Tag: security lights

All ready for the holidays?

Here are 3 security mistakes people tend to make at this time of year. Take 2 minutes to check them out. It would be wonderful if you and your family could avoid them all.

1. Packages are SOOOO tempting!

Sure, you know better than to allow packages to be delivered to an empty house.

Just a week ago I was stopped on the street by a patrolman who showed me a picture of a kid taking a package from a front porch. (The picture had been taken by a home security camera. More on those later.)

And when you’re shopping, take the time to put gift purchases into the trunk of your car. If they won’t FIT in the trunk, at least cover the back seat pile with a dark and preferably dingy looking blanket. Better yet, make an extra trip rather than let packages sit unattended in a parking lot in full view.

And at home, don’t position your tree and all the lovely presents right in front of a window as in the picture above. Someone could break the window, grab the presents and run.

Packages are so tempting — to thieves!

2. “We’re so proud of our emergency preparations.”

The holiday season often means more visitors to your house. The guy to string the lights on the roof. UPS and Amazon delivery people. All the invitees to your Christmas party!

Every person who comes onto your premises has the chance to take a good look at what you have – and that includes some of your emergency preparedness items.

Your gardener sees the locks, the security cameras and lights you’ve installed. The delivery guy walking past your open garage door sees your tools and the cupboards and shelves packed with food and water. The computer guy you bring in to troubleshoot your new network sees your ham radio set-up, not to mention your laptop and printers.

It’s natural for a visitor to tuck this sort of information away. And in a big emergency, your house might become a target for one of those visitors, now turned desperate.

What can you do to cover or camouflage emergency supplies? Yes, be proud of the sensible steps you’ve taken. But with a bit of creativity you’ll get more of them out of sight. You can be just as satisfied and maybe a whole lot safer.

3. Take out the trash!

We’ve all read the novels where the criminal is identified because of stuff he puts in the trash. (Harrison Ford left orange peels and fake ID photos in the wastebasket in The Fugitive, remember?)

If you’re making a lot of purchases and getting a lot of gifts, you are going to have more trash than usual. And it may attract the wrong kind of attention.

Save and/or shred receipts or statements that have account numbers. Some receipts for online purchases may show up in your email. Protect them from casual view. Don’t stuff empty cardboard boxes (with pictures of TVs and electronic games and security cameras and drones!) into the trash; break them down and recycle anonymously at the recycling place.

And if you’re traveling during the holidays, make sure newspapers, leaves or other trash doesn’t build up outside while you are gone. That trash, plus a dark and empty house, is a real invitation to trouble. (Ask a neighbor for help, and invest in some timers for lights and/or radios.)

Oh, and for heaven’s sake, don’t you or your kids announce via social media or on a phone message that “We’re away skiing for a week!” Ouch!

We wish you the pleasure of giving, and the excitement of receiving. But we sure hope it’s not spoiled because you overlooked taking these sensible precautions.

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S. We’re writing an Advisory about “Hiding valuables in plain sight.” Sign up for all our Advisories to be sure you get it.

Worried about someone lurking in the shadows?

We’re known as the “Survival People” on our block, so it’s not uncommon for people to stop and ask for our opinions about anything connected to survival, which seems to include security.

Last week we got asked TWICE:

“What outdoor lighting do you recommend for security?”

We’ve written about this topic before, but the questions pushed us to do more research and ask our own questions, so before we give any answer, here’s more of what we’ve learned.

Question 1. Do bad guys prefer to operate in the dark?

According to all the stories we’ve read, and we’ve read a lot of them, the simple answer is, “No.”

In fact, there are many reports of cities or neighborhoods in both the U.S. and other countries where street lighting was turned off – to save money, usually – and street crime went DOWN.  Why?  Apparently bad guys don’t like tripping over things in the dark any more than you do.

And when they use a flashlight, it’s immediately noticeable.

Question 2. So does outdoor lighting actually encourage bad guys?

That depends. Lights that are on all the time give bad guys the ability to see what they are doing and get it done more easily.

However, if someone is watching the premises, and sees suspicious activity and acts quickly to stop it, then the lighting is useful. The key is to have that alert human presence.

At your house or business, who is keeping watch at night? Are they watching all night?

Question 3. What about motion activated lights?

Now we are getting somewhere.  A light on all the time is predictable and becomes unremarkable. When a light goes on suddenly, it is startling – and noticeable. Anyone within sight of the light is going to look to see what set it off.

So from a security standpoint, motion activated lights are the obvious choice.

Here’s what we have at home.

Now at our house, we actually DO have a light that burns all night. It’s on the porch and is designed to light the steps for us and for visitors. It’s a hardwired fixture with energy-efficient LED bulb, and we have checked to be sure our neighbors aren’t bothered by it. The bulb has lasted for years.

We have hardwired motion sensor lights where we park the car. They make it easy for us to get to and from the backdoor and into and out of the car.

Finally, behind the house, we have solar powered motion-activated lights. When they come on at night, we are awakened instantly and are able to look out to see what may have set them off. (Usually we can’t tell! Perhaps it’s a bird flying by. Occasionally we suspect an animal like a possum or raccoon. We haven’t seen any people crossing the backyard, yet.)

One of these lights actually has an audible alarm that can be turned on or off, too.

If you’re shopping for lights, here are some recommendations and suggestions about what to look for.

Recommendations for Solar Powered Lights

We started years ago with simple battery-operated lights. While they were easy to install, they seemed always to be dim and dying. So, we quickly turned to hard-wired lights. They work great but you need a ladder, patience and some handy-man smarts to install them.

When solar powered lights came on the scene, we were thrilled.  Particularly since we live in Southern California!

Solar lights are either one self-contained unit (solar panel + storage battery + light itself) or have separate components: solar panel (that must be mounted where it gets sun) connected via a thin wire to the actual battery + lighting fixture.

Whether you select the self-contained unit or the component unit depends on where you’re installing the light and where the sun is.

Over the years we have tried small, inexpensive solar-powered lights and moderately priced ones and have concluded that you pretty much get what you pay for. You can get great deals at Amazon, where, as you know, we are affiliates.

Here are two lights that we really like. Click on the images to get all details.

This Litom Bright 60 LED Solar Powered Security Light seems to be top of the line in its price range (around $40). We have found it to be as bright as we need, and some of the reviewers at Amazon say that it is brighter than any others they have tried! This light is also waterproof, essential for an outdoor fixture.

The best part is how adjustable the light is. You can set it for dim or strong, set it for always-on or motion-activated, and you can adjust the “activation” area as well as the “lighting” area. Really, it ought to work for whatever you need!

Read the reviews at Amazon, and they will give you more ideas about installing and using the light. (If you want a white finish, take a look at the Sunforce 82080 80-LED Solar Motion Light model. It costs within a dollar of the Litom model.)

The second recommendation is for a light made by the same company. The Litom 20 Big LED Solar Sensor Powered Wall Light is smaller, more compact, and even brighter! (And less expensive — around $25.) Many of the Amazon reviewers say that they got several in order to cover different areas of their property. Last time I looked, you could purchase packs of 4 for a discounted price.

As I wrote this, Litom was offering some special deals on Amazon. (Scroll down on the page below the photos.) And different sellers were charging quite different prices!  So take the time to shop!

To get details and current prices, click on the images.

To summarize.

Lighting alone will not deter a determined bad guy. But good lighting can make it safer for you and visitors, and motion-activated lighting can cause an unwanted visitor to change plans.

Let us know your experiences with lighting!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

We have full reviews of several popular emergency items. See all our product reviews and recommendations here.