National Home Security Month 2015

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi everyone

October is National Home Security Month so to help we're hosting a Twitter Q&A with National Home Security Month on its launch day 11am this Thursday (1 October). It will be answering your questions afterwards too. Just post reply below to ask.

We also have Neighbourhood Watch on the Forum answering your questions throughout October over in our Neighbourhood Watch Q&A.


What's it about?

For many of us, our home is our haven so we want to keep it as safe as possible, especially as we enter the winter months. Stats from Aviva show that as the clocks go back (25 October this year), there is a 20% increase in home burglaries, so now is as good a time as any to get prepared.

What to do

Whether you have any burning questions on the best ways to keep your home safe or you just want to know the top tips, tricks and insider hacks ask National Home Security Month in our Twitter Q&A on Thursday, on this thread by clicking reply below or ask Neighbourhood Watch on the link above.

If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply!

Other MSE Help

Don't forget to check out other help for your home on MSE:

Cheap Home Insurance Guide

Home Insurance Best Buys

Insurance Board

Former_MSE_Andrea

Thank you to everyone who's just joined us on our Twitter Q&A.

We have a couple more questions we'll be asking here.

Join in with any more you'd like to ask National Home Security Month or ask Neighbourhood Watch on the link above

Former_MSE_Andrea

What precautions should you take for your home when you go away on holiday? #nhsm15

Former_MSE_Andrea

How can someone improve their security as the nights draw in? #nhsm15

National_Home_Security_Month

What precautions should you take for your home when you go away on holiday? #nhsm15

Don’t leave ‘telltale’ signs of an empty house. Cancel milk deliveries, ask a neighbour to pick up post and check in regularly #nhsm15

National_Home_Security_Month

How can someone improve their security as the nights draw in? #nhsm15

Burglaries go up by up to 20% when the clocks go back. Improve your door’s security, consider a burglar alarm, be safety aware #nhsm15

Former_MSE_Andrea

Who likes the MoneySaving Moggie? :j

Carnival789

I've just purchased a 2nd (holiday) home which will sit unoccupied for several weeks at a time.

Am toying with the idea of setting up remote webcam type things that you can get, preferably one that records footage rather than just letting you watch a live stream. Anyone care to share their own experiences of this kind of device (or any other security tips that you feel may help?)

Thank you in advance!

bella165

Hiya my question is what can i put on the top of a 6ft wooden gate and fence anivandle paint don't work and when i am away i can't see the security lights go on so thats no good (my neighbours are not nice so even if they knew who did it they wouldn't tell!) i am sick of things getting stolen/vandalised i am at my witts end hope you can help .

Tropez

Carnival789 wrote: »

I've just purchased a 2nd (holiday) home which will sit unoccupied for several weeks at a time.

Am toying with the idea of setting up remote webcam type things that you can get, preferably one that records footage rather than just letting you watch a live stream. Anyone care to share their own experiences of this kind of device (or any other security tips that you feel may help?)

Thank you in advance!

I work in security although the home security side of our business isn't my department.

However, I do know that in general we would recommend using a system that only starts recording when there is movement. Most decent systems can be configured to tell the difference between movement from a draft and movement from someone who shouldn't be there. Higher spec systems can even tell the difference between a large dog and a human, but I doubt you'd be leaving animals there unattended!

The reason we'd recommend this type of system is simply on a cost and practicality basis. You can get systems which will send recorded footage to 'cloud' storage but a lot is still done on hard drives (as there needs to be a 'local' copy to upload). The higher the resolution of the recorded image, the more space it'll take on a hard drive, and several days worth of footage will not only take large amounts of storage, it'll be a lot to sift through.

A system that announces it has begun recording (through a text message, email, or phone call) would obviously be the best solution for someone who leaves a property unoccupied as if there were to be a break-in then there is a greater chance the police can attend a crime in progress. There's a few of these units on the market, although I don't wish to start naming any because I wouldn't want to be accused of shilling our own products or services. Places like Maplin, however, would likely be able to point you in the right direction.

Worth noting that you can save some money by operating separate systems rather than going for one all-in-one system. This, however, may require more configuration and be more of a nuisance to set up so you may find the all-in-one system worth it for pure convenience.

Other things we'd recommend for properties often left empty are thorny bushes under windows. If there isn't soil under the windows to plant them, you can put some in a pot and put a few bricks in there to make them more difficult to move. Alarms can be put on windows as well that will sound if shattered and thus act as a deterrent.

You can also purchase devices that can help mimic someone living in a house. Running TVs and radios on random timers, lights on random timers... there's even a few devices that will simulate a TV being watched in a dark room using random LED patterns (useful for upstairs rooms where it is harder for a potential intruder to look through a window). These don't have to be particularly expensive.

There's automated curtain pulley systems to open and close curtains as well - some of these can also be random, but they're generally a bit pricey.

Making friends with locals who are often home is also a very good tip.

LilElvis

"The MoneySaving cat says compare home insurance then get a burglar alarm with your savings!"

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

So MoneySaving cat reckons you can get a burglar alarm for twenty or thirty quid. He must live in an alternate reality .... complete with talking cats, but bearing little relation to the real world. My monitored alarm costs more than that per month.

Can't MSE come up with something better than this tosh?