If you read our post on How Professional Locksmith Services Help Homeowners, then you know that our company does much more than install home security systems. Even if you do have an alarm system, we recommend taking other steps to secure your home. Alarm systems can provide notification for burglary, fire, and environmental emergencies. While useful, you will also want other measures in place. In this post, we share some valuable non-alarm home security products that you may want to consider.
For starters, we will look at locks that can make burglary attempts more difficult for criminals. From there, we will look at how locking up valuables in a safe can add additional security for your valuables. We will also examine security equipment that helps you track activity around your home. Standalone motion equipment can alert you to activity in your driveway or around your home. Additionally, adding surveillance equipment can capture video in the case you need a lasting image of events in or around your home. Let’s begin with a look at adding high-quality locks to your home’s doors.
Locks with Added Security and Technology Features
In our post sharing 6 Ways to Improve Your Door Security, we described doors as the “first line of defense” for your home. After all, doors provide the quickest and least conspicuous means of breaking in for burglars. Making doors more difficult to breach can make your entire home less attractive to a burglar. In this section, we will look at adding lock hardware that provides this security. First, we will look at how high-quality deadbolts address multiple lock security concerns. From there, we will focus on installing smart locks that provide an extra layer of security.
Medeco deadbolts, such as the one pictured, offer homeowners robust security against lock picking and drilling, as well as from blunt-force attacks.
Top-Quality Lock Hardware
Good deadbolts can do a lot for your overall door security. In our post about locksmith services mentioned earlier, we discussed how most hardware stores sell very low-quality locks. Burglars can easily breach these locks through blunt-force methods such as drilling the lock. These locks also perform poorly against slightly more advanced methods. For example, burglars often pick locks using either a lock picking kit or other tools. Additionally, burglars can use a key blank and a slight “bump” from a screwdriver or other tool to breach your lock. This method, known as “lock bumping,” is well-detailed in this news feature from a Memphis television station.
We offer lock hardware that fights back against these types of attacks and more. Medeco, our preferred lock manufacturer, has created a line of residential locks that has set the standard for home lock security. In addition to resistance against bumping, picking, and blunt-force attacks, these locks also provide an important unique security feature. Medeco customers create a list of individuals who can make copies of their keys. If someone attempts to copy a Medeco key provided by you, they will be turned away if their personal ID does not match that of anybody authorized to make copies. This level of security makes Medeco locks a very popular non-alarm home security product for our customers. Now, let’s look at how smart locks can also improve your home security.
Locks That Use Technology to Add Security
Smart locks can add security and tremendous convenience for homeowners. These locks generally have either a keypad or touchscreen face that allows users to unlock doors with a code. Additionally, because they are “smart,” they also allow homeowners to control them remotely. This means that a homeowner can grant a contractor or house sitter one-time access without providing a key or a code! Good door security also involves good key security. Therefore, this feature can greatly reduce the number of spare keys you hand out. Now, let’s look at how locking up your valuables in a safe can provide another layer of security for your home.
Wall safes, such as this model by AmSec, can help you both protect and hide your valuables.
Safes to Hide and Hold Valuables
Of course, good locks and other exterior security equipment can make it harder for thieves to get into your home. However, you should still take steps to maintain security if a break-in does occur. Installing a good safe can go a long way towards adding this security. Safes can hide and shield valuables from thieves. Some safes, such as the wall safe pictured, actually keep items out of a burglar’s sights. We mount these safes to the studs behind a home’s wall, and homeowners then cover the safe with a mirror or picture. In the unlikely event that burglars do find a wall safe, they still must break into the safe itself to take anything out.
In addition to considering safes as a burglary deterrent, you may also wish to consider fire safes. These safes are designed to protect valuables against fire damage (as you may have guessed from the description). We both sell and install a variety of safes that fit every need. Installing safes involves physically bolting safes to your floor. This helps prevent thieves from carrying a safe off with your valuables still inside. For more ideas on securing your home in the event of a burglary, feel free to read up on our tips for Minimizing Loss From a Home Break-In. Now, let’s look at some security equipment that can alert you to important activity in and around your home.
