Articles Search Engine

When reading through various home security tips, you suddenly feel disturbed that they all suggest leaving on lights, and even worse, television sets and radios to create an illusion of occupancy. As an environmentally-conscious consumer, all of that sounds like an excessive waste of electricity. On the other hand, it’s a proven fact that lights and sounds coming from an empty house deter burglars from attempting to break in. The best option is a compromise between the two by using devices like timers and motion sensors.

If you’re going to be out of your house for any period of time at night, whether it be an extended vacation or just an evening out when you’ll be returning to a dark house, you can utilize timers to boost your home security. Timers are a fast and simple way of feigning your presence when you aren’t home while saving electricity. Rather than turning on a light and leaving on all night or the entire time you’re away, you can set up times you wish the light to turn on and off. This actually creates a better illusion than leaving lights on the entire time, as your absence can become just as present that way.

Before selecting timers for the lights in your house, you may consider ones that operate via photocells. The photocell feature ensures that you don’t have to reset all of your timers in the event of a power outage. They automatically turn off when there is enough light outside and back on when it gets dark outside again. But again, if you are really environmentally-conscious, you may be better of setting ones that are only on for a couple of hours at a time and risk having to reset the timers in the event of an outage.

Outdoor lighting is another important factor of home security. Instead of constantly leaving lights on illuminating your walkways and backyard, you can get motion sensor lights that go on when someone enters its line of sight. Proper installation becomes very important with motion sensors as you don’t want to leave any areas unaccounted for that a burglar can slip by. You can also use timers for outdoor lights, operating by the same principles as the indoor lights. The last option is solar powered lights, and what environmentalist doesn’t love solar power? These types of lights usually come in the form of small lights on stakes that you can place down your walkway. Another great place for these lamps is in your garden, illuminating any potential hiding place within shrubbery.

If you’re just as tech savvy as you are ecological, you can purchase remote lighting control that you can operate through your computer or wireless remote. You can even control your appliances this way, too.

Whatever option you choose for your indoor and outdoor lights, you can be sure that your home security factor will increase greatly with their addition to your house. Having timers, motion sensors, solar lamps and remotely operated lights are a great way to do this without raising your electric bill and being wasteful with energy.