Summer Vacation Home Security Tips

It's the heart of summer and people around the country are taking relaxing reprieves from work. Whether your summer vacation includes foreign travel, weekend camping trips at the national park or long days on white-sand beaches, your home is clearly more vulnerable than it is during the rest of the year. Burglars are well aware that summer is a popular time for getaways, and they may even be aware that you're planning a trip sometime soon. From leaving a light on to determining the best home security system for your house, protect your home security this summer by following these home security tips.

Timers

Get timers for a few indoor lamps and set them so that the lamps turn on each evening, giving the appearance that someone's home. If you simply leave the lamp on, you'll waste energy and the light bulb is liable to burn out and leave the home dark.

Vehicle

To further perpetuate the illusion that someone is home, park a vehicle outside in the driveway. Better yet, ask a neighbor to park in the driveway while you're away. This way, the driveway will be occupied in the evening but vacant in the day, just like when you are at home. Home security is never tighter than when intruders believe that you're at home.

Enlist Help

One of the most intuitive home security tips is getting some help from others. Whether or not you ask your neighbor to park in the driveway, be sure to let someone trustworthy know that you'll be gone. Have them pick up your mail and keep an eye on the property. Picking up mail is important both toward maintaining the appearance that you're home and protecting from the easier and potentially more damaging crime of identity theft. When you'll be gone for weeks at a time, offer to pay them to take care of basic landscaping like mowing the lawn and trimming the hedges.

Burglar Alarms

Be sure to set your burglar alarms and have them armed and ready to go before leaving. The best home security system is the one that is armed and functioning. If you don't own any burglar alarms, the summer provides an excellent time to review your home security needs. Now more than ever, a home security system like an ADT Monitored Alarm System can protect your home and allow you to travel without a worry. While your neighbors can help keep an eye on the home, they certainly won't be monitoring it 24 hours a day. Perhaps the best home security system you can buy, the ADT Monitored Alarm System provides trained professionals watching over your home every moment you're not there.

There are many security products on the market, so whether or not an ADT Monitored Alarm System is right for you, assess your own needs based upon the crime rate, your home's vulnerability and the amount of time you spend away and consider if any of the burglar alarms on the market are right for you.