subject: How To Deter Burglars With Outdoor Lighting [print this page] Anybody who knows anything about deterring burglars and especially home security will inform you that lighting is a vital feature of protecting yourself and your property. Interior lighting is important, but outdoor lighting is essential. Despite that, there are still a great deal of people who do not pay enough attention to this vital feature of home security. They appear to believe that they can rely solely on the interior burglar alarm.
However, the best method of deterring burglars is preventing them getting into your property in the first place. It is a well-known fact that many people do not react to a neighbour's security alarm going off because there are so many false alarms. The difference with outdoor lighting is, that as the would be burglar enters your property, a spotlight will come on, automatically catching the intruder in a powerful beam, which is the last thing that any burglar would like, especially if there is a CCTV video camera there as well, even if it a fake one.
The requirement is that the lights must be out of reach, in case the burglar sets your property up during the day time for a robbery later on that night. Therefore, if you realize that one or more of your outdoor lights is not working, you should have it checked out straight away. Not tomorrow, right now, before it gets dark.
The most common point of entry into a house, even for burglars, is the doors. Therefore, you must place lighting at all exterior doors. If you have glass panels on the doors, the sensor could be outside and the light could be inside, shining out. That way it is more tamper-free.
If your house appears too secure, a burglar may come to a decision that your garage is an easier target. The way you can get around this is by linking a light to the opening of your garage door, so that when the garage door is opened the burglar will be caught in a pool of light.
The exterior of your house should be protected by at least one outdoor light per exterior wall and these lights should be activated by sensors: either a movement sensor or a passive infra red (PIR) sensor. The good ones will also be governed by a daylight sensor so that they only activate at night time.
In order to be doubly sure that you become aware of the outside lighting coming on, you could make the security light connected to your main burglar alarm system. If you are in the house at the time, a pretty quiet internal alarm ought to ring, but if you are out, then the lights should activate the main external siren.
Following this advice will help keep your house and your family safe, but it is important to stay vigilant. You must keep your alarm system in tip-top condition. Light bulbs have to be renewed immediately and any problems with the system that you come across, must be attended to immediately too.
Lastly, in order to be serious about deterring burglars with outdoor lighting, you will have to have your system checked and brought up-to-date every five years or so.
