Nighttime and Cold Weather Security

This past weekend marked the end of Daylight Saving Time as we set our clocks back Saturday night. The transition marks the beginning of longer nights and colder weather. As with many seasonal events, this change also brings about some unique security concerns. As your one stop security shop, we aim to address security concerns as they arise all year round. Of course, doing so takes using a proactive approach. In this post, we aim to show you how we can anticipate and address nighttime and cold weather security issues.

We’ll begin with a look at safety-related issues. Both outdoor accidents and fires increase in cold weather. Therefore, these issues deserve a good long look. From there, we’ll turn or focus to addressing security issues related to the threat of burglary. First, we’ll share some ideas to help you keep your house from looking empty. Then, we’ll see how you can add security that deters crim and limits the damage done during a burglary attempt. Now, let’s get started with a look at some unique seasonal security concerns!

Seasonal Safety Concerns

As we pointed out earlier, winter weather creates a couple different types of safety conerns. In this section, we’ll provide physical safety and fire-related life safety tips. Both weather and lack of daylight can contribute to this increase in incidents in and around your home. Therefore, we’ll address both of these factors in our solutions to these issues. Let’s get started with a look at preventing weather-related outdoor accidents.

Avoiding Accidents and Pratfalls

Of course, with cold weather comes slick and icy surfaces around your home. Additionally, earlier sunsets also lead to walking around slick surfaces in the dark, even right after coming home from work. We recommend taking a couple steps to address this danger. For starters, staying proactive regarding cold weather and keeping your driveways and sidewalks sanded and/or salted goes a long way in staying safe.

Furthermore, keeping your exterior well-lit can help you watch your step and avoid falling down. Installing ground lights or additional exterior lighting can help with this. Moreover, we also offer some options for security system programming that can assure you never come home to a dark house. Several months back we created a post on Using Alarm.com Scenes for Extra Security and Convenience. In that post, we explain how our Alarm.com cell dialer customers experience some unique security features. For starters, these customers can control their security system with the Alarm.com smart home app.

Additionally, the Alarm.com cellular dialer also allows you to connect Z-Wave smart home devices to your alarm. At that point, in addition to controlling your alarm, you can also control smart home devices through the Alarm.com app. In this case, you can control outdoor lights with your phone to ensure you arrive to a well-lit driveway. You can also tie different actions together as part of a security “scene.” For example, you can disarm your security system, turn on your outdoor lights, and open your garage with the press of one button! We recommend adding these features for all of our alarm customers. Now, let’s address some fire-related seasonal security concerns.

Tackling Fire Safety

We help customers add important fire security to their homes all year round. However, this danger peaks in the colder months. After all, cold weather means a sharp increase in heater usage. In turn, this greatly increases the chances of a fire at your home. Therefore, we recommend giving your home an annual cold weather “check-up” to address potential heating-related fire dangers. For starters, make sure your heaters are clean and free of hanging drapes and any other flammable items. Clear your HVAC equipment of debris, and make sure your thermostats work properly as a way of ensuring proper equipment performance. Taking these simple steps can go a long way if you end up finding and addressing a serious fire threat.

Additionally, we recommend installing monitored fire-related alarm equipment. Connecting smoke, heat, and carbon monoxide detectors to your alarm adds tremendous fire safety. In addition to creating an audible alarm, these devices also create a fire department response. This can save your home if a fire starts in your absence. More importantly, these devices can save a life if a fire occurs in an occupied home. For these reasons, adding monitored fire detection has long remained one of our top nighttime and cold weather security tips. Next, let’s look at a few burglary-related security issues, as well as ways to address them.

Burglary-Related Security Issues

Obviously, we place a premium on life safety when creating a security plan. However, we also place a premium on securing your home againstthe threat of burglary as well. In fact, the majority of our customers call us to address this specific issue. Unfortunately, this season sees an uptick in burglary risk for a few reasons. First, the change in season brings about an increased cover of darkness under which thieves can commit their crimes. Furthermore, the onset of holiday season brings about an increase in travel, leading to empty homes. The added presence of gifts in your home during this season only increases thieves’ interest in trying their luck during this time of year. In this section, we address these issues from many different angles. Let’s get started with some ideas for preventing your home from looking vacant over the fall and winter months.

Making Your Home Look Occupied

Above all else, burglars generally look to avoid confrontation. Breaking into an occupied home can bring about personal danger if the homeowners own weapons. Additionally, a confrontation leads to increased odds in getting caught, as well as stiff criminal charges stemming from any physical altercation. Therefore, we recommend taking some precautions to make your home look occupied while traveling.

For starters, the smart home lights we mentioned earlier can help in this regard. You can program these lights to turn on and off at both set and random intervals. Additionally, having the post office hold your mail can prevent the mail pileup that thieves associate with a vacant property. Also consider having neighbors and friends park cars in your driveway and check in on the house. The regular presence of vehicles and people make any home a less likely target for crime. Next, let’s see how you can add security equipment to both deter crime and to limit the damage done in case a burglary does occur.

Preparing for the Worst-Case Scenario

Making your home difficult to break into is always a top security priority. Whenever possible, burglars prefer to break in through poorly-secured doors. Doing so allows thieves to break in quickly, often without looking overly suspicious. Therefore, adding high-quality locks and door hardware goes a long way towards adding home security. Unfortunately, many homeowners do not give much thought to the types of locks they install. Our post sharing 6 Ways to Improve Your Door Security can greatly help you understand how to address door security effectively. Moreover, having professional locksmiths, such as ourselves, consult with you can also help in this regard.

As an additional layer of security, installing a monitored burglar alarm accomplishes a couple important things. First, it deters crime from occurring at your home. The yard sign and stickers we give our customers encourage thieves to attempt their crimes elsewhere. Additionally, your alarm creates both a blaring siren response and a call to the police department upon activation. Hearing the siren, burglars know that someone else may hear and investigate. Moreover, they also know that the police will arrive shortly. This generally keeps them from lingering as long as they normally would at the scene of a crime. For these reasons, installing a monitored burglar alarm goes a long way towards adding nighttime and cold weather security to your home!

Achieving Complete Nighttime and Cold Weather Security

We hope that this post has helped you understand how to address seasonal security concerns this year. Furthermore, we encourage you to contact us with any questions this post raises for you. We will happily answer any security-related inquiries you may have. Moreover, we also encourage you to take advantage of our complementary site survey program. We provide free consultations and quotes for both new and existing customers alike. During our visit, we can address any security concerns you may have in mind. Additionally, we can make suggestions of our own based on our observations of your property. Together, we can create a plan to keep your home, your most valuable possessions, and your family as safe and secure as possible.