Pull curtains in the day for security?

ed110220

My other half believes it's necessary to pull the curtains during the day while we are out to prevent people seeing into the house for security reasons. He believes that burglars will see the TV, PC and his Playstation and break in to steal them. We have double glazed windows with locks and a modern front door, the house is open to the street and neighbours at the front and not easily accessible at the back as all the houses in the street though semi-detached are joined together with single-storey outhouses.

I think he's being over paranoid and want to keep the curtains open so the sun can warm the house in the day and the houseplants can benefit from it.

What are other people's opinions?

macman

It can safely be assumed that most houses will have a TV and a PC, so you're not really hiding anything. Most opportunistic burglars are after cash, cards and small valuables. Laptops, not PC's.

Biggles

So, he believes that a potential burglar will think, "Hmm, the curtains are all drawn, so they're obviously out for some time. But they've almost certainly not got a TV, PC or Playstation, so there's clearly no point in breaking in"?

Good luck with that ploy.

Itismehonest

Closed curtains are great for any burglar who makes it inside. They can go about their business completely sure they can't be seen.

phill99

Your husband suffers from really bad paranoia.

Burglars are only intereested in small items they can secrete about themselves. The days when burglars came in a van and took your TV etc are long gone.

The curtains just give them something to hide beghind and they can stay their at length without fear of anyone seeing them.

Your husband has some real issues to deal with

Russe11

some people will steal low value electronic items, but they don't tend to bother if theres any sort of resistance/challenge to get to the items.

ed110220

This is pretty much what I was thinking. We don't have anything especially valuable or attractive to thieves and don't keep large amounts of cash around the house, neither do we have anything likely to be stolen that would be difficult to replace (my grandmother had jewellery and decorative china stolen that she could never replace).

I believe the completely open front garden to the street (same for all the houses in the road, as walls/fences/hedges are not allowed) will deter anyone from trying to break in at the front as they will be in full view.

Edwardia

Difficult one.. if you have curtains, blinds or nets then if a burglar gets in he's hidden from view. On the other hand 99% of people in my road have venetian blinds or bamboo roller blinds so that seems pretty normal and gives you options re daylight/privacy.

If you have dummy/real CCTV up or an alarm maybe someone would think you've got stuff worth stealing.

Provided you've got the type of locks stipulated/recommended by your insurers you'd be covered if you were burgled. Most insurers will give a discount on insurance if you have an alarm. Neighbours get really annoyed at the bell ones which go off at 4am for no reason.

namecheck

Agree with Biggles.
Drawn curtains all day...equals occupants not in (probably).

Hintza

phill99 wrote: »

The curtains just give them something to hide beghind and they can stay their at length without fear of anyone seeing them.

In South Africa folk built higher and higher walls to keep the burglars out, but woe betide you if they got over, no one could see what was going on and they weren't as friendly as burglars over here!

C_Mababejive

He is being extremely paranoid.

The perception of crime in the UK is far lower than the reality and people are just hyped up by the media into thinking we live in a lawless society.