Home Security News

How to Reduce Home Insurance Costs

We all want to feel safe and protected in our homes, but none of us want to pay an arm and a leg for homeowners insurance.  A recent article from an online newspaper offers several tips for reducing your homeowners insurance rates.  Examples are raising your deductable, insuring just your home and not the land it's sitting on, adding a home security system, and bundling your home insurance policy with other insurance policies such as auto and life because you can typically get discounts this way.

Read Tips on Reducing Home Owner Insurance Costs for more information.

Telephone Lines = Weak Link In Alarm Systems?

Monitored home security companies like ADT rely on a phone call initiated from the alarm system in order to take action (which may be calling the police or sending a unit to check out your home personally, depending on the security company and what options you sign up for).  A short news article called Homeowners Discover Loophole in Home Security System brings to light an alarming vulnerability that many of us might not think of: the telephone lines.  If burglars cut the phone lines, there's no way for the alarm system to alert the monitoring company, whether it be ADT or another company.  Though monitored alarms are generally preferable to home security systems that just sound sirens locally, you should realize the possible vulnerability.  The article mentions a backup cell phone call incase the telephone lines are damaged.  This sounds like a good idea and is something you'll want to look into with your alarm company, especially if it's been a few years since you had your system installed (before cell phones became so prevalent).

Renters Insurance--Why Renters Need Insurance, Too

A lot of renters either think they are covered by the building insurance of their apartment's owners, or just don't worry about renters insurance, thinking nothing will happen to them (yeah, that's smart).  Only 12% of renters have renters' insurance, says recent Yahoo! press release with monstrously long title "American Anxiety Is High -- But Few People Are Adequately Insured Against the Things They Fear Most."  Other recent news articles show why renters without insurance could lose everything they have.  Examples are Fire raises issue of renters’ insurance and Uninsured renters could get costly lesson.

These articles emphasize that renters, whether their belongings are stolen in a burglary or a fire breaks out in the building, are not covered by their landlord's insurance.  In some cases, you may owe tons if it was your accident that started the fire that wrecked the whole building... Renter's insurance can be as low as $10 a month, and can provide a lot of peace of mind.

You can get a free quote online from InsureMe.Com (just select the "home insurance quote" and you'll have the option to get renters insurance under there).

If you want to do a little more reading on renters insurance, check out Renter's Insurance: How to Get the Best Coverage for the Cheapest Price from Amazon.com (or the local library).

The Importance of Updating Your Home Insurance Policy

A recent article called appropriate "Updating Home Insurance Advised" takes a look at why updating your homeowners insurance from time to time is important.  Like a lot of things, we buy home insurance (often as much because we have to in order to get a loan as out of a real desire to spend that money every month) and then don't think about it until we need it.  It's important to realize that the insurance you bought a couple years ago might not be properly covering today's assets though.  Also, shopping around today may get you better rates than the ones that were available a few years back.  Take a look at this quote from the article and see if you're covering all bases:

According to the New York-based Insurance Information Institute, homeowners need enough insurance to cover the structure of their home; their personal possessions; the cost of additional living expenses if the home is damaged and they need to live somewhere else; and their liability to others.

If you're browsing online, you can visit insureme.com to shop and compare multiple home insurance quotes for free.

Garage Door Security

Automatic garage door opens are great for their convenience, but one wonders just how secure they are in comparison to old-fashioned locks.  Worried that thieves might duplicate your garage door opener's code, thus allowing them easy access to your home?  Well, your concerns might be well-founded.  According to RCI Automation, LLC, many of today's burglars are employing a device called a "Code Grabber" in order to snag your remote's code from hundreds of feet away.

Fortunately, the Home & Garden Channel's web site offers an article that tells you how to install an "universal conversion kit" that changes the code on your remote control everytime you use it.  If you have an older garage door opener, this is definitely something you should look into.  Read Garage Door Security for the how to.

Webcams for Video Surveillance

A webcam wouldn't be my first choice for home security, but if you've got one already + an always on Internet connection, it's relatively cheap to set one up as a one room video surveillance system for your home (for more sophisticated purposes, i.e. multi-room, you're going to want to get dedicated security cameras and software that's devoted to the purpose of keeping an eye on the interior and exterior of your home via the Internet while you're away).  For a basic introduction to how webcams can work for home security, check out CNN Money's article called Big Brother for Your Home: Use cameras and the internet to monitor your home from afar.

