Protecting home from intruders - recommendations

Murmansk

Outside lights which come on once it gets dark are supposed to be better in that they are more off-putting to criminals. Cheaper to run now we have LED bulbs that don't use much power.

Get someone who lives nearby to park their car on the drive if there is a drive.

SallyUK

We had our car in the drive and the other outside our house. We were burgled on Friday night. They took both our cars and phones, cash, purses, wallets.

PasturesNew

I used to work away in the week, I had a radio on a timer by the back door during the daytime and voiles at the windows with lights on timers to come on - with voiles you can't tell from the outside if curtains are open/closed.

I didn't get burgled... but I did come home one Friday evening to find the back door wasn't even locked as dad had let himself in during the week at some point (but denied it, but mum took me to one side and said "he did come over").

PhilE

Timer switches, front security light. Maybe rear also.

Alarm system, make sure that you have a box front and back showing that you have an alarm system. Its up to you if you want it monitored or not.

CCTV is relatively cheap nowadays.

kizkiz

These days most burglaries happen during the day, as a simple door knock lets them know if someone is in, and most people work. Looks far less suspicious than hanging around at night, and neighbours probably all at work too.
Most burglaries, if targeted, are for Asian gold or expensive cars.
Your local crack head will look for an easy in, such as open points of access, insecure doors etc.
Not having an expensive high performance car on the drive will stop a large percentage, as it's easier to break into a home for the car keys than steal the car.
Don't leave keys where they can be fished through a letterbox.
Double lock doors, especially upvc doors. Opportunistic thieves will try the handle and be in within seconds if that handle goes down!
Close Windows
If you do have valuable jewellery, keep them at a bank, or in a proper floor mounted hidden safe. 60k of wedding gold under the bed is not a good idea!
Decent locking door and Windows that you actually use will stop most
I've never seen a burglar hang around when an alarm goes off. They don't know if it's linked to police or not, but I have seen many premises with dummy boxes burgled. Thieves know many are dummies. If it doesn't go off, they just crack on.
CCTV is useless, as it doesn't stop anyone, and they just put hoods up. You have to see a face for it to be any good. They will smash lights or move them away if reachable too.

Plantation7

I went a step further by having a retractable grille installed on the patio doors, Alarms just tell you they have broke-in, i wanted to make sure they failed to get in at all and it worked, my patio window was smashed one night when i got back from work but after noticing the grille, they had fled.