Ideas For Keeping Your Home Safe While On Vacation

Getting your family and yourself all packed up for a trip is tough enough. Combine that with worries about keeping your home safe while on vacation and it adds up to additional stress. The last thing you want before going on vacation. The tips below should help ease the worries about your home – the packing you’re on your own!

1. Exterior Lights & Interior Timers

Exterior lights that are sensitive to heat are great. They go on automatically when someone (or even something) approaches. Timers are a good way to give your home the sense that you are there - whether you are gone, asleep or even in the shower.

2. Unplug Electronics

Not only does this save you money while you are gone, but it eliminates the worry about whether you forgot to turn that coffee maker off. It is also a good idea to disconnect the power to your garage door making it that much more conspicuous if it is opened manually. (How many people open their garages manually these days?)

3. Don't Discuss Your Trip Openly

Be aware of who you are telling you are going away. Don't discuss it on your cell phone walking around the market or mall. You need not be paranoid, but even though you are excited to go away, it is best not to share the news with everyone. The less information you put out there, the less likely it is to reach the wrong ears and eyes.

4. Lock up Your House

That window you always keep a crack open or that side door you don't bother bolting – now is the time to make sure you are all locked up tight!

5. Keep up the Landscape.

Whether it is your gardener or a neighbor, don’t let that gross grow too long. If you have a sprinkler timer all the better as it look as though you are home watering your garden.

6. Make Your Home Looked Lived In

An occupied home looks lived in. Make sure those timers are timed appropriately. If you are home you wouldn’t have lights burning at 3am, so don’t keep them on all night while you’re gone either. If you can get a neighbor to take out your garbage and bring the cans back in, all the better.

7. Mail & Flyers

Stopping mail and newspaper delivery isn’t enough. Those pesky fliers on your driveway and front door can pile up and are a clue no one is home; ask a neighbor to stop by and pick those up. Make sure they know you will do the same for them!

8. House Sitters are Great Too!

Some people like to hire house sitters to stay in their home and allay all fears. If you are like me and would rather not have someone living in your house, you can still hire a sitter to come by once a day to check on it. They can come by at different times so it appears that someone is coming and going, they can also water plants, pick up those flyers, and even open one curtain and close another giving further appearances that someone is home.

Hopefully some of these ideas for keeping your home safe while you are out of town will allow you to actually be on vacation after all!

Ideas For Keeping Your Home Safe While On Vacation