holiday security The holiday season is upon us. Malls have begun to put up their holiday decorations, houses are starting to become lit up during the evening and their have even been a few flurries in the skies the past week. The holidays present one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Many of us visit relatives over the holidays, while others take vacations to warmer, more tropical climates. No matter what your travel destination, if you are leaving your home this holiday season, you have to keep holiday security in mind. Here are a few necessary steps you can take to protect your residence while you are away.

Install and Arm a Home Holiday Security System

This is obviously the best holiday security tip for your home. A simple security system consisting of window and door sensors can protect all of your home’s entry points. Furthermore a home alarm system can be monitored by a security company’s central monitoring station. These monitoring stations are alerted if your alarm is triggered and will dispatch the authorities in the event of a security breach. A monitored home alarm system serves as a virtual security guard while you are away.

Mail and Newspapers

One of the tell tale signs that burglars look for to determine if a home’s owners are away is the build up of mail or newspapers outside of the home. If you are going away this holiday season it is important that you ask a friend or neighbour to pick up your mail and newspaper daily. This will create the illusion that someone is home.

House Light Timers

Another excellent tip to keep your home safe and secure is to set your house lights to timers. House light timers can be picked up at any hardware store and can easily be plugged in with your lights. Timers allow you to control when your lights go on and off while you are away. Some more advanced systems can even be controlled remotely from your smart phone. Regardless of the system you purchase it is important to not just set the lights inside to timers but also any exterior lights. Exterior lights prevent intruders from getting close enough to your residence to determine if anyone is home.

Mobile Security Guard Patrols

holiday securityA final suggestion you can implement to improve your home holiday security is hiring mobile security guards to patrol by your home every night. If you are going away you can contact a security company to hire a guard to stop by and do an exterior inspection of your home once or twice every night while you are away. These security guards are good about making their checks unpredictable, so if a criminal is staking out your home the security checks by the mobile guards will act as a deterrent. Many neighbourhood associations hire mobile security patrols so before you hire one make sure to check if you can opt in to an already established service. When you go away for the holiday season you leave your home susceptible to theft, break-ins and damage. In order to avoid these unpleasant outcomes it is important to take some of these suggested steps. For more information on how to protect your home call SafeTech Alarms today.