Home security and home safety are always at the forefront of our minds. This can be particularly stressful for women who find themselves home alone and this is because it leaves us more vulnerable than usual. To help women feel more secure, and increase their safety during these times, we’ve put together these 11 easy-to-follow home security tips for when you’re home alone.
Tip 1: Change it up!
One of the easiest home safety precautions to follow is to change your routine regularly. This will not only make it less noticeable that your partner has left to the watchful eyes of criminals who may be casing your home, but will keep them guessing as to when the home is occupied or not. Mixing up times when you leave or arrive home, and rearranging schedules are effective crime deterrents.
Tip 2: Secure those doors
Being home alone can seem a little scary, especially if it’s something you’re not used to. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy that summer breeze or views of the garden when home alone. There are two ways to additionally secure your patio or deck sliding doors.
The first is to add a latch or door restrictor or latch lock such as LockLatch which allows you to securely keep the door slightly open when at home.
The second is to use a metal pole or handle from a broom or mop that can be wedged into the door track, which prevents criminals from being able to jostle the door open without breaking the glass. This is a great preventative at night, increasing home security while you sleep and eliminating the chance of being surprised.
Tip 3: Light it up!
Outdoor lights are an important way to protect your home. This includes motion sensor floodlights at the front of the house, the side alleys leading around the house to areas such as where dustbins are kept and the back garden.
Lighting up outside areas eliminates the ability for would-be criminals to hide unseen and getting these installed before your partner leaves for a business trip will increase your home safety and your peace of mind when home alone! Think like a burglar in order to stay safe.
Tip 4: Fake it ‘til you make it
There are a lot of deterrents that you can use to fake the amount of security you do have to increase safety when home alone. One of the easiest and cheapest ways to protect your home and increase home safety is to buy a beware-of-the-dog sign, regardless of whether you have a dog or not. Adding dog water bowls to your backyard and hanging dog leads will help you keep up the facade.
Another is a dog motion alarm that barks when people approach the door or fake or DIY home security systems and cameras that give criminals the impression that you have TV monitoring systems set up.
Tip 5: Have a buddy system
Before you find yourself home alone, set up a buddy system. This may include meeting neighbours, joining the neighbourhood watch, and creating a home safety check-in system with friends and family to ensure you have a supportive buddy system.
A particularly helpful tool is to create a closed, private FB, WhatsApp or Twitter group that you are able to check in regularly and keep your buddies up-to-date with home safety checks. This buddy system will ensure they are able to follow your movements, and creating social or phone groups with your neighbours that you can trust can be very helpful.
Tip 6: Social Media friend or foe?
Although the buddy system suggests using social media to highlight close friends and family on your movements, the wrong update to unprotected audiences can alert criminals to the fact that you find yourself home alone or to any changes in your routine. Ultimately compromising residential security. Be aware that Facebook statuses that are liked by friends may show up in the newsfeeds of the friends of your friends, which means if you are telling social media that you find yourself alone, you might be making yourself more vulnerable and compromising home safety.
Tip 7: Fit and ready
Self-defence classes not only help you prevent attacks but are a great form of fitness. Strength is a great deterrent and will make you feel safer when home alone. Self-defence classes give you the right skills and practice to thwart attackers while you learn to recognize additional safety risks and the techniques needed to get away.
Tip 8: The alarm you didn’t know you had!
For increased home security and personal safety, unknown to many, your car alarm can be a helpful security aid, especially if you have not as yet had a panic button installed. Key fobs that unlock car doors are a very efficient alternative or added noise deterrent. By sleeping with the keys next to the bed, and pushing the alarm when you need to deter an intruder, the added noise will irritate and awaken neighbors and therefore alert them that you may be in need of assistance and increasing house security.
Tip 9: Go old-school
For added residential security when left home alone, invest in a good quality pepper spray. This can be hidden around the home, such as on the nightstand, or hidden in your car or handbag and used to gain valuable time to run from an attacker or burglar. Be sure to practice using it before your partner goes away so that you know how to use it in case of emergency.
Tip 10: Travel safely
When using taxis, opt for a reputable car service that you can trust. If you are coming home alone from a late-night work function and using services such as Uber, make sure they drop you right at your front door. Cutting corners like getting them to drop you around the corner to save a few dollars can leave you very vulnerable.
Tip 11: It’s in the details
It’s easy to get distracted and forget the little home safety measures a partner may normally handle like setting the alarm and locking up the shed or garage. Don’t get complacent and take extra care with locking up when you are home alone. Make a safety checklist to include all these little details for when you come home or when leaving the house to ensure no small safety measure is overlooked.
We hope these “home alone” home security tips and tricks help give you more peace of mind and keep you safe when home alone.
If you have any ideas on DIY home security, or tips on how to prevent home burglaries please send your suggestions to steve@llr-i.com and we’ll publish and credit the author.
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