3 Smart and Simple Holiday Home Security Tips
‘Tis the season to be jolly!
Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or another holiday in December, it’s a great time to get together with family and friends.
We light candles. We eat meals. We give gifts. It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Except when it is not! Disaster can strike even during the holiday season. Prepare now and don’t sweat it in December.
Here are 3 smart and simple holiday home security tips you need in your life!
Holiday Home Security Tips To Sink Your Teeth In!
In the past, we’ve talked about holiday home security tips right here on this blog.
Here are our previous tips:
5 of the best home for the holidays security tips
3 smart home security tips for a worry-free holiday season
How to prevent being a burglary victim during the holiday season
But…
We dug deep and came up with 3 additional holiday home security tips to share with you.
1 Prevent a Home Fire
1 If you have a wood stove or fireplace in your home, get your chimney swept this month. As it gets colder, we will be looking for alternate sources of heat and fireplaces that are not swept cna catch on fire, easily. There might be a build up of soot, or a bird may have nested and obstructed your chimney. Either way, protect your home and your family and get this service scheduled asap.
2 Alternatively, if you do not have a good heating source and you are looking at space heaters to warm up your home, please, please please be aware of the dangers of space heaters. Do not use them without supervision. Do not use them when you sleep. Do not use them near flammable materials. Do not plug them into extension cords. Space heaters cause a lot of fires each winter. If you must use them, please take precautions.
2 Time your Lights
More often than not, burglaries happen during the day and are an impulsive act, meaning – a criminal sees an opportunity and jumps on it. Those burglaries that happen at night, are often premeditated and planned out. To prevent being a targeted victim of a home burglar during the holiday season, put your holiday lights on timers. Better yet, put them on timers and on your smarthome system so that you can adjust the timing of them daily if you are not home! Lights that pop up at the exact time each day, day after day, can signal ‘We are not home’ to a criminal.
3 Use Your Sound System to Your Advantage
Much like the lights deter criminals, turning on tunes to keep them away works as well! Smarthome homeowners who have a surround sound system can time (and chime) music to be played. Who knew jingle bells could prevent break-ins? If a criminal sees lights and hears music played, they will move to an empty house.
FACT: Burglars do NOT want to confront homeowners. They rather go to a home where it is dark and quiet!
Let Strand Security Help You Keep Your Loved Ones Safe!
Does the Start of Daylight Saving Time Bring Us More or Less Crime?
Daylight Saving Time – Love it or Hate it?
Do you like Daylight Saving time, or do you dread it? It’s almost that time, on Sunday, March 13 we will be ‘springing ahead’ to add an extra hour of daylight into our days!
There is a movement to do away with it all together while most western countries are still adhering to Daylight Saving Time.
Here is some history on it as found on Wikipedia
“Daylight saving time in the United States is the practice of setting the clock forward by one hour when there is longer daylight during the day, so that evenings have more daylight and mornings have less. Most areas of the United States observe daylight saving time (DST). The Uniform Time Act of 1966 established the system of uniform daylight saving time throughout the US.
In the U.S., daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November, with the time changes taking place at 2:00 a.m. local time. With a mnemonic word play referring to seasons, clocks “spring forward, fall back”—that is, in springtime the clocks are moved forward from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. and in fall they are moved back from 2:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Daylight saving time lasts for a total of 34 weeks (238 days) every year, about 65% of the entire year.”
More daylight and warmer weather in spring time means… more criminal activity!
Does Daylight Saving Time Reduce or Increase Crime?
You might be surprised to find out how Daylight Saving time affects crime! We were!
“In a new paper forthcoming in The Review of Economics and Statistics, we find that shifting daylight from the morning to the early evening has pretty hefty returns for public safety. When DST begins in the spring, robbery rates for the entire day fall an average of 7 percent, with a much larger 27 percent drop during the evening hour that gained some extra sunlight.
Why might this time shift matter? The timing of sunset is pretty close to the time many of us leave work, and walking to our cars or homes in the dark makes us easier targets for street criminals. We feel safer when we’re walking in the daylight, and it’s easy to imagine why light might have a deterrent effect on crime: offenders know they’re more likely to be recognized and get caught if they’re fully visible. The timing of sunset matters because our daily schedules can’t easily adapt to follow the daylight. Most people can’t leave work before 5pm, even if it would be safer to do so.”
source: brooking.edu
Spring Season is Not a Big Crime Season (but Summer is!)
More daylight means less darkness which in turn translates to less crime.
