From Outdoor Security Lights to Wheelie Bins: How to Safeguard your Home While You’re on Holiday

For many of us summer is the most exciting time of the year. We swap our work suits for swimsuits and the office for the poolside to enjoy a week or two of luxury. However, before we leave it is important to ensure that our home is not going to attract unwanted attention.

Something that plays on our minds when we are on holiday is the idea that nobody is at home, leaving it susceptible to burglars. The last thing anybody wants is to return to an empty house that has been violated by an opportunist burglar.

So what can you do to protect your home while you are away?

The Basics

• It might sound obvious but a lot of people leave their windows unlocked when they leave the house, particularly the upstairs ones. All windows and doors should be locked until you return from your trip.
• Even windows that are higher up should be locked. A lot of people don’t realise how easy it is for their home to be scaled by an intruder so make sure that any possible entrance is secured.
• It is common for burglars to enter the garage before they break into the house. This is to obtain tools which will assist the burglary of the house. It is therefore paramount that the garden and shed are also secure.
• Activate the burglar alarm. Worryingly, many reformed burglars have reported that most of their burglaries took place on homes where alarms were left inactivated or ignored. Activate the alarm even if you are only away for the weekend because there is no set time for when burglars will approach. 

Hide Your Belongings

• Hopefully nobody will break into your home but in case they do you should hide your valuables in the most obscure place. Invest in a solid safe so that if somebody does find it they will have difficulty getting into it.
• Burglars usually stay in your house for 10 minutes or less. This means that they are very limited in where they can look. Try not to hide things in plant pots, drawers, wardrobes, behind the toilet, or in the underwear drawer as these are obvious places for burglars to look.
• A children’s toy box or beneath a cot is a good idea as most burglars will not think to look here, another alternative might be in a hollowed-out book.
• They do not want to hang around so once a burglar has found what they consider the “best stuff” they will leave. Photocopy old, useless documents and leave some cash near it. The intruder will assume that they have found everything useful and leave while your real documents and valuables will remain safe.

Ask a Friend

• Ask a neighbour or friend to check on your house every day so that if anything untoward did take place the police can be informed immediately.
• It was once commonly believed that one should always leave the curtains closed when they went away. However, having the curtains closed all day and night can actually function as a very noticeable signal to burglars that nobody is currently staying in the house.
• Instead ask a neighbour to simply open the curtains in the morning and close them in the evening.
• If you usually have quite a neat front garden then ask your neighbour / friend to give it a quick mow once a week. An unkempt lawn can also signal that nobody has been at home for a while.
• Another tip is to ask your friend to continue putting rubbish out. Even if there is no rubbish put the wheelie bin out so that it appears as if somebody has been in during the week. Similarly, a dog is thought to put intruders off so a warning sign or simply leaving a doggy toy on the lawn is worthwhile.

Be Private

• You might be excited at the prospect of going away but don’t be tempted to tell everybody you know.
• Social media can compromise your privacy and ultimately your safety if you’re not careful.
• Danniella Westbrook recently complained that she was broken into twice in a short period of time. Interestingly during one of these occasions she allegedly tweeted that she was stuck in traffic on the motorway. This might have been purely coincidental but possibly the intruders followed her on Twitter, recognised that she was away from home, and identified an opportunity.
• If you are going away on holiday try not to constantly post about it. Wait until you have returned home and then post all the pictures and statuses that you want.
• All it takes is for you to be friends with one burglar unknowingly, or for a criminal to know somebody whom you are friends with and they can see all of your information.

Outdoor Security Lights

• One of the most effective ways to deter burglars is through outdoor security lights.
• P-lux lights are built with tri-sensor technology which enables them to sense light, temperature, and movement. This means that if any burglar creeps past them during the night they are instantly drenched in light.
• Putting lights on the floor can help you in the evening to see where you are going. However some people worry that this also guides a potential intruder directly to the front door. Situate some lights higher up, attached to the house itself, so that the intruder is made visible if they go near the door.
• Make sure you have lights near the back door, the patio doors, and any other potential entrance ways so that burglars are made visible from whatever direction they approach your home.
• As well as adding lights, make sure that you trim back bushes before you leave home. An overgrown bushy area is a great hiding place for intruders so be sure to make your garden as neat as possible before you leave.

If you would like to find more information about how you can add outdoor security lights to help protect your garden then please explore our website or call us on 01773 541 003.

What Garden Lights Should I Go For?

When it comes to garden lights there certainly isn't a shortage of choice, which can often make choosing your lighting a difficult decision. The best thing to do is to first decide what purpose you want the lights to achieve, then when you have a selection of the most suitable lighting you can choose what style you prefer!

There are many reasons for wanting to add some lighting to your garden and outdoor areas, a few of these are security, decoration, visibility and of course for partying.

Security

In recent years it has become more and more popular for people to have security lighting in either (or both) their front and rear garden areas, and you will no doubt have noticed a number of houses on your street with lights that turn on as you walk past them in the dark.

This type of lighting is in fact a proven deterrent for burglars and it is clear to see why, no burglar would be able to sneak unnoticed into a house that’s garden is lit up; so it is really no wonder that they have become so popular!

Flood and area lighting can not only detect or deter intruders but it can make you feel safer and it is important that everyone feels safe in their own home.

Decoration

Especially during the summer month’s people want to spend as much time as possible outdoors, with warmer evenings it is nice to be able to spend time eating and drinking in your garden. Decorative lighting will not only make your patio, terrace or lawn look lovely but it will also enable you to spend this time outdoors without being in the dark!

Another form of decorative lighting is landscape lighting, this is a fantastic way of making your garden look stunning and highlighting parts that you want to stand out; it can even make your garden look dramatic, especially if you have a larger garden with lots of plants or trees.

During the festive season lighting is a popular way of turning your outdoor space into a Christmas haven, either with lights on the house itself or in the general garden area.

Visibility

At night it can be tricky to see exactly where paths and driveways go or even where a patio or terrace ends and the grass areas begin. By lighting the edges of these paths, driveways or patios you can improve visibility and make walking around these areas a little easier.

As well as aiding visibility, this kind of lighting can also make the areas look more attractive and give your outdoor areas a certain charm.

  

Party Lighting

Festoon lighting is perfect for when you need your outdoor areas lit up for a party, as well as being practical they also act as decorations!

There are likely to be many times throughout the year when you are going to host a party: New Year, birthdays, anniversaries, Halloween, Bonfire night, Christmas, the list goes on!

Both white lights and coloured lights are a popular choice for outdoor party lighting, and both are sure to get everyone in the party spirit as well as making the area look more attractive and of course enabling people to see!

Once you know what category to choose from you do of course still have plenty to choose from, whether you want modern or classic styles, white or coloured lights; but unfortunately no one can tell you which is best for you, it is all down to personal taste.

For an extensive selection of garden lights, The Garden Lighting Shop is an excellent choice and once you’ve visited the site, if you still can’t decide which are most suitable for your needs don’t hesitate to get in touch and a member of the team would be happy to help and advise you.

The Benefits of Garden Lighting

There are many different reasons for people choosing to get garden lighting installed, which is probably why there is such a huge range of garden lights available nowadays. From flood lights and wall lights to colourful lights and step lights, whatever you need outdoor lighting for there is sure to be something perfectly suited to the job.

Garden lights don’t just look good, they can be beneficial in many ways, and here are a few of those benefits:

• By adding lighting to outdoor areas such as patios and terraces you are creating more living space for your home; if your patio is unlit then you are unlikely to want to spend evenings sat out there. Just imagine the warm summer evenings and nights sat outside enjoying the atmospheric lighting!

• Driveways, pathways and entrances can be difficult to navigate in the dark, by installing lighting along these access areas it increases safety because it makes it easy to see where everything is and where you are going; it also improves the appearance of these areas.

• Security is a big thing for all homeowners, there is a wide variety of outdoor security lighting available which will act as a deterrent to burglars. An example of popular security lights is motion detection, which you will no doubt have seen all over the place.

• One huge benefit of garden lighting is simply the way that it makes your garden and other outdoor areas look. Whether you want to highlight certain architectural features of your house, accent certain areas of the garden that are particularly appealing or just add ambiance to the look of your garden, the perfect lighting is out there for you.

Even if you haven’t thought about installing outdoor lights before, no doubt you are thinking about it now, so if you would like to know more about what is available to you and what would suit your needs best then just get in touch with The Garden Lighting Shop who will be happy to help you find the perfect lighting for your garden!