off at a set time. You can use them on interior and exterior lights to create the illusion that someone is there.

Make sure your family is safe by assessing your lighting. A few simple additions can significantly increase your home security.

Safe As Houses – Defending Your Home Against Common Threats

For many of us, our home is a calm and peaceful refuge. One that stands between us and the hustle and bustle, and stress of the outside world. However, that peace can be so easily disrupted if our homes come under threat. Sadly, there are numerous threats to defend our homes against. Although the good news is there are tactics you can use to keep your home, as safe as houses! Read on to find out what they are. 

 

Security

 

One of the most prominent threats to your home is security breaches from the outside. These can take physical form from burglars, or a virtual way from hackers. Fortunately, there are strategies that you can use to minimize the risk from either. 

Firstly when it comes to physical threats such as people breaking into your home, ensuring you have a secure door and window locks is vital. Also installing security systems such as CCTV and alarms, a topic you can find out about at https://reolink.com/how-to-install-a-home-surveillance-system/ can help a great deal as well.

 

Alternatively, when dealing with threats of a virtual nature, IT security is critical. That means the network you are on is a secure one and that you use end-to-end encryption for anything private. Something you can read more about at https://www.thesslstore.com/blog/end-to-end-encryption-the-good-the-bad-and-the-politics/.  The use of firewalls and antivirus software can also help you keep your virtual home life as safe as your physical one. 

Weather

 

Bad weather can sometimes be an extreme threat to your home. Storms cause untold amounts of wind and water damage to the outer structure and often the inside of properties. Happily, there are some steps you can follow that will help to protect your home. 

 

The first is to make sure that you invest in a roof like the ones on offer at ddroofing.com/services/residential-roofing/ as they are made from the very best quality materials. Something that means they will be a robust first line of defense when the weather does turn. 

 

Additionally, having a plan in place for what to do if you are expecting extreme weather in the location in which you live is vital. Something that should, of course, first prioritize human well-being. Then also include additional actions like boarding up windows to minimize the risk of them smashing, as well as blocking up gaps under doors with sandbags to prevent water from getting in. 

 

Germs

 

Finally, one of the most significant risks to your home can come from germs. Especially as most of the world finds itself in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis! Of course, the key here is to make sure that your home is as clean and hygienic as possible.

 

One way of doing this is to use advanced cleaning products such as antibacterial sprays and wipes, which are as the post at https://www.lbc.co.uk/hot-topics/coronavirus/which are effective against viruses as well as bacteria. Additionally, taking special care to wash your hand whenever you have come in from the outside is also vital. While regularly cleaning off high-use items like doorknobs, and tabletops can help to prevent illness from spreading. Thus keeping your home as safe from germs as possible. 

How Your Household Could Become More Inviting

 

It’s hard to create a perfect living environment. That means something different for everyone. For some people, a great home is a well-designed abode. You need to find the solution that works for you. Luckily, this article has been put together to help you achieve that. So, the following pieces of advice could give you some guidance if you want your household to become more inviting.

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Use light to create the right atmosphere.

If you want to make your household feel more inviting, then you should use light to create the right atmosphere.  Lighting affects your sleeping pattern.  It’s a key contributor to the maintenance of a steady circadian rhythm. That’s why you should use daylight to improve the ambiance of your home. You might want to start by painting your walls white. This would naturally reflect light and brighten up each room in your house. Natural light positively affects our emotional health, so you should welcome it into your home to create an inviting living space. Artificial light is important, too, of course. You should think about the purpose of each room in your house. 

 

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Make your property secure.

The safety of your home is a big part of making it inviting. Well, that’s a big part of making it inviting to you. In terms of intruders, you should aim to make your home look as unappealing as possible. This will make you and your family feel safer and happier. So, you could start by planting some thick shrubbery under your ground-floor windows; that would prevent criminals from entering your home through a potential entry point. You might also want to get security cameras set up. These would deter would-be intruders because they wouldn’t want to be recorded in the act of committing a crime. There are security system companies that you could check out for useful alarm systems. That could help to keep your property secure. You and your loved ones will feel more relaxed at home if you keep your household well-protected. This will make your abode feel inviting.

 

Add personal things to your home.

Adding personal things to your home could make it feel more inviting, too. As explained in the introduction, many people feel that memories are crucial to making a household feel inviting. Well, personal touches are great ways to capture the personalities of you and your family members. They’ll help you feel as if you’re living in a place that’s yours. Placing photographs on surfaces and hanging them on walls would remind you that you’re living in your family household. That would make your humble abode feel warm and inviting. You could also hang some handmade artwork on your walls. Creating statement pieces as a family could be a fun and creative task. It would be another thing to make your house feel like home.