Most criminals do want cover of darkness to commit their crimes. The biggest exception is burglaries, which happen most often between the time of 10 AM – 2 PM, when people are not home but at work!
So what can you do in spring?
- Relax!
- Go outside and play.
- Make sure to activate your home security system, but enjoy that extra daylight and sunshine.
If you are the spring cleaning kind, read this.
If you are the worrying kind, here are some spring home security tips to consider implementing.
Daylight Saving Time Bring Us Less Crime!
You got this!
How To Show Appreciation for Service Providers During the 2021 Holiday Season
‘Tis the Season To Give, Be Kind and Be Merry
It goes without saying that you should ALWAYS treat service providers with respect and kindness.
Despite us knowing that, the news is telling a different story!
Recent headlines tell us how
- rude (and violent) airlines passengers are and how they are mistreating airline personnel
- impatient (and rude) customers are in coffee shops
- angry customers treat restaurant workers
It’s despicable, unnecessary and just plain wrong!
5 Ways to Show Appreciation to our Service Providers!
Please use the holiday season to bring back kindness, giving and merriment!
Here are 5 ways you can show your appreciation for those who work so hard to make our 2021 Holiday Season bright and merry!
1 Converse and Smile!
Oh how simple, easy and FREE this tip is. Converse and smile when you encounter someone who is helping you. Whether they come to your house (delivery, installation, repair) or you meet them at their location (airport, restaurant, store), wishing someone a great day and smiling can make a huge difference in their day!
2 Be Patient
Next, be patient. We all know workers are expected to do more, with less help, as businesses can not find employees. Those that are still around are now tasked with more work and more responsibility!
“No one wants to work anymore, please be patient with the staff that did show up”
You might have seen this posted to social media, as we have, and it’s a good rule to follow. Do not take your frustration about having to wait longer out on those that did show up!
3 Provide Refreshments
If you have service providers come to your home, offer a hot cup of coffee, a cold bottle of water, and a snack, when applicable. It’s an easy way to say ‘thank you’ and much appreciated by those who work so hard.
Watch how these delivery drivers were surprised and delighted with snacks and drinks!
All ‘caught’ on Ring cameras, no less!
4 Show Kindness
Small acts of kindness are awesome. Think about what you can do to make someone’s day brighter.
Pay for someone’s lunch? Ask about their family? Smile? All these acts of kindness will carry forward. Random acts of kindness inspire others to also be kind!
5 Tip Generously
Last but not least, people are hurting for money. Show your appreciation by giving a generous tip! Don’t be caught being a Scrooge this holiday season.
Here’s a tip… 😉
Holiday Tipping Guide: Who to Tip and How Much
Do this and more as we are all dealing with the after effects of COVID-19.
Strand Security is Here To Serve
We are here to help you navigate your home systems. Smarthome systems, security systems, audio systems and more. Just give us a call, anytime and we’ll be happy to serve.
3 Reasons to be Thankful During This Thanksgiving Month
‘Tis the Season to Be Thankful
Thanksgiving is almost here, and while we are continue to be thankful for our health, our family, our growing business, our experienced staff, our amazing customers and the best brands we work with, we don’t express it on our blog too often!
Last November, we published ‘The latest security technology to be thankful for‘.
In another post, we talked about ‘being lucky and thanking the lucky stars’ vs ‘making smart technology and security decisions‘.
In the way-back wayback machine, we also found an earlier article featuring ‘3 reasons to be thankful for your security system‘.
Today, we are doing something different!
The Pandemic Changed Everything
Almost everything we took for granted has changed during the last 21+ months since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Things we didn’t even think about were suddenly… gone, or impossible to do.
Places we used to visit were off limits, vacations were cancelled, friends and family members got sick, some to never recover. Our kids adapted to online learning, to socialize over Zoom, deal with isolation, loss, restrictions and fear. Homes became a safe haven to many.
As we emerge out of this pandemic, we find that we are more resilient than we thought possible, changed more than we thought we wanted to and stronger that we could have ever imagined.
Let’s Be Thankful This Thanksgiving 2021
This Thanksgiving, we challenge you to recognize how fortunate we are here in the USA. While we have access to healthcare and medicine, people in third world countries are not as fortunate.
We are grateful for so many things, and we certainly want you to create your own thankfulness list to share with your families. Here is ours!
We are Thankful for Science
Where would we be without science?
Thanks to science we are closing on on reopening the world. We are closer to travel, closer to international vacations and going back to working in offices.
Thanks to science, fewer people are getting sick and fewer people are dying of COVID-19.
Thanks to science, students have (for the most part) returned to school.
Thanks to science we have new treatments for coronavirus, new ways to keep patients alive and get them through. Science is the key to reopening the world!
We are Thankful for Technology
In the midst of everything going on in the world, what would a world in the grip of a pandemic have looked like without technology? Isolation would have been more rampant than it has been, many more millions of employees would have been forced out of the workforce and students would have been ‘up the creek without a paddle’ so to speak!
Technology has allowed for continues, albite different education from Kindergarten all the way through college, and an asynchronous work opportunity for many employees.
Technology has keep us warm, safe, connected and alive!
We are Thankful for A Positive Mindset
More than anything else needed right now is the desire to live in a world full of love, care, and empathy. We are thankful for those around us with a positive outlook, a can-do mindset and a willingness to be a voice of kindness to all who need it.
This world needs empathy, compassion and patience. We are grateful to those who model this behavior day after day!
We wish for you to encounter this positivity wherever you may go. We wish for you to encounter helpfulness, kindness, and an outpouring of support and kindness as you navigate this new world post-COVID.
May you express your thankfulness to others, repay kindness with kindness and practice a positive mindset!
Thankfulness: Pass It On!
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Strand Security, from our family to yours.
How to Prevent Being a Burglary Victim During the 2021 Holiday Season
High Risk Holiday Season for Burglaries
Did you know that during the holiday season you are much more likely to become a victim of a burglary? Longer winter nights are partly to blame, but that’s not the only reason.
The chances of becoming a burglary victim increases by an average of 72 percent in December. In winter months, the peek of burglaries happens right around Christmas and the New Year’s Eve holiday, both December holidays.
In this article, we will give you tips on how you can prevent burglaries. These tips won’t be fool proof, but can certainly reduce your risk of being victimized significantly.
Whether you live in South Carolina like ourselves and our customers, or you live in another state in the United States, these same tips can be applied.
How To Prevent Being a Burglary Victim
Who doesn’t want to prevent tragedy? Who doesn’t want to prevent becoming a victim? Can we all agree that no one deserves to be burglarized?
There are steps that you, the homeowner can take to prevent being the next target.
What these steps entail is what this article is about.
Keep reading to find out what you can do now to keep your home, your business and your family safe during the 2021 holiday season.
Research Like a Burglar!
While some burglaries happen as a result of ‘opportunity’, most burglars do research and recognisance before picking their next target.
Criminals report that they ‘case’ whole neighborhoods to find the quietest streets, the darkest homes and the most desolate corners of the neighborhoods.
They watch for several days, even weeks and notice patterns like when residents leave for work, when they return and they looks for signs of homes that are unoccupied.
If you want to prevent a burglary in your home, research your neighborhood! Drive around at night, or go for an evening walk. Look for darker areas, neighbors with broken front door light and noticed which one your neighbors have security alarm systems!
It’s also recommended to look up the crime rate in your town and your neighborhood!
Think Like a Burglar!
Next, think like a burglar.
By looking at your own home, compared to your neighbor’s homes, what stands out, and what doesn’t? Is your home well-lit at night? Do you have floodlights on timers and sensors? Or it is your neighbors home and yours looks like a better target?
Do your neighbors have a large dog pen in their yard, or home security signage? If you were to burglarize a home on your own street… which one would you pick and why?
Next, look at how close are you to the next street, the next corner and are the streetlights functional? How busy is your street at 11 PM, at 5 AM but more importantly between 10 AM – 2 PM (which is the time most burglaries take place, despite linger night in winter!)
Keep all of these factors in mind as you make a plan to secure your home better!
Try To Break-In In Your Own Home
Last but not least, try to break into your own home.
Weird request? Sure, but go ahead anyway without much planning: go try to get into your own home RIGHT NOW.
Did you find
- a not-so-hidden key?
- an unlocked window?
- an open door?
- easy access through the garage?
- your alarm system activated
Could you see
- neighbors waving at you?
- view of your neighbors windows?
or instead, you couldn’t see your neighbors house and yard – which in turn means they can’t see yours!
By putting yourself in the shoes of a criminal, you will quickly realize how easy to might be to get into your home.
We’ve written several great articles on what you can do to secure your home!
Here are the best resources to get you to take action today.
- How to prevent break ins while on vacation
- How to prevent your bike from being stolen
- Tips on how to prevent and survive a home invasion
- 10 Simple ways to prevent a burglary in your home
- How to keep a burglar out of your home
- How burglars know you have a dog and why they care
- Keeping you and your home safe from burglars
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