The Basics of Home Security

Every homeowner needs to be active and aware of their home security concerns. With home invasions and break-ins on the rise, it is time to take some steps towards protecting your family and your valuable belongings. It would surprise most people to realize how simple it is for a burglar to break into their home. By following these simple steps, you can reduce the odds of coming home to discover your home has been broken into and your cherished valuables have been taken.

For a burglar, the three greatest enemies are noise, time, and light. If a burglar must make a lot of noise, take a lot of time, and work in a well-lit area to get into your home, chances are that he will not bother. In most cases, he will move onto an easier "mark". These are things that work in the favor of homeowners. I always tell my clients that, in order to defeat the burglar, one must think like the burglar.

Take some time and "case" the exterior of your home for points of entry. Imagine yourself as a burglar. Where would you try to get in? Where are the security weaknesses? You could even conduct a little experiment, by locking your home and trying to break in. If you, honest citizen, can break into your home with relative ease you can be sure it will be no problem for an experienced thief to gain entry.

Doors and windows are the first places to check when assessing the security of a home or business. Make sure that your home is equipped with a hard wood or metal exterior door, that is at minimum 1 ?" thick. The doorframe should be equally as strong. A peephole is much better than a simple door chain, as it will allow you to identify the person at your door without having to open it. And if there is one thing you spend a bit of money on, be sure it is a good quality deadbolt!

Windows are also extremely vulnerable, from a security standpoint. If you have an older home with double-hung windows, you can secure them by nailing the upper and lower panes together from the inside. As well, simple key locks can be added to windows for a reasonable price. If you have windows that are located at street level, consider adding an iron grate or grille for added protection. Balconies and fire escapes can also be security weaknesses, so consider purchasing one of those metal "accordion" gates.

There are a few other simple precautions you can take to secure your home. Try to establish a routine to ensure that your doors and windows are locked when you leave the house and when you go to bed each night. If you can afford it, you should also invest in a home security system. There are some incredibly advanced systems available on the market today, and these systems are very difficult to bypass. These simple steps could make the difference between being a victim of crime and being safe from harm. Think about it!

Home Security -- Eight Things You Must Do To Deter Burglars

Why should you bother with preventive home security measures? Because of one simple fact -- most home break-ins are crimes of opportunity.

Burglars don't usually do much advance planning for specific break-ins. They pick out any target that seems to be easy. If closer examination reveals that your home is not an easy target, they just move on.

Here are 8 things you can do to prevent your home from looking like a soft target.

1. All doors and windows should be plainly visible from the street and to your neighbors. Large shrubs and hedges which hamper visibility make it easy for burglars to do their job.

That's why any bushes and shrubs that are within four feet of sidewalks, driveways, doors, etc should be kept under a couple of feet high. Those within four to eight feet should be trimmed to not more than four feet high.

2. Do you place plants under window sills? If so, trim them to a foot lower than the window sill level.

3. Trees should not hamper visibility to your house. Also ensure that burglars can't use trees to gain access to your second floor windows and doors. Trim trees so that the lowest branches are seven feet or more above the ground.

4. Large gauge gravel causes noise when burglars walk on it. Placing them under windows is a good psychological deterrent.

5. Use fencing around your house and keep gates locked (even when you are at home, if possible). This sounds elementary, but locked gates prevent burglars from making off easily with large items!

In other words, ensure that there are no quick exits from the house.

6. Grow thorny plants under windows and along fences. They are very discouraging to burglars. Fencing using thorny plants is as good as barbed wire fencing and looks a whole lot better.

7. Ensure that street numbers are clearly visible from the street. This helps anyone responding to emergency calls to reach your home faster.

House numbers placed on your house should be six inches high and made of reflective material. Alternatively, use black on white lettering. The numbers should be illuminated at night.

Paint your house number on the curb in front of your driveway, using black lettering on white background.

8. Don't leave ladders and tools lying around. They should be locked away in a in a storage area or garage.

Get these eight things right and you will have enhanced your home security to a level that will make many potential burglars uneasy about targeting your home.

James Strobes is a home and office security consultant. For information on home security in general, home security alarm systems and more, see the foregoing links

Home Security Alarm - Have Peace of Mind

Have you ever really thought about how safe your home is? The world can be a nasty place sometimes - are your family protected from that? It's very easy not to think about the security of our home, but it's worth spending some time considering your family's safety. It's quite possible that you live in nice neighbourhood, and so think a home security alarm system is unnecessary. But have you thought about the fact that a criminal may target your neighbourhood for exactly that reason - because it's nice, and probably has houses full of nice things? If your home doesn't have any obvious safety devices or an alarm system, then it could well be chosen as an easy target.

The good thing is that a good home security alarm can drop you right back to the bottom of the list as far as a criminal is concerned. Which is great - after all, what would you do if some shifty character slipped in through your window in the middle of the night? Would you even wake up if you tend to sleep very heavily? You don't have to worry about that sort of thing, because a home security alarm will do the watching for you.