If you're thinking of turning your webcam into an Internet-accessible video surveillance camera, please keep in mind that this is only part of a good home security plan.  Solid doors, windows, and locks for both should be first on your list of upgrades (I know, not as fun as playing with cameras via the Web), and then look into an alarm system.  These things are designed to keep burglars out, not just catch them rooting through your stuff (I don't know about you, but I'd rather they never got in). 

Solar Powered House Numbers, a Smart Choice

Solar powered house numbers are becoming a popular choice, because they can be even more visible than reflective house numbers.  Keeping your house address visible from the street is important, not only so the pizza guy can find your place at night, but so that a police car or ambulance can find your house at night in the event of an emergency.  These signs are easy to install.  Unlike with traditional lighting, there are no electric cables to run; solar powered house numbers, of course, get all their energy from the sun.

You can buy solar powered house address numbers online, which generally takes less time than hunting down a shop that makes them (You typically buy a sign with your address numbers on it rather than just putting stickers on the side of the house, so there is some customization involved).

One of the merchants at Amazon has a Solar Powered House Number Sign for just under $50.

Residential Security Lighting Guidelines

While most security experts will agree that outdoor lighting is part of a good home security, many homeowners may be taking the wrong approach. If you're using PIR (passive infrared) floodlights controlled by a motion sensor, you may want to take a look at this article on residential security lighting. It demonstrates some of the reasons PIR lighting might not be the best waya to deter buglars, and justifies its conclusion, that "the first choice in security lighting is the low energy photo-electric cell controlled light."

Hidden Video Cameras

So, you want hidden video cameras tucked in a teddy bear or built into a clock?  All the better to keep on eye on visitors to your home? There are a number of sites on the Web that sell small video cameras specifically for that purpose.

Smarthome offers a range of "Covert Video Surveillance Cameras" to suit your needs.  Most are designed to be easy for the do-it-yourselfer to install. Examples are hidden cameras that go in teddy bears (i.e. "nanny cams") or smoke detectors.  The wireless ones are supposed to be the easist to install, though keep in mind the wireless part usually refers to transmitting wirelessly--the cameras will still need to be plugged into a power outlet.

If you're looking for more information before you buy, this article on nanny cams discusses the pros and cons of hidden video cameras.

Solar Security Floodlights Save Energy

If you want to save energy (aka money) on your outdoor floodlights, you can try the recently mentioned LED floodlights or you may want to look into solar powered floodlights.  As with other types of solar lights, solar security floodlights take in the sun's energy during the day and store it for use keeping your yard well-lit at night.  There's no need to bother changing lightbulbs, because solar powered floodlights actually use LEDs as well. LEDs are reliable and last approximately 100,000 hours or 20 years. 

Solar–Powered Floodlight with Motion Sensor

Outdoor LED Floodlight Lasts Longer and Is More Energy Efficient

Outdoor floodlights are a good idea as part of a home security plan since lighting up your yard at night is a turn off for burglars who prefer dark shadowy places to lurk.  Floodlights on motion or heat sensors keep energy costs down, but LED floodlights are gaining in popularity and can amount to an even bigger energy savings. Though they cost a little more than incandescent floodlight bulbs to begin with, LED floodlights last 25 times longer. Considering outdoor floodlights are often placed in high spots that require ladders for changing, this increased longevity is good not only from an energy efficiency standpoint but from a fewer-trips-up-the-ladder-to-change-bulbs standpoint as well.

Though LED floodlights are not as common place as regular floodlight bulbs, you may be able to find a couple brands at your local Home Depot or hardware store. 

Backyard Pool Surveillance?

We've mentioned the benefits of pool alarms before for swimming pool owners, but that doesn't solve the question of how to keep on eye on the kids while they are in the pool (and you don't want to be).  A short article from http://www.backyardagora.com called Why Video Surveillance Cameras for the Backyard Swimming Pool Make Sense goes into the reasons why cameras in the backyard and around the pