5 Home Security Tips to Keep Your Home Secure During Holiday Travels
12 13 2022
It’s the most wonderful time of year and also the busiest. With holiday decorating, shopping, parties, and travel plans, it can be easy to put safety on the back burner. While most of us recognize that burglaries and crime still happen during this festive time of year, surely, they don’t occur on Christmas Day, right?
Last year, of the 83,000 burglaries that occurred during the holiday season, 5,000 occurred on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day ( Porch Research). So, if you’re traveling to see family and friends this year, be sure your home and valuables are secure while you’re away. Here are five home security tips that will help.
Photo: Maria Orlova | Pexels
1. Keep Travel Plans Offline
The first rule of holiday travel is don’t advertise your holiday travel. Be sure to keep information about where you’re going, when you’re leaving, and when you’ll be back off social media. It’s prime information that a potential burglar would be looking for, and you never know who could be watching.
2. Notify Your Neighbors
Have a trusted neighbor or friend to check in on your home while you’re out of town for the holidays. Ask them to bring in any mail or packages, move your car if it’s parked outside or park in your driveway occasionally, and shovel any sidewalks or the driveway to give off the illusion that someone is home.
3. Make Your House Look Lived In
Even if a neighbor or a friend can’t stop by your house, you still want to make it look like someone is home. Use technology to your advantage and set your TV, lamps, or outdoor lights on a timer, or use smart lightbulbs to control the lights from anywhere.
In addition, pause any mail and subscription services and consider leaving a dog bowl out in the open or putting up a “Beware of the Dog” sign. Even if you don’t have a dog, the idea of a dog’s presence could be enough to deter an intruder.
4. Hide Valuables and Gifts
You’ll already be hiding gifts from children or loved ones, but make sure they’re hidden from potential thieves, too. If you have a tree with gifts underneath, keep it away from windows or other places burglars could get a view. In addition, hide any other valuables in plain sight like computers, smart devices, or expensive jewelry, as these are 10 percent more likely to be stolen during the holiday season.
5. Utilize a Wireless DIY Home Security System
Wireless, do-it-yourself home security products are an easy and convenient way to help secure your home while you’re away. These security measures offer a wide range of home protection customizable to your home security needs.
Realistic fake security cameras placed around the entry points of your home will help convince a burglar that they’re on camera to help deter them. Versatile door and window alarms are easy to install and sound ear-piercing alarms that can scare off intruders and be heard by your neighbors so they can call for help. Be sure to test the alarm sound before you leave and replace the batteries if needed.
Other wireless home security products like a door stop alarm or door security bar with vibration detecting alarm have ear-piercing alarms and features that prevent doors from opening to help keep intruders out. These options are also portable, so you can take them with you when you travel and feel secure wherever you are.
Check out our ultimate guide to DIY home security for more details about creating your own wireless home security system.
Feature Image: Erik Mclean | Pexels