If you’ve read our blog posts in the past, you know that we provide unique tips for different seasons and situations. We do not take a “one size fits all” approach to security. Instead, we work with our customers to make sure they stay as safe as possible throughout the year. Winter brings perhaps the most unique set of seasonal security challenges. In this post, we provide you with tips to add as much winter security as possible this year!
We will begin with some holiday-related security tips. Since the holidays in particular bring several concerns of their own, this topic deserves its own section. From there, we’ll look at some weather-related security tips. Winter weather can hurt your security if you do not plan for it in advance. We will also look at the effects of winter weather on your locking hardware. Unfortunately, many homeowners allow their locks to deteriorate over the winter until small issues turn into major problems. Finally, we will examine how smart home technology can increase your security this winter. Now, let’s get started with our focus on holiday security.
While merry and bright, the holiday season also brings security threats that you should address with a little proactive planning.
Holiday Security Tips
The holidays introduce several security threats every year. However, creating a plan to address these issues in advance can go a long way towards increasing winter security. In this section, we aim to help you recognize and address these security threats. We will start this discussion with a look at securing your main entryways from those looking to take your holiday gifts as they get shipped to your home. Then, we will look at hiding evidence of these gifts. Finally, we will help you stay safe during your holiday travels. Now, let’s get started with a look at stopping “porch pirates” this holiday season.
Stop Porch Pirates in Their Tracks
When it comes to security, a picture truly is worth a thousand words. Of course, alarm systems and good locks help secure you from break-ins. However, these measures do not address exterior home security. For this reason, many of our customers install security cameras on their home. If someone grabs a package from your porch, cameras will allow you to see what happened, and when.
Furthermore, we also install video doorbells. Our video doorbells, powered by Alarm.com, come with unique security features. For starters, these doorbells can send you instant alerts upon detecting motion. This means that you can watch, and potentially stop, crime in real time. Upon receiving an alert, you can talk to your visitor through the doorbell using your smartphone! This allows you to address anyone thinking about taking your deliveries. It also lets you to give instructions to anyone delivering packages. Finally, the video doorbell also saves these clips for future viewing. Adding cameras to act as your “eyes” during the holidays adds a great amount of winter security. Next, let’s look at how to keep your gift giving and receiving on the “down low” this year.
Do Not Advertise the Gifts that You Give and Receive
People love window shopping during the holidays. Looking at store decorations and impressive-looking gifts on display provides holiday cheer to many every year. Moreover, burglars like to “window shop” as well! However, they have a slightly different take on the practice. Thieves like to search for evidence of electronics and other valuables outside of homes when picking their next victim. Therefore, we encourage you to hide any evidence of the gifts that fill your home this year. Put boxes away in the house rather than on the curb until the day they get picked up. Finding ways to hide packages as they come in, such as asking neighbors to hold them for you during absences from the home, can go a long way too. The less burglars know about your new items, the better! Let’s take a look at one more holiday-related tip to add winter security!
Follow Our Steps to Safe Holiday Travel
A few weeks back, we created a guide sharing Holiday Travel Security Tips. In this guide, we focused on a few different approaches to keeping your home safe when you travel. These include tips on social media safety. Additionally, we also shared how you can ask your neighbors to help you with security during extended absences. Furthermore, we also touched on some mail-related safety tips. The sight of mail piling up often alerts burglars to an empty home. Taking steps to lessen this danger — especially during the holidays — goes a long way towards adding winter security. We encourage you to read up on those tips if you plan on traveling over the next month! Now, let’s look at how you can create a plan for dealing with weather-related emergencies this winter.
Winter weather brings with it the threat of weather-related damage to your home.
Install Security Equipment that Detects Weather-Related Emergencies
Most homeowners understand how installing an alarm can help detect potential break-ins. However, we often surprise our customers with the devices we can install to provide additional security. In particular, our environmental sensors can add tremendous value to your security system. These sensors can detect and alert you to weather-related events before they turn into a disaster. We can install devices to detect extreme temperatures, both on the hot and cold end of the spectrum.
Additionally, we offer sensors that detect the presence of water. These sensors can help you examine a potential flood and address the issue before it turns into an expensive and major headache. Since winter weather often brings these events about, this marks a great time to look into adding them to your alarm system! Let’s move on with a look at how winter weather can affect your lock security.
Check and Double-Check Your Locks
In areas of the country like our own, the changes in season bring about tremendous temperature swings. In turn, the change of temperature causes wooden doors and door frames to expand and contract. Over time, these changes can affect the way your lock hardware interacts with your door and door frame. Specifically, winter weather causes doors and frames to contract. This can make the wood close in around your locks more than usual. In turn, this can result in poor-fitting locks that “fight” you when you lock and unlock your doors.
If you feel this start to happen over the winter, we encourage you to reach out to us. Poorly-working locks represent a major security concern. Additionally, this situation can lead to a major inconvenience down the road. Sometimes, these issues persist until you find your locks unable to operate at all! We can make any repairs necessary to get your locks operating smoothly once again. Furthermore, we can also install updated high-security lock hardware to replace any outdated locks you may have now. It is now time for our last winter security tip. Last but certainly not least, let’s take a look at adding smart home technology to your home!
Many smart home products, such as this Schlage smart lock, offer an impressive amount of both security and convenience!
Take Advantage of Smart Home Technology
When we discuss smart home options as a security measure, many customers wonder, “What do smart home appliances have to do with security?” Well, as it turns out, quite a bit! Smart home products often perform security-related functions. For example, smart lights can give an empty home the impression of one with people home. Smart locks can allow you to let people into your home without giving them a key. In fact, you can even use your phone to operate these locks! This allows you to control access to your home without giving away a key or a code. Furthermore, smart garage door openers can let you know if you’ve left your garage door open. If this happens, simply pull out your smart phone and close it remotely! Check out our 7 Important Security System Add-Ons for Your Smart Home to see how we can help you add smart home devices to improve your home security.
Putting Together a Complete Winter Security Plan this Year
We hope that this post helps you create an effective plan for winter security. Between the onset of the holidays, harsh weather, and the coming of shorter days, winter can certainly create a security nightmare. However, proper preparation can help lessen these dangers. We hope you will contact us if you have any questions about the material in this post. We will happily address any security-related concerns you may have.
Additionally, we can also stop by for a complementary home site survey. We offer free security audits to new and existing customers alike. Perhaps you have good security measures in place but want to make a few adjustments this winter. Or maybe you have very little security equipment, and would like to start fresh and get the job done right. Either way, we will work with you to keep you, your most valued possessions, and your loved ones as safe and secure as possible!