Improve your Interior Lighting for Better Security

If you leave your house unlit, you are asking for it to be burgled. An unlit house lets a would-be criminal that no one is home and he will be able to break in, take what he wants and get out without being detected. Even if you have a home security system installed, you could still be a target if you don’t take the proper steps to make your house look less attractive to burglars. Here are some basic interior lighting tips that can improve your security.

First, make sure you have a light in your main living room that is programmed to turn on as soon as it gets dark and turn off when you go to bed. This will provide a sense of occupancy, even if you are not home. You should also have an exterior light that turns on at dusk so that you and your family members will always come home to a well-lit house.

Next, when you go on vacation, you need to ensure that you don’t simply have a light that comes on at the same time every day. This will not be enough to fool an experienced burglar. There are multi-day timers that allow you to program lights to come on at different times every evening. You can also find timers that will turn your lights on randomly, which is even better. This will not allow a burglar to plan a break in based on routines.

Finally, turn on your lights and go out to the street to see what kind of effect your lights are creating. You want your house to look like it is occupied, but even certain lighting patterns can emphasize the emptiness of a room if you aren’t careful. Assess your home as if you were looking for a place to break in. Thinking like a burglar will allow you to identify your home’s vulnerabilities.

As you can see, timers are going to be an essential component to any Worcester home security system. There are several kinds of timers available, including standard plug-in timers, heavy duty timers and wall switch timers. Plug-in timers are cheap, but they only let you program one or two settings each day. Since they are simple to use, they are perfect for bedroom lamps. Heavy duty timers will provide you with more options and controls. Certain models can provide random setting and have a battery backup in case your electricity shuts off. Wall switch timers can control both exterior and interior lights at the same time. These are perfect for a full-house lighting program.

About the Author –
John is a shrewd consumer who writes about personal finance, home technology and home security topics like:  Riverside home security systems.