What are the Best Home Security Tips?

The best home security tips are typically those that are easy and fairly affordable, while also providing real benefits and security advantages. Such tips can be as simple as always remembering to lock doors and windows, or as complex as paying for a home security system such as a burglar alarm or similar home monitoring system. There are also a number of steps that can be taken to make a house less attractive to potential thieves and intruders, such as planting thorny bushes and using timers on lights.

One of the best home security tips is to make a home less attractive to burglars than the neighboring homes. If someone is looking through a neighborhood for a home to break into, the least inviting ones will likely be passed up first. This is why deterrence works so well as a method of home security.

Making a home uninviting to a potential burglar is what most home security tips are really all about. For example, always locking windows and doors means that if someone does try to enter a home, then it will require more effort than simply opening a door and walking in. This may seem simple, but it is effective. Other simple home security tips include planting thorny bushes such as rose bushes beneath first floor windows. This makes it so a potential intruder trying to enter through a window will have to climb through painful thorns to do so, which most thieves are disinclined to deal with.

Paying for a home security and monitoring system can certainly improve the safety and security of a house, but it can also be quite expensive. Some people suggest simply displaying stickers or signs indicating a home security system, rather than actually paying for the system. This acts as a deterrent to prevent someone from even testing out whether a house is really being monitored. Owning a dog is also often suggested among home security tips, especially a large dog with a loud bark.

Even a dog that is not especially aggressive can deter someone from entering a home just based on the noise and potential alarm it can raise. Other home security tips include ensuring that a house looks occupied at all times. This often involves having lights on timers to prevent a house from being dark in the evening even when empty, and having a neighbor collect mail or newspapers while occupants are away on vacation. Despite what some home security commercials indicate, most burglars and intruders will not enter a home if it looks occupied, to avoid potential conflict or injury from a protective occupant.