Sometimes, bad things happen and your house becomes a target for theft. Sometimes, there’s just a family at home that misses you. And still other times, a misbehaving pet is sharpening their claws on the good ottoman.
Stay connected to the most important things in your life with a Piper wireless home security system, available at Best Buy. Triggered by any sound or movement within its line of site, Piper delivers 180º views into any room of your house. Control lighting, receive alerts when windows or doors open and close, and sound the alarm when you detect an intruder – home security efforts beef up no matter where you are with the Piper-synched mobile app.
Until you pick one up, try these six tips:
1. Look like you’re home
Nothing says empty house, like a dark house. Motion sensor lights are a great detractor on the outside, but when you travel, set interior timers to entry lights and lamps visible from the street, activating them around sunset (between 5:30 and 8:30 pm) and shutting down off after 11. You can also set a music system to timers so it not only looks like someone’s home, it sounds like it, too. Parking cars in the driveway and putting a hold on your mail all keep up the illusion that it’s just business as usual around your parts.
2. Hide valuables
Make sure to remove purses, bikes, computers, televisions, or other valuable items from plain view to the outside world. While some of these things might not seem all that valuable to you, an intruder looks at items like these as easy pickings and a quick buck.
3. Lock up
That seems to go without saying, but too many burglaries occur when a door or window is accidentally left unlocked, allowing thieves to slip in and out without calling attention to the break-in. While you’re at it, make sure those doors have deadbolts – spring latch locks are easy to pick and do little to deter any robber with even a shread of home invasion experience.
4. Really hide your spare keys
Under the mat or in the mailbox isn’t going to cut it. That’s where the novice robber starts. There are fake rocks for sale that hold spare keys, which you can then hide in your yard among other real rocks. Or, there are the real rocks, for free, all around. Tape, velco or magnetize your spare key to the underside of a found rock and place it somewhere only you and your family know about.
5. Get a dog
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, once you train them to stop destroying stuff, dogs can actually be pretty effective at protecting stuff. Most burglars want to get in and out of a home with as little complication as possible. Barking dogs are just the sort of complication intruders will typically avoid, moving on to simpler targets.
6. Travel and Facebook don’t mix
Posting vacation photos to social media accounts is a great way to show people how much fun you’re having. Far away from home. Remember, while you and your friends are loving the holiday, the wrong people are using this time to gain a healthy head start to get in and out of your house.