Do you dream of a winter getaway to escape a cold, snowy landscape? It can be hard to enjoy your vacation if you’re worrying about your house.
Not only is an empty house an easy target for burglars, other household problems can occur while you are away. Before you head out on vacation, follow these steps to protect your home and let your only vacation worry be which beach chair looks sunniest.
Install a home security system
With a home security system installed by Heartland Security, you’ll have peace of mind with 24/7 monitoring. Get a variety of features to protect your home, including door and glass break sensors. Interactive services that let you control smart locks, lights, thermostats, and more from anywhere.
Lock Up
You know enough to lock their doors, but are your windows locked? Have you blocked your sliding glass door by putting a dowel in the track to prevent it from being opened?
Second-guessing if you locked up before you left? If you have Heartland’s interactive services installed, you can check smart locks from anywhere, taking at least some stress out of sitting at the airport gate. If you’re interested in adding or installing smart locks to your home, contact us.
Have your lights on a timer
As part of Heartland’s interactive security package, you can use your smartphone to turn your lights on and off. If that’s not an option, you can also set up your lights on a timer. Don’t leave lights on the entire time you’re gone unless you normally have lights on all night.
Think about how you want to leave your curtains; it’s important to consider how you normally have them. If you typically keep your curtains wide open and then they’re shut for 2 weeks, it might be a blatant sign that you’re not home.
Stop your mail and deliveries
If you’re gone between 3 and 30 days, you can set up a free mail hold with USPS. Also make sure to pause any newspaper or other regular deliveries. A trusted neighbor can keep an eye out for any deliveries that show up unexpectedly and bring them in until you get home.
Bring in your keys
If you’re gone, there’s no need for a spare key to be somewhere outside your house. It only leaves you open to burglary. Hide or remove the keys you keep in your garage or house, including car keys. If a friend or neighbor will need access while you’re away, give them a key instead of asking them to use a hidden spare.
Ask a friend or neighbor to help keep an eye on things
This trusted person should be on the lookout for unexpected deliveries and can also stop by at random times to check up on the house. If it’ll be especially cold while you’re gone, have this person turn on faucets periodically to help keep the pipes from freezing. Ask them to shovel your driveway if it snows too, so it’s not obvious there are no tire tracks in and out of your garage.
Heartland also offers security cameras, so you can check on your home from anywhere to make sure everything is going ok. Our technicians will work with you to customize your system. You can easily have cameras on all the areas that matter most to you. We also offer doorbell cameras, so you can see who’s coming and going.
Don’t advertise your absence on social media
It’s hard to do, especially when everything is so online! Wait until you get home to post pictures or share travel details on your social media. Even with privacy settings on, there’s still a possibility that neighbor up the street you’ve met twice isn’t as honest of a person as you though they were. Or maybe a friend or family member you’ve tagged in a photo doesn’t have their privacy settings set as strictly as yours.
These steps aren’t foolproof, but they will reassure you and let you better enjoy your hard-earned time away. To learn more or get started on your custom system today, contact Heartland Security at 888-264-6380.
Have a great trip!