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It’s vacation time! You’ve packed your best summer outfits, cancelled the newspaper and asked a friend to take care of your pets, now all that’s left, is for you to secure your home and belongings before you go.

Unfortunately, being away from home for any length of time leaves your home and anything in it, vulnerable to attacks from burglars and intruders, but thankfully, there are plenty of things you can do to reduce the chance of a break-in while you’re away from home:

Install CCTV cameras

By providing CCTV camera coverage for your main entrances – along with any other vulnerable entry points of your home – you can give yourself more protection against intruders, and can even choose a system that enables you to monitor your home remotely, while on vacation.

Light it up

There’s no simpler or more cost-effective deterrent for burglars than adequate lighting, and with motion sensor lights outside your home, and timed lights inside it, you can make sure there are no shadows for criminals to hide behind.

Protect your valuables in a safe

While larger items of value, such as electronic equipment, won’t fit inside a safe, you can still hide them from sight while you’re away, and make sure they can’t be seen through any windows. For all your smaller valuable items, such as jewelry, documents, cash or photographs, you should place them inside a high security, burglar-proof safe; be sure to buy from a reputable manufacturer and have the safe installed professionally. 

Lock all doors and windows

This sounds like a bit of a no-brainer, but making sure that you’ve properly locked all windows and doors before you leave your home, couldn’t be more important. In the rush of leaving that often occurs, take the time to double check your home is locked up well, and don’t forget to check the garage, too.

Put a hold on your mail

There’s no bigger clue that you’re not at home than a pile of mail visible to anyone who cares to walk up to your home and look. Have your mail put on hold, or ask a friend to come every few days and pick it up for you.

Unplug all electronics

If there are power surges, outages or other electrical catastrophes, you’ll want to feel safe in the knowledge that you’ve unplugged all your electrical items so they won’t explode and cause a house fire in your absence.

By ensuring that access to your home isn’t made easy for burglars, or that a fire doesn’t happen in your absence, you can carry out the simple steps above to protect your home and belongings. For more detailed advice on how to protect your home when you go on vacation, a local security expert such as a locksmith or safe technician, will be able to guide you.