Leaving Your Home in the Dark?

The holidays are just around the corner and many people plan to spend time with family, away from home. When we leave our home for the holidays, many of us think about the movie "Home Alone". The movie showed how empty houses are more prone to be robbed while people take off on vacation. We also know that a totally dark house is a sure sign for burglars to know that no one is home. When leaving for just a few hours in the evening, most of us will leave a couple of lights or the TV on, just to make it seem like someone is home. This is fine when it is only for a couple of hours, but when you are away for a few days, you don't want your TV or lights constantly on, even during the daytime. This is not economically sound and it's also a green light to let burglars or intruders know that you are not around. Having the lights constantly on is just as inviting to burglars, as having the lights constantly off!

There is a solution to this dilemma. It is the Digital Timer. What is a Digital Timer? This is a handy little item that you can connect to a wall outlet and have a lamp or other appliance connected to it. You then program it to have a lamp turn on around 6 PM and turn off by 11 PM. If you have a Digital Timer with Random Feature, it can turn the lamp on and off throughout several hours of the evening. The times will be different for each day of the week therefore lights will not have a predictable pattern of turning on and off. There are Digital Timers that can handle up to 15 amps, for heavy duty appliances or for more than one lamp at a time. You can purchase Digital Timers that easily record up to 20 on/off programs over 7 and 8 day groupings and have a pre-installed battery backup. Some Digital Timers have 3 wire grounded plugs and even an LCD that shows the time and day.

Digital Timers are not only for security against burglars or intruders, but for other applications as well. I personally used one for my aquarium. I timed it so that the light in the aquarium would turn on in the early evening and turn off late at night so that my fish could sleep! Some people use them for their Christmas trees or holiday decoration lights. Many people put their backyard lights on Digital Timers. There really are no limits to what you can use Digital Timers for. If it uses electricity, you can have it on a timer!

So, remember to prepare your home with not just decorations for the holidays, but also with Digital Timers. These security items not only prevent your home from being robbed, but are convenient and reasonably priced. Some people are happy with just purchasing one for the bedroom and one for the living room. Others get creative and use them for various tasks.

Leaving your house or apartment alone when on vacation

One of the times your home is most vulnerable is when it is left empty for an extended period of time. Darkened windows, mail or newspapers collecting and closed windows in hotter weather all advertise your absence to a potential burglar. If you don't have any kind of home protection product, such as a home alarm, you might want to consider following some of the suggestion below.

• One of the best protections for your house or apartment during your absence is to have a house sitter. A friend you trust staying at your house can take care of your pets and/or plants in addition to making sure the house is inhabited.
• Have a neighbor check on your apartment while you're away -- turning on lights, radios or TVs and opening and closing curtains will give your apartment the appearance of someone home.
• If you don't have a friend or neighbor to house siter or check your apartment while you're away -- perhaps even if you do -- you should keep not only lights but also a TV or radio on a timer. If you're like me and have your TV on almost all the time you're home [NOTE: I don't watch it, it's just background noise.], the absence of the sound and that glowing light in the windows announces that you're not there.
• Make sure whoever is checking your apartment while you're away knows how to work your alarm system and who to call in case of a problem.
• Unless you have a house sitter, stop your mail and any newspaper or other delivery. Nothing announces an empty apartment better than a stack of newspapers or an overflowing mailbox. Ask a nearby neighbor to pick up any packages delivered while you're gone.
• If you have a garden or plants on your balcony, make sure someone is watering the plants regularly or put the plants where they can't be seen. Plants slowly dying due to lack of water may announce your absence.
• Check your lease. Many landlords require that you notify them if your apartment is going to be left empty for any period of time (this is so they can enter in case of emergency even if they can't reach you). If you've got a house sitter this isn't necessary.
• Before taking off on your vacation, don't forget to pack your self defense products such as Mace, pepper spray, a stun gun, personal alarms or a Taser.