One of the most important factors to consider when moving into a new house is security. It is a major part of what makes a house feel like home. After all, home is where you must feel safe and secure. Not just you, but your loved ones and your belongings as well.
You’ll find that regardless of where you live or what kind of house you live in; security is always going to be a concern.
You can never be too careful. Fortunately, there happen to be plenty of ways in which you can enhance the security of your house, especially with technology becoming ever so efficient at protecting us. So read on and find out some of these ways and work on making your home a happier place!
Image via Serge Kutuzov@serge_k
Featured Image via Nathaniel dahan@nathdah
Home Security Tips and Tricks
Install Security Cameras
The most obvious, but effective way of improving security in your home is to install security cameras. Security cameras ensure that you can monitor and review all ongoing activity in your house.
It’s not just about finding out who broke in or who stole what. Monitoring security camera footage in your house could also help you prevent any such mishaps by keeping track of all the activity people are indulging in your home when you are at work or on an outing.
Like maids, delivery people, or whoever visits your house for short durations.
Install a Burglar Alarm
This is something most people living in areas prone to burglary and theft do to protect their belongings. If a burglar sets off the alarm, it sets off a chain of events that immediately land the thief in hot water with not just people in your house but your neighborhood as well, slimming their chances of escape or managing to even steal anything.
It alerts a lot of people of suspicious activity in a nearby house and eventually, the law enforcement authorities as well.
Image via John Cafazza@john_cafazza
Install a Fire Alarm
Burglary and theft aren’t the only things that pose a security threat to your home. There’s no saying what could cause a fire in your house and a fire can be very destructive indeed. There are plenty of competent fire alarms and smoke detectors out there to help with this and having one of these in your house is a great advantage.
It helps you identify the source of the fire before it turns into a major problem giving you a window of time to prevent a catastrophe.
Keep a dog
This is an unorthodox but great way to curb any potential security threat in your house. Dogs aren’t just cute, loyal companions but also extremely alert and sensitive to any potential threat or danger. They tend to have the ability to sense something wrong, be it an environmental or accidental calamity or the presence of someone suspicious and shady.
The presence of a dog will also intimidate people who have any shady intentions with your house and make them that much more cautious of messing with you.
Keep your precious belongings in a safe
While we don’t want any of our stuff stolen, there are some things that we value and cherish more than others. A Television set or a music system will never be as valuable as the papers to your home ownership or your insurance policies, jewelry, and such. For these items, it helps to have a safe in the house.
Plenty of safes boast of the latest security technology and are extremely hard for your common thief to break into. They also ensure a sense of privacy in case there are things you do not want everyone to know about.
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Make sure there’s a peephole in your main door
Peepholes are useful in identifying who’s at the door. Security isn’t all about technology and there’s nothing better to prove that than the efficiency of a decent peephole. You can have a security camera at the door and an advanced security system but there’s no denying the fact that these could be subject to tampering or malfunction.
So, it’s always better to have a peephole in your main door. All you need to do is slide it up and look through it. These are also more useful when you leave your kids’ home and don’t want them to mess with your security systems or computers but also need them to be safe.
Biometric Door Systems
While these are more commonly found in workplaces and corporate offices, there’s no harm in having one of these systems installed in your house. They’re also fairly convenient. People who live in your house can unlock the door and walk in just by using the fingerprint sensor and at the same time, it will keep unidentified visitors outside the house.
Image via Jonathon Young@jyoung
Warning Signs on the Gate
Well, there’s no guarantee these will be effective but intimidation works in more ways than one. You can put up warning signs on your gate, indicating the presence of surveillance cameras or a guard dog which is more likely to keep unwanted visitors at bay or at the very least, scared of making a mistake in their sneaky endeavor.
Hire a professional and trained security guard
If you can afford it, there’s no harm in hiring a security guard. The only catch is that you need to make sure they’re reliable. If you do a proper background check or approach a reliable security firm, you can definitely count on the safety of your house and its inhabitants.
This is especially helpful if you tend to go out on long outings, business trips, or vacations with your family.
Have multiple locking systems installed on your main door
It is quite the norm in most households to have multiple locking systems installed on the main door. However, with all these newfound electronic and biometric locking systems now available in the market, you could always have one electronic and one manual locking system on your main door.
You can, of course, decide when to use the manual locking system in case it is a hindrance to your convenience so there’s no harm.
Have an Intercom System installed in your house
You could have an intercom system installed in your house. These are not just for better communication with those in other rooms but also to verify the identity of people in your house, or in the event of a break-in or a fire or any other incident that bears a threat, you could communicate with other inhabitants of your house about such things more efficiently and ensure everyone is safe.
Window locks
Keep your windows safe. There will always be more than one way to enter a house. The windows need to be just as secure as doors; for that, there are all sorts of window locks available on the market. All you need to do is protect each of your house’s windows with a decent locking system so that they can’t be broken into.
Image via Piotr Chrobot@chrumo
Always keep a fire extinguisher handy
Make sure that a sealed fire extinguisher is always available at the ready in case of any emergency. You shouldn’t have to be left wondering what to do in case a fire breaks out and there will always be some time before the fire brigade arrives so having an extinguisher available is always helpful.
At the end of the day, you can never be too careful and there are always a lot of ways in which you can keep your house secure. Whatever works for you is the best. Make sure that you’re comfortable with the security system in your house so that it does not work against you.
Always remember that the safety of your life and the lives of your loved ones comes before the safety of your belongings. You can always come back to this guide in case you have any doubts and you can always contact a professional in the field to get a personalized opinion for their home,
