5 HOME SECURITY TIPS FOR WHEN YOU GO ON HOLIDAYS!

Christmas is right around the corner and therefore a holiday might be on the cards. But before you get excited and race out of the house there are some very important home security tips you should consider before you leave. 

Firstly, and obviously, make sure your house is LOCKED! When we say locked we mean make it hard for criminals to break in your home. Upgrade to a deadlock on your front door and ensure you have window locks installed and locked on all your windows. By locking your windows you are slowing criminals down, forcing them to make more noise if they break a window and if they get inside, slow them down trying to exit locked windows. 

Secondly, secure all your valuables in a safe. If a criminal makes their way inside your home, you want to make sure your valuables are locked away in a safe. Valuables such as jewellery, family heirlooms, birth certificates and passports, bank cards or cash can all easily be stored in a safe installed within your home. Whatever is valuable to you and hard to replace, lock it up. Make sure you store your safe in a non obvious space. Again making it hard for people to find. For ideas on where to store your safe check out our blog post 'Safes: Which one do I need and where should I install it?'

Thirdly, install a home alarm. There are many people who don’t get alarms installed fearing they will cost too much. There are many cost effective home alarm systems on the market currently and Lock Supplies can assist you in finding the best fit for your house and organise it to be installed correctly. If the criminals have made their way into your house, slowly, a home alarm will make it very difficult for them to successfully rob you of all your possessions. 

So you’ve locked your front door with a deadlock, locked all windows and installed a home alarm but what about your shed or garage? Side or backyard gates? You want to avoid the criminals from entering your backyard to break into your house. If they enter your backyard they are then hidden away from the road and neighbours, and can take longer to figure out their game plan on how they will rob you. Try and avoid storing any valuables in your shed. However if you do in fact store your valuable tools and such in your shed, secure it with a lock or padlock. 

Lastly there are some easy additional ways you can secure your home when you leave for a holiday. Ask your neighbours if they can clear your letterbox every few days so mail doesn’t pile up. Ask them if they can put your bin out and back in again on bins days. Ask a family member or friend to pop around and mow your lawn or water your garden. Leave lights on in the bedroom or lounge room making it look like someone is home. If you just bought a new tv or game console, do not leave the empty boxes outside advertising to the world of your new purchases. Bring in items such as bikes, surfboards, children’s toys and any other items you may usually leave outside, so you are not attractive to potential criminals watching your home. 

Bonus tip

Don’t announce to the world on social media you are going on a holiday. Don’t announce your leaving and returning dates or how far you’re going etc. This is all very useful information for someone looking for an easy target.