Hardware First

We keep getting questions about motion detection and proximity lights and whether they work or not. The answer;

Yes. Sort of.

Personally I’m of the belief that security lights are only half as effective as they used to be. Most burglars approach your home expecting that you have them anyways. This allows them to show a total lack of alarm or worry as they approach your door knowing you aren’t home.

The main function for these lights now is to give any onlookers a good view of what the person tripping the lights is doing. Since most burglaries happen with the thief coming right in through the front door, they can be beneficial if someone happens to be watching. Of course, it goes from useful to useless if you have a recessed doorway or a garage that juts out beyond your front door.

These types of builds block your main entry from view even when the lights are on, and don’t think thieves don’t know it.

Even now most home owners underestimate your common, petty thief.  While some of them are bumbling half-wits who simply cannot make a living any other way, many of them are fully functional members of society who simply have decided to apply their brains to take your stuff, instead of acquiring things of their own.

Honestly, if many of these guys/girls put the time and energy into being honest as they do dishonest, they would be outstanding in any field they chose. We need to treat them appropriately.

So, in answer, motion detection lights are a nice feature for when you are home, or need your lights on when you’re outside at night. But as a security feature? Not much help anymore.

You know what does help? Forcing a criminal to take more than 30 seconds to get in your house.

As mentioned earlier, most burglars will target your front door. It is the easiest and fastest access point to your home. In alot of cases, people still leave spare keys hidden around the front door.

BTW… stop doing that. Spare keys at your front door is basically making your the easiest target in the neighbourhood. If you only do one thing to increase you home security, make it that you never hide a key outside the house. There was a time I thought people only did this in the movies. Nope. It’s a real thing.

STOP THAT.

Anyways. Back to it. Your front door.

Popping open a front door is quick and easy. Crowbar > wooden frame and entry knob. Easily. In order to make sure you are as secure as possible, putting in a metal frame with a metal door and a deadbolt (grade 1,  2, or 3) will go a long way to making sure your front door is capable of standing up to more than a minute of punishment.

And not just your front door; also any door leading inside. In fact, the less you use it the more it should be secured.

After all, just because you don’t use the door doesn’t mean a thief won’t try it. Why make their lives any easier?

And windows. Oh. Windows.

Rarely if ever do thieves break into homes through closed windows. It happens, but it’s an exception rather than the rule. There are a few reasons for this;

  1. Breaking glass is loud
  2. Broken glass is sharp

Among other things, these two reasons generally leave you windows safe from harm. But only if they are closed.

Open windows are another story. Open windows don’t make a sound. They allow fast access. And a fast exit can be made through the front door. This is a bigger issue in the summer time, but believe me… there are alot of reasons to close your windows before you leave home that do not involve your air conditioning.

Hey. Even if you are leaving the main floor, it’s good practice to not leave your windows open.  Some of the scarier scenarios we’ve seen involved someone being upstairs while the home was being robbed. And the person never saw the criminal.

We’re not going to get into electronic solutions here. That’s not what this post is for. In fact, I’m going to advise that before you start adding cameras or alarms to your house you evaluate the state of your doors and windows. You can add any level of high security you want. If your perimeter is any easy target, they will still see you as an easy mark.

If you want, we’ll be happy to come out and give you an idea of the best ways to upgrade both your locking hardware and, if you choose, get a level of electronic security as well. We generally call it a quote, but really any of our sales reps is fully qualified to advise on ways to make sure you are as secure as you can be.

Whether you buy from us or not, it’s a phone call worth making.

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