The year 2020 is officially here, and this is the time (if you haven’t already) when you sit down and give some thought to the areas of your life you know you need or want to improve. New Year resolutions often focus on health, wealth or adventure, but they should also include home improvements and safety. After all, nothing is more important than the safety and security of your home.
Before you go breaking your gym membership resolution, ensure that you have set up a plan to stick with these simple safety resolutions. And by committing to these seven home security resolutions, you will find you and your housemates having true significant peace of mind throughout the year 2018, and beyond.
Contents
- 1 Do a walk-through of your home.
- 2 Conduct a smoke/carbon monoxide detector check.
- 3 Secure windows and sliding doors.
- 4 Rearrange your garden and landscape.
- 5 Invest in high-quality home security or upgrade your system.
- 6 Reset your passwords and passcodes.
- 7 Stay up-to-date with technological advancements.
1Do a walk-through of your home.
First things first, you want to do a thorough walk-through of your home.
- Check it for yourself.
Have a look online to see if there are photos of your home displayed. This could be from a previous estate agency listing, or an online mapping service. Check to see if the images are up-to-date, and whether they show any hidden or concealed areas surrounding your home. Take a walk around those areas of your home, and see if they could be better secured, or less obscured.
Funnily enough, the most efficient way to find weak spots in your home’s security
system is to attempt to break into your own house directly!
- Play a (serious) game.
You and your housemates or partner can play a game and get into the mind of a burglar.
This will help you to find easy access points that you can point out to your security technician.
2Conduct a smoke/carbon monoxide detector check.
Unfortunately, there are far too many people around the world who never replace their home smoke detector and carbon monoxide batteries.
- Assign a responsible person.
Ensure that someone in your home is conducting routine check-ups to guarantee that your smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector are working correctly. This is a simple thing that can have major consequences! - Be doubly vigilant during winter.
During the winter months, it is especially essential to check your carbon monoxide detectors, as when you burn your fireplace or gas heaters, there is more carbon monoxide being amplified into your home. - Check detector battery life.
Technically, the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home should last six to seven years. However, you should still make it a priority to check the batteries every year.
3Secure windows and sliding doors.
Obviously, leaving your doors unlocked is the most straightforward way for a burglar to enter your home, but you may not realize that sliding glass doors and windows are also astonishingly susceptible to being broken in to.
- Make it a habit.
As winter begins to fade and the weather starts to warm up, make it one of your 2018 resolutions to get into the habit of locking your windows, and fastening your sliding doors every time you are not around. - Consider an upgrade.
Similarly, the sliding glass doors in your home may have fragile locking mechanisms that can be easily opened with the help of crude burglary tools. This year, look into installing a combination of glass break sensors, door contacts, outdoor surveillance cameras, and motion sensors.
4Rearrange your garden and landscape.
Each and every year, you should attempt to reposition and reshuffle your garden and landscape. Depending on the type of home you live in, whether it is a large backyard or a small patch of grass at the front door, rearranging your landscape is incredibly beneficial for your security.
- Secure outdoor living areas.
It may come as a surprise but would-be burglars frequently watch closely and chronicle the layout of your garden. They do this for them to properly plan their break-in and escape routes, as well as check which part of your garden foliage will keep their activity out of view. - Pay attention to your home landscaping beyond simple aesthetics.
All it takes is a small transformation in the flower beds or new furniture or little ornaments in the garden to keep things fresh in and around your property, and to discourage would-be break-ins as well.
5Invest in high-quality home security or upgrade your system.
Did you know that 80 percent of burglars avoid homes purely because they notice the presence of a security system? Here is how to stop burglars from targeting your home.
- Install a home security system that monitors your home 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
This is the best way to hinder a possible intrusion into your home. However, your home security system should also safeguard you and your housemates from additional adverse events. - This year, invest in a high-quality, smart home security system.
Choose one that automatically contacts the authorities in case there is an emergency such as a fire or a carbon monoxide leak. Even if you have an existing system installed in your home, this year consider it your must-have option to upgrade. - Get expert help.
If you are curious about upgrading your existing system and potentially installing a hidden security camera system, then make sure to reach out to your local security experts to find out if they can repurpose what you have into a newly updated system.
6Reset your passwords and passcodes.
Make it a tradition to reset all passwords at the start of the year.
- Make the reset across all platforms and devices.
Valid for all of your passwords — whether for your online banking or your mobile phone, or for your home security system — each year (or even every six months), you should consider resetting them. You want to ensure that your codes are always fresh and new and unable to be guessed or known by potential burglars.
7Stay up-to-date with technological advancements.
Your family’s number one safety priority should be to have your home as comprehensively protected as possible. For this reason, consider talking to your security professionals about wireless security systems.
- Take advantage of new technology.
Invest in a solution that enables the integration of doorbell cameras, smart home locks, intelligent thermostats, light automation, indoor nanny cameras and more into one smart home system.
By connecting your security system with these features, it suddenly becomes so much more than just an alarm. Many systems also give you the option to control your home by using your smartphone.
While they may seem small, these resolutions can have a substantial effect on securing your home, giving you a fresh start to the new year. So, what resolutions are you vowing to keep for the safety of your home?