Motion and Activity Notification Devices
Many homeowners look for devices that can alert them to motion outside their homes. We offer a wide variety of options for tracking motion outside of the house. For example, the Optex motion detection system pictured can let you know when a person or large animal passes in front of the detector. We have several customers who work out of their homes. This type of system is perfect for those with home offices that receive work-related shipments to their home address. Installing the motion detector at the end of your driveway and plugging the sounder inside the house is the perfect way to receive an alert as deliveries arrive.
A driveway alert system, such as this model by Optex, provides an instant alert when a car or person comes up your driveway.
Additionally, families with young children like to install equipment around their pools to track movement. If you find yourself in the market for these products, you have many options. In addition to using motion detection systems, homeowners can install pool-specific equipment inside of the pool itself. These detectors either float on the pool’s surface or get installed underwater, depending on the model. The sensors detect changes in the water and sound an alert when someone jumps in if desired. For more pool-specific security ideas, check out our post on Creating Pool Security. Now, let’s look at how installing home surveillance can add an additional measure of security for homeowners.
Products That Keep an Eye on the Home
Of course, knowing when a vehicle or individual approaches your home can add both security and peace of mind. However, sometimes you need more than just this notification. Installing home surveillance can provide you with video of anything of interest that occurs on your property. The products described in this section will allow you a live look-in at any time. Furthermore, cameras can also record video and allow you to review footage later if needed. Let’s start by looking at how adding cameras in and around your home benefits homeowners. From there, we will also look at one specific camera technology taking the security industry by storm.
Interior and Exterior Cameras
Over the past several years, home surveillance has become one of our most-requested non-alarm security services. After all, a home security system will not show you what happens in your absence. If your alarm system is activated while you are gone, you will possibly never even know whether it was due to a false alarm or an abandoned burglary attempt. Installing cameras can help address this important security concern. Cameras connected to your home network provide a live view of your property from anywhere, at any time. Many of our customers will remotely check in on their homes while on vacation or traveling for work. This ability provides a unique measure of peace of mind.
In addition, cameras will also capture video that allows you to review events after they happen. Perhaps you return home from work and find evidence of a disturbance around your home. Reviewing camera footage can help you see if you’ve caught a thief scoping out your house or just an overzealous neighborhood pet. As with many popular security products, the market for home surveillance can be quite difficult to navigate. We are always there to help homeowners decide what types of cameras work best for them. Also, feel free to look at our Smart Home Surveillance System Design guide for homeowners. Now, let’s take a look at smart doorbells, a unique part of any home’s security plan.
Smart Doorbells
Installing an Alarm.com doorbell camera and a smart lock allows you to identify visitors immediately and even unlock your door for them, even if you are away from the house.
Smart doorbells are one of the most dynamic home security products to hit the security market recently. These doorbells provide both live look-in capabilities and also record motion-based video clips to help thwart “porch pirates.” Furthermore, smart doorbells also allow you to use your smartphone to have a conversation with anyone that rings your doorbell. This allows you to see who is at the door without stopping what you are doing and, if necessary, politely tell them you won’t be coming to the door if your “guests” are door-to-door salespeople or other uninvited visitors.
As an added bonus, combining smart doorbells and smart locks even allows you to unlock the door for a guest after your initial conversation. Our Alarm.com powered smart doorbell allows you to answer your doorbell, talk to your guest, and grant access through your smart lock all through the same app. The amount of technology-driven security and convenience available through these products make it no wonder that smart doorbells have made such a large impact on today’s home security industry.
Finding Non-Alarm Home Security Products That Work for You
We hope that this post has given you some ideas for adding non-alarm home security products to your home. If you have any questions about the material in this post, we encourage you to contact us. We provide free site surveys for homeowners curious about any type of security services we offer! While on site, we can answer any questions you may have. Additionally, we can make our own suggestions based on our observations. Together, we can put together a complete home security plan for your home. Our goal is always to keep you, your family, and your valuables as safe and secure as possible.