Home Security Upgrades

[Ukoo]

i was woken up at night by the sound of broken glass and fumbling downstairs. I grabbed my fire extinguisher and rushed downstairs



[Mod] Welcome to the forum we do try to have a no weapons policy, as if it ever comes out after you've (attacked / premeditated /by booby trapping or carrying a item intended to cause harm or injury ) you leave yourself and the forum wide open in terms of offensive weapons / assault charges and the like be it a pickaxe handle by the bed or a extinguisher we need to be careful ... Obviously a fire extinguisher can help you escape a house fire and breaking glass can be related to heat from a fire..... And it's not nice to get a lung full

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[jennyjj01]

With impending power outages which will possibly see an uptick in crime, I thought maybe we could bump this thread to remind us of home security ideas. Maybe we link out to threads that deal with specific issues, rather than repeating everything.

There are a few other round-ups already but I'll try to cut to practical actionable ideas

A reminder list to start us off. Things to consider....

Home alarms and external lights. Power outage resilience. e.g. viewtopic.php?p=205833#p205833
Improving Door locks. e.g. viewtopic.php?p=203146#p203146
Well maintained fences.
Thorn bushes.
Locking up ladders and Garden tools that might be used against us.
Big dogs.
Defending the car.
Neighbourhood vigilance. e.g.viewtopic.php?t=17861
Fortification preparation. e.g viewtopic.php?p=133872#p133872
Deterrence. Looking like an unworthy target.
Defending growing spaces, allotments etc. e.g viewtopic.php?t=17910

Any more for any more?

[PreppingSu]

Having had an attempted break in back in May when garden tools were used, we now lock everything away. They used a trowel which broke and then my granny's lady spade (itbwas my best spade ever! )which they took with them when scared off as we haven't seen it since then.
It's not just about tools being used to get in but also being used to attack you when you challenge them.

It will be about making it as difficult as possible for someone to get over a fence, in through a gate and ensuring you have good locks on doors and windows.

Solar may be beneficial but if street lights are out then they may not be bright enough to deter.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Solar may be beneficial but if street lights are out then they may not be bright enough to deter.

There are solar lights then there's SOLAR LIGHTS

The Lidl solar floodlights that were in the other week are 850 lumen which is about 65watt halogen equivalent

[jennyjj01]

Solar may be beneficial but if street lights are out then they may not be bright enough to deter.

There are solar lights then there's SOLAR LIGHTS

The Lidl solar floodlights that were in the other week are 850 lumen which is about 65watt halogen equivalent

Sadly, Middle of Lidl bargains don't hang around. Unlike ALDI, Lidl send their stuff back to HQ after the prescribed offer period. ALDI, on the other hand leave stuff till it sells.
Andy, can you locate and link to similar at amazon or eBay?

Those lamps 2.5W equiv to 25W that we bought last year (Andy made me buy them), were really pretty good for solar. Two light up my front door, regardless of street lights. Though they don't get much sunshine, the batteries have never gone flat. The plastic cases are a bit fragile though.
Viva 18650.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Solar may be beneficial but if street lights are out then they may not be bright enough to deter.

There are solar lights then there's SOLAR LIGHTS

The Lidl solar floodlights that were in the other week are 850 lumen which is about 65watt halogen equivalent

Sadly, Middle of Lidl bargains don't hang around. Unlike ALDI, Lidl send their stuff back to HQ after the prescribed offer period. ALDI, on the other hand leave stuff till it sells.
Andy, can you locate and link to similar at amazon or eBay?

Those lamps 2.5W equiv to 25W that we bought last year (Andy made me buy them), were really pretty good for solar. Two light up my front door, regardless of street lights. Though they don't get much sunshine, the batteries have never gone flat. The plastic cases are a bit fragile though.
Viva 18650.

They had two in our local store last night


These look identical to the older model they sold upto a couple of years ago


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284619725457 ... EB73240228&

[Frnc]

Summarising from a web page I found

1. Get an alarm. 60% of burglars (survey of 422) would not attempt to burgle your house if you have one. Got.

2. Get cctv. I don't have that yet. According to 12 burglars surveyed by the Co-op in 2017, this is the biggest deterrent.

3. Have outdoor lighting. Mine only comes on if it detects movement, but is very bright. Thinking of getting a solar as backup. Of course a well prepared burglar could cover a light up. In fact motion only might be best, as they indicate someone is there. "your ideal option for this objective is a set of motion-activated lights. When the Co-op survey mentioned above asked a panel of ex-thieves how to deter burglars, this was one of the main points they raised"

4. Home automation. This seems to be a repeat of 2. It's about wireless cameras. 89% of the Co-op study’s burglars said that a smart home would immediately put them off. Most burglars both enter through the front of the house and use a door to get in.

5. Put bars on the inside of windows. I only have this on the cellar window.

6. Use blinds. This web page says an ex-burglar advocates keeping them down all th time. I don't have my rear living room blind down during the day, unless the sun is glaring and I'm watching the telly. Something to think about.

7. Keep your valuables out of view of ground-floor windows. A no brainer. Only my TV/sound box is visible in rear living room. Front blind is always down.

8. Keep your front hedge low and your side barriers thorny. "You shouldn’t have a short back and sides, though – keep those hedges, fences or walls over 1.8 metres, and top them with trellis and spiky plants." I could improve on this.
"Make sure that your garden looks presentable and cared-for as well. This prevents any passing thieves from thinking that you’ve gone on holiday and left an easy target." Oh dear. Mine is a it neglected, had a bad back. I did a bit of strimming yesterday, but need to do more work.

9. Leave tv or radio on. I used to leave a radio on. Think I might go back to doing it. Might have to get a new radio.

10. Get a dog – or pretend to have one. "Thieves who spoke to the Co-op said that the sound of a barking dog was the second-most powerful go-to method when looking to deter burglars." A sign telling criminals to “beware of the dog” may also work.

11. Show you’re not a good target for identity theft
"Store important papers upstairs and out of sight. Burglars are increasingly looking for official papers, passports, driving licences, and credit card statements that will allow them to steal your identity."
"But if you’re looking at how to deter burglars before they set foot in your home, make sure to leave a bunch of shredded documents in your wheelie bin. This will prompt burglars to move on as quickly as possible – to someone else who wasn’t as smart."
Well that's an easy one to do. I do have a shredder.

Here's a few things I also do

Mortice lock front door at night because it has glass at the top half.

Leave lamp on in living room at night (very low watt small lamp near window).

Keep important info/docs stuff in the cloud or on backup drives. One drive I can take with me, is tiny, 3mm thick. Samsung T7 500 GB.

[Frnc]

Just ordered a radio and solar security lamp.

[Frnc]

Fitted the light ok. The solar panel doesn't rotate, the rotation is only the lights below. Screwed it to top of kitchen window facing south. It works, detects motion, and seems quite bright. If I go out, the mains one comes on as well, so can't tell exactly how bright it is. It swithches off quite quickly but that's probably good as it saves battery life.

[Frnc]

This is my mains one, very bright, bought June 2020.
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FMJH128/
I see now though, it has a fair few bad reviews.

and this is my new solar one
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08HJTTM5C/