Amongst the excitement of heading off for a weekend away, there is often a slightly uneasy feeling about leaving your home unattended and unguarded for any period of time.

The national burglary statistics don’t make reassuring reading and if you are looking for greater peace of find by leaving your home knowing that you have taken steps to protect it, the obvious answer would be to install a security system.

Home Security Tips

Here are some tips on how to protect your home from burglars while you are away, including a look at the benefits of installing a security system, plus other measures to help ensure you return to find your home in the same state that you left it in.

Get some tips from a professional

You can’t exactly ask a burglar to take a walk around your property with you and point out the obvious vulnerabilities that they would exploit but you could enlist the services of someone who knows what to look for and how to catch those criminals.

Your local police department is often willing to send a trained officer to your home in order to give you some valuable pointers on how to protect your property.

Their impartiality will probably mean they won’t specifically suggest a suitable manufacturer if you need help deciding on a security system but their input could be useful in giving you an idea of the sort of features that would be appropriate to your property.

Lighting is a good line of defense

The police see enough crime scenes to also know what sort of simple but effective preventative measures you can take to deter burglars, and it is likely that they would also tell you that a well-lit home is a good way to dissuade an intruder from targeting your property.

There are plenty of lighting options available these days so you could install a system that comes on at irregular intervals to give the impression that you are at home. Just having motion sensor lighting is perfectly acceptable as a burglar doesn’t want to find they are bathed in light when they are trying to break in undetected.

Good locks make a difference

Thieves will also be on the lookout for weak spots in your security and they can often spot a vulnerable or window in an instant.

All of your entry points should be as secure as possible and your doors should be as good a quality as you can afford and protected by deadbolt locks.

Windows should be protected by locks too, and if you have any windows or doors that are obscured from general view, such as down in the basement, it would be a good idea to consider fitting some bars as an extra barrier of protection, especially if an intruder can’t be seen when they are attempting to break in.

Garage doors are a target

A burglar will often target a garage door as a vulnerable entry point to your home, so make sure that you secure the door properly when you leave the property for any period of time.

You might also want to beef up the security features of your garage door so that a burglar doesn’t get an easy route into your home.

If you follow some of these security tips you should make your home less burglar-friendly and that will hopefully mean you can spend more time enjoying your weekend away rather than worrying about what is happening at home.