Even better, it doesn't have to cost you a fortune to buy a home security alarm system. You can pay that much if you want to, but there are plenty of simple, cheap products that can help to protect your home without breaking the budget. One example is window alarms - they're very effective and reasonably inexpensive. These work by activating a siren if someone tries to climb through your window uninvited. Apart from the fact that you'll get woken up and can call the police, the loud noise will undoubtedly cause the potential thief to vanish as fast as possible. No criminal wants to call attention to himself.

By doing some research, you can find other products to help make your home more secure. Sometimes it's hard to pay out money for "what if" situations that may never happen to you. Reality is, though, that they are happening to people every day, and you don't want to be added to that list. Prepare yourself with a decent home security alarm. You'll feel a lot safer knowing that thieves and other bad guys will always prefer to target a house without a home security alarm. They like to do things as easily and quietly as possible.

Remember, too, that even something as simple as keeping your doors and windows locked even when you're home during the day, is a step in the right direction. You never know when someone may decide to just walk into your home, maybe not even realising that you're there. Don't take that chance!

Finally, get online and check out the options for a quality home security alarm for your house. Make sure you take responsibility, and keep your loved ones safe.

To discover more about home security, check out Info About Home Security

5 Steps To Better Home Security And Personal Safety

After a crime has been committed, many people wish that they had taken better steps to protect themselves and their belongings. But the best time to think about home security is before the crime happens, not afterward. By planning ahead you can take steps that reduce your chances of being a victin of crime in the first place. Here are 5 steps that you may wish to consider to improve your home security and personal safety:

1. Many accidents occur at home and lives are often lost due to fire, gas leaks, and carbon monoxide poisoning. It's amazing how many people have been victims of these kind of dangers, and yet much can be done to protect yourself in advance. Most fire and smoke detectors are very inexpensive but effective ways to help warn of dangers before they get out of control, or at least so that the homeowner can get out quickly and save their life. The same can be said of natural gas and carbon monoxide detectors too. A few of these placed throughout the home will keep silent guard for you and help increase your personal safety from these dangers. Just remember that the best detectors cannot be effective if you don't keep the batteries for each unit fresh so that it stays in good working order.

2. Install a home security system that will monitor all the doors and windows in your home and sound a loud alarm when someone is breaking in. You may even want to subscribe to an outside monitoring service that will call local law enforcement after making sure that any alarm that is triggered is not a false alarm. There are several quality wireless home security systems available that you can even install yourself quickly and easily.

3. Consider using wireless security cameras to help keep a watch on the goings outside your home at all times. For instance, you could install one above your door that lets you clearly identify the person who rings your doorbell, or knocks on your door. You could also install infrared cameras at strategic locations around the home that allows you to keep a watch on your home's perimiter at night. The more information you have about what is happening around your home, the more prepared you can be to defend yourself.

4. Joining a neighborhood watch group can help increase your personal and home security considerably. If your neighborhood does not have such a program, why not visit a few neighbors and see if they would be interested in starting one? If crimes have been committed in the area recently, you often will not have much difficulty getting everyone to cooperate and set up a neighborhood watch program right away.

5. Keeping doors and windows closed and locked at all times is another step to take to make home intrusion more difficult. If you must open the windows for any reason, it is wise to have locks installed that do not allow the window to be opened far enough for someone to be able to climb through and get inside the home. These are the most vulnerable places in your home to burglarization, so guard them well.

There are other steps you can take to increase personal safety and home security, but if you employ the suggestions mentioned above they can a great start, and can help increase your preparedness and peace of mind.

Find out more about wireless home security and wireless home security systems by visiting our Home Security website

Home Security Tips To Help Protect Your Children

For those with children at home, keeping them safe and well-protected is of the utmost priority. There are so many dangers in the modern world that can harm children because they simply aren't aware of them yet. But as parents we need to be aware of these dangers and take steps to increase the security for our children and create a safe and happy environment for them to grow up. Here are some areas where home security measures can help protect your children:

* Many homes are susceptible to fire damage, gas leaks, high carbon monoxide levels and more. Over the years many people have died right in their own homes from these kind of real dangers. In fact, the numbers of fatalities can be staggering, but you just don't hear as much about them because they are not considered sensational enough to be in the news very often.

Very simple steps can be taken to minimize these dangers though. For instance, simply installing fire and smoke alarms throughout the home can be extremely vauable in case of a fire. Carbon monoxide and natural gas detectors are also very inexpensive pieces of equipment that can be installed throughout the home to alert you when gas levels are getting too high, and give you the time to get everyone in the home to safety. It's a simple and affordable way to increase your peace of mind. Be sure however not only to install these detectors and monitors, but also to keep the batteries in each unit fresh and up to date as well.

* Installation of a home security system that monitors all entry and exit spots of the home can be a great way to help increase home security and prevent crimes that could potentially harm your children. You can also get wireless home security camera systems that can allow you to monitor your children even when you are away at work, or when babysitters or nannies are watching your children. With these devices in place you can help make sure that your children are not mistreated.

* Participation in neighborhood watch programs is a way to increase the security of your home and family considerably. These kind of cooperative efforts by a group of local neighbors is a red flag to criminals and others with bad intentions, that tells them that your area is not a good place to hang around if they don't want to be caught by law enforcement. By placing signs in a prominent place in the yard of each of the members of the watch program, you can send a clear message that all outsiders are under immediate scrutiny when they enter your area, and that can have an immediate impact on the criminal activity in a neighborhood.

* If you have a swimming pool at home be sure to protect your children from drowning by installing a fence or barrier to keep them out when they are small, and perhaps even alarms that sound a loud noise when the water is disturbed in the case of someone accidentally falling in.

These are all simple, inexpensive, and yet very effective ways to help improve home security for all of your family and especially your children.

Find out more about wireless home security and wireless home security systems by visiting our Home Security website

How To Select The Best Home Security Company For Your Needs

Home security is a growing field and lots of companies have entered into it with a wide variety of products being offered to consumers. And there is something available for almost every budget too. So how do you choose what security system to buy, and where should you buy it?

Well obviously, one of the largest factors that needs to be considered is how much money your budget will allow you to spend on a new home security system. There is no need to be looking at high end security systems if you can't afford them anyway. Another important factor to consider is not just the security system itself, but also the installation. Are you a good do-it-yourselfer? Are you familiar with home wiring and doing home improvement work? If so, you may choose to install the alarm system yourself and can save a lot of money by doing so. In fact, the money you save on installation costs can allow you to upgrade the security system itself. In this case, there are some great security systems available online for a lot less than you would pay otherwise and can even further reduce the purchase cost.

If you feel that you are like most of us though and cannot do the installation yourself, then you most likely will want to talk with a home security specialist from one of the major companies in that field. It's a good idea to do a little advance research beforehand though. Home security alarm systems are becoming increasingly more common, so why not ask your friends, family, co-workers and others you know if they have had any good or bad experiences with a particular security company? If you ask enough people in your area, you will usually start to get a good feel for both companies that have treated their customers well, and those that don't.

Many companies will send a field representative to your home to inspect it firsthand and make specific recommendations on the type of security system that they feel will suit you best. The thing to keep in mind in these situations is your predetermined budget. Don't allow anyone to talk you into a more expensive security system than you can really afford just because it has more features. Remember that even the most basic security system is better than none at all.

It's best to stay with companies that are authorized representatives of a major home security company, as they tend to need to protect their reputation in the community and have a more long term vision for their business which includes treating customers well. Avoid independent contractors that don't already come with extremely good recommendations from people that you can trust.

Just a few of these simple guidelines can help insure that you choose a home security system that works well for you and does not cost more than it should.

Find out more about a home security system and home security products by visiting our Home Security Review website.

Home Security Systems Provide a Safe Environment for Family Members

There were 4 million household burglaries in the United States, nearly 500,000 resulted in bodily injury, and 20,000 resulted in homicides, frightening statistics. Additional statistics reveal that a home without a security system is three times as likely to be burglarized as compared to one which is equipped with a security system. These facts make it obvious that a home security system will reduce your chances of intrusion, and can protect your life and property. It is therefore necessary to conduct an extensive home security review, to determine the appropriate systems necessary to secure the safety of yourself, and home.

Several points should be kept in mind while conducting a home security review. Security needs should be a first consideration. While it may be obvious that you should be the best judge of security requirements, a security expert has the experience to evaluate your home for vulnerabilities that are not obvious to a layperson. After a full examination of your home, a security specialist will be able to make note of all soft spots, and suggest the kind of equipment necessary to strengthen these soft spots.

The next consideration is security monitoring. Security monitoring can be a sophisticated central monitoring service, or a simple home security system, cost and needs are the determining factors. The central monitoring services are ideal because they ensure that appropriate measures are taken whenever an intrusion is detected. A monitoring team that works from a central station verifies every suspicious activity the moment it receives an alert. While an ideal deterrent, this type of monitoring is relatively expensive, and subject to the experience and professionalism of the company. You must find out if the central monitoring station is certified by Underwriters Laboratory; that it has a power back up system that can run for 10 to 15 hours; that it is run by trained staff; that it alerts local authorities within seconds of receiving a security alert.

Less costly is a simple home security system consisting of a control panel, a couple of magnetic switches, a motion sensor or two, and an alarm device. This can be hard wired or wireless. The more advanced systems feature a video camera that can be monitored by family members. The biggest advantage of this system is that it scares away potential intruders. This may happen when an intruder sees a yard sign, a decal sign or any of the installed sensors or video cameras. There is a one-time installation charge, with no recurring expenses.

While there are no guarantees, any home security system could scare away potential intruders. Any type of prevention will go along way to reduce the likelihood of a break in, or home assault by a stranger. Remember, the main objective of any home security system is to provide a safe environment for family members, and to limit the loss of property.

Jay B Stockman is a contributing editor for Best Home Security Companies. Visit http://home-security-usa.com/ for more information.