7 Tips to Protect Your Home While You’re Away

As you may have already seen in one of our previous blogs, Connecticut is one of the lowest states for burglaries in the country, with an average of 332 burglaries per 100,000 people. Comparatively speaking, that’s a pretty good number, but 332 burglaries per 100,000 people, that’s still pretty high! For a town like Fairfield, CT, with close to 115,000 people, that’s pretty much a burglary a day!

That being said, let’s be sure to take the necessary steps to give you peace of mind while you’re away.

Ways to Protect Your Home While You’re Away/On Vacation

 

1. Make it seem like somebody is home

 

 

If your family is going away on a holiday, you should make it look like as if you are at home. Here are some ways you can do that:

• Set timers on lights, televisions, and radios so they turn on specific times during the day
• Ensure someone cuts your grass
• Park your car or another person’s car in the driveway
• Position the curtains and window blinds as you normally would if you were home
• Either put a hold on receiving mail or ask your neighbor to collect it while you are away
• Inform your newspaper service that you will be away so they do not deliver newspaper to your home

You should lock your entire house. Do not leave a single door or window unlocked. You should also block mail slots, pet doors, and any other openings. Thieves can gain access to your house by putting a tool through these openings and unlocking your house from the inside. Since most garage doors are automatic, you should disconnect the electronic opener and put a padlock on the garage door in its place.

 

3. Never Share Where You Are on Social Media

 

 

Even though you would love nothing more than share pictures and videos of your vacation with your friends and family on your social media accounts, you should refrain from doing so. You never know who is watching you.

Apart from close friends and family, we have so many more people that we add regardless of how well we know them. You never know when someone on your friends’ list can get the idea of breaking into your home to steal your personal belongings and valuables.

Other precautions to take include turning off the geotagging features on your smartphone and all digital devices. You can also create a customized list where only selected people on your social media accounts to get to see the pictures and videos you upload.

 

4. Unplug all appliances

 

Any appliance that you will not use in your ruse to fool the thieves into thinking you are at home need to be turned off. In the event a power surge or an electrical fire occurs, your entire home can burn down. You do not want to come back from your vacation to a burned down house. Unplug appliances such as coffee maker, toaster, washing machine, among others.

 

5. Do Not Leave the Spare Key Out

 

If you’re leaving for a holiday, you should take the spare key with you or leave it with a family member or friend. When you return from vacation or work travel, you can hide the spare key again. You should also make a habit of changing the location of the spare key from time to time.

 

6. Hire Someone to Mow Your Lawn and Shovel Your Driveway

 

If you are going away for a few weeks, you should hire someone who can mow your lawn and shovel your driveway each week. Thieves will immediately know that you are not home if they see an unmaintained lawn and driveaway.

For instance, if it snows while you are away or a storm knocks down branches and leaves on your lawn, your home will be the only one on the block that still has not cleaned up the mess.

 

7. Install a High-tech Home Security System

 

You should think of installing a home security system and window/door sensors.

If someone tries to enter your home, the security alarm will go off and alert the security company, which will then call the police to go to the house. You should also warn thieves that you have installed a security system by putting a sign, telling them on the front lawn. In doing so, they will think twice about robbing your home while you are away.

3 Types of Home Security You Should Consider Buying

 

There are plenty of home security options to choose from to protect your home while you out of the city, state, or country. These devices can also reduce your home insurance rates. For more information about this check out our latest blog: 3 Smart Devices That Will Save You Money On Your Home Insurance

Here are some other options to choose from:

 

1. Simplisafe

 

 

The SimpliSafe is a basic alarm system that meets most needs of detecting a break-in and automatically contacting law enforcement. Its best feature is the low cost of entry and reasonable monitoring costs with no contract. As technology changes, you can upgrade or switch systems as needed. You can also supplement SimpliSafe with smart home tech like Internet-connected cameras, light bulbs, and more.

For a fairly in-depth review of the SimpliSafe check out ASecureLife.com’s review

 

2. Piper

 

If you want to protect a certain area of your home while you are gone, you can install Piper. Piper will:

• Send alerts to your smartphone
• Detects motion and sound
• Sounds an alarm when someone tries to enter your home
• Two-way audio
• 180 degree viewing angle

 

3. Maximum Smart Security Light

 

 

Maximus Smart Security Light illuminates certain areas of your house such as your front door. It is more powerful than your common outdoor lighting. Maximum Smart Security Light will:

• Has a Wi-Fai camera
• Send alerts in real time to your smartphone
• Detects movement
• Allows you to see and speak with the person
• Sounds an alarm

If you search the market for high-tech security gadgets to add to your home, you will come across many. You can choose one that best suits your needs.

Before you leave, you should inform your insurance company. You can discuss the terms of your policy with them. They will provide coverage to your home for a certain length of time you are away.

These are just a few examples of smart home devices that can save you money on home insurance. If you have a smart home device but it was not listed here give us a call (203) 481-8898 and we will work with your insurance provider to see if you are qualified for a discount. It is also important to note that traditional devices such as smoke detectors, fire alarms, and extinguishers are also considered when evaluating if you are qualified for a discount.

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