At Northeast Security Solutions, we’ve seen how every season brings its own unique security concerns. For example, our Keys to Winter Security included holiday and travel-related security tips. In this post, we share some important tips for adding spring security to your property. We’ll start with a look at including security maintenance in your spring cleaning routine. From there, we’ll also look at how maintaining your security equipment’s clocks can improve seasonal security. Additionally, we will explain how the spring thaw can affect your mechanical security.
On the note of weather-related security tips, we’ll look at adding alarm-related environmental sensors. This valuable type of security device can save you a good deal of money and headache in the case of testy spring weather. Furthermore, these sensors often come with additional surprising monetary benefits. Finally, we will look at how to prepare for extendes absences from home. Warmer weather means more travel, which brings about its own security threats. Therefore, this subject deserves special consideration during this time of year. Now, let’s get started with a look at seasonal security testing!
Testing your security equipment should be part of every year’s spring cleaning routine.
Finish Your Spring Cleaning by Testing Your Security Equipment
Spring brings about the chance to give your entire property a fresh start with spring cleaning and updating. We also encourage our customers to use the coming of spring as a reminder to check and test security equipment. In particular, you should test smoke and life safety devices at least annually. You can use the “test” button to check on your alarms’ sounders. Additionally, you can use canned smoke and carbon monoxide to test these device’s ability to detect fire and CO-related emergencies.
Additionally, we recommend that you put your security system through testing as well. Simply call your alarm company and tell them you wish to test the alarm. Then, arm your security system and activate each of your alarm’s sensors. This activation should set your alarm’s siren off. Furthermore, it should also send a signal to your central station if you have a monitored alarm system. Your security company can see these alarms come through on their end to make sure this happens. For this reason, we stay on the phone with customers during testing. At the end of a successful test, you will have assurance that your alarm contacts and communication to your central station are ready in case of an emergency. Next, let’s look at how the changing of the clock can affect security.
Make Sure Springing Forward Doesn’t Throw Your Security Off
We help many of our customers create time-specific security commands. For example, many business owners have us program their alarm systems to arm automatically at closing time. This means that if the alarm’s clock hasn’t been changed to reflect daylight saving time, the security sytem will be armed an hour late. In this manner, failing to program the proper time in an alarm system can actually compromise security.
Other types of security equipment rely on time-specific commands as well. In particular, access control software leans on time-related commands. For starters, these systems keep your doors locked when desired, while leaving them open to the public when you do not need them locked. This allows customers in and out of stores during business hours. Of course, once regular hours end, you would need a credential to access the property. If an access control customer fails to have their time changed in the spring and fall, the “open access” periods will not align correctly. Therefore, alarm and access control customers should plan ahead to make the proper changes. Let’s now focus on how changes in weather affect your property’s physical hardware
Inspecting your door and window’s locks after winter’s end will help ensure that your entrance hardware doesn’t fail you when you need it most.
Inspect Door and Window Hardware
Changes in weather can do a number on your door and window security. Moreover, harsh winter weather in and of itself can also harm your doors and windows and negatively affect security. Of course, our part of the country sees both of these factors every year. For starters, wooden doors and windows expand and contract during warm and cold weather, respectively. With doors in particular, this can change the way that locks fit into a home’s frames. If doors move further away from their frames, then locking hardware does not strike as far into the frame as it should. This makes your locks far less effective.
Furthermore, moisture from bad weather itself can seep into doors and windows and make them weaker. Occasionally, this leads to rusted locks and weathered hardware. Moreover, it can also lead to weakened doors, windows, and frames over the course of several years. We recommend that you take this time to give your doors and windows a springtime inspection. Additionally, call us if you find anything you may believe could lead to security issues down the road! Now, we’ll show you another weather-related spring security tip.
Install Security to Prepare for Weather-Related Issues
In addition to monitoring your home for burglary and fire-related emergencies, we offer sensors that create alerts for environmental disasters that have the potential to cause major damage to any home. For example, our “hi-lo temperature” detectors can create an alert if your home experiences dangerously hot or cold conditions. This can help alert you to frozen pipes or HVAC equipment failures. Additionally, we offer flood sensors that can detect the presence of water wherever we install them. Environmental sensors can help you detect and address these issues before they create a mess that takes a significant amount of time and money to repair.
Moreover, adding environmental sensors can provide more than just security. In our post sharing Smart Security Tips to Save You Money, we pointed out that installing environmental security occasionally earns customers an insurance discount. After all, insurance companies reward their customers for lowering their risks. Adding these sensors certainly provides this service. The combination of lowered insurance payments and additional spring security make installing these sensors a no-brainer in many customers’ minds. Last but not least, let’s see one more seasonal security concern brought on by the coming of spring.
Create a Security Plan for Extended Absences
Why does warmer weather often lead to more burglaries? Simply put, burglars prefer breaking into empty houses over occupied properties whenever possible. The better the weather, the higher the chance that families are either out and about at the local park or swimming pool, or on vacation and gone for a long period of time. Therefore, we recommend taking steps to make sure your home stays secure during these absences.
Creating a security plan for extended absences and vacations can make your home more secure even while you are away.
A little bit of preparation can go a long way in this regard. For example, we recommend having your mail held during any trips. This helps make it far less obvious that your home has nobody there to gather it. Furthermore, having a neighbor park a car in your driveway and even check in on the house can make it less obvious that you are away. Finally, installing home surveillance can provide tremendous security and peace of mind this spring and summer. Cameras can provide a live look-in on your home at all times. Furthermore, they will also record video in case something does go wrong while you are away. Finally, cameras act as a deterrent at all times. Thieves spotting cameras will often choose another house to victimize in fear of getting caught.
Putting Our Spring Security Tips to Good Use
We hope that the tips in this post help you improve your own spring security. Moreover, we encourage you to contact us with any questions you may have. We work with customers all year long to address specific security concerns. Additionally, we offer free site surveys to both existing and new customers alike. Maybe you have some security in place but need a seasonal “tune up” with the return of warmer weather. Or perhaps you’re finding your property lacking in the security department and want to create a complete security plan. Either way, we have plenty of experience working with customers in all phases of the security process. Together, we can create a plan to keep you, your property, and your most valuable possessions as safe and secure as possible.
All photos used under the Creative Commons CC0 Public Domain License.