Alarm Systems and Burglary Prevention Tools for the Home
Burglary and robber prevention starts with basic home security methods. Every household needs at least one flashlight. Power outages, storms, and nighttime invaders ranging from raccoons to thieves make it a portable source of light absolutely necessary. You should have a flashlight beside each outside door, in every outbuilding, beside your bed and in every car. You can buy flashlights that do even better than double-duty: a strong beam, a siren and a flashing light and a radio can all be built into a flashlight that runs off of four C batteries.
Your home's exterior doors are all that stand between you and the world. When it comes to home security planning and home protection, making sure your exterior doors are equipped with dead bolts instead of relying on locks installed in the doorknob, or worse yet, the simple, push-and-twist lock. Normally, these types of locks can be found on interior doors, such as bathrooms, but sometimes older houses, houses in the country or in small towns will be equipped with these unsafe locks. A child can defeat interior locks: to a burglar, they are child's play. Landlords have been known to install interior locks on exterior doors to cut costs: if you must, pay your own money to have a dead bolt installed to protect you and your family.
The type of exterior door you have is also a vital factor in keeping your house safe and protecting your family. Exterior doors are solid throughout, either hardwood or steel, and should be at least 1 3/4 inches thick. Interior doors may be lighter and constructed of plywood sheets. Just like locks, doors in rental properties or older homes may not be appropriate for keeping robbers out. Make sure all your exterior doors (including doors to the basement, shed or garage) are solid core and fitted with large (at least 1 inch) dead bolt locks.
Prevent home robbery by being watchful. One of the smartest and simplest things you can do to create a more secure home is to install peepholes on your exterior doors. But in order for peepholes to be effective, they must be used! Don't let embarrassment make you open the door to strangers. If the doorbell rings or someone knock and you can't see anyone in the peephole, do not open the door: robbers may ring the bell and then crouch out of view until the door is answered.
If you have had problems with intruders in the past, you may want to invest in an alarm that attaches to the door and sounds a siren when someone touches the doorknob. Using a simple battery, the alarm is simple and effective: few burglars would ignore a wailing siren! An added benefit: these alarms are available with a feature that lets you sound the alarm from inside the house: the perfect solution for stopping break-ins in any location, as they occur.
Some burglars just turn the knob and walk right in. Others jimmy the lock, and some carry key masters that can open doors just like your house key does. The ultimate, high-tech door security system is an infrared fingerprint activated door lock, which can be programmed with up to 25 users. Often used for businesses, the biometric fingerprint lock is ideal for letting family members get into the home without having to deal with keys: the lock is built into the aluminum and zinc-alloy box that contains the entire unit. Since the original version has been used in industry, it more than exceeds the needs of even large and active families. Best of all, it's easy to install and runs off of five AA batteries.
Window locks are essential to home safety and burglary prevention. As an added security measure, you may decide to purchase window alert systems that sound an alarm if glass is broken or the window is being tampered with. The 95-decibel alarm sends burglars running, waking family members or alerting you to the situation when someone attempts to break in through a basement or garage window.
If a burglar manages to bypass your external security system, internal home security monitoring can still chase him away. Passive infrared sensors designed to detect movement inside the room create barriers that when crossed, activate an alarm. Motion sensors are easily mounted without wiring, and can be set on ceilings, walls, or tables. Sensors will chime when the alarm is turned off, but when the alarm is on and the barrier is breached, the alarm is 80 decibels. Infrared sensors have a 26-foot range and operate using three AAA batteries for greater household security monitoring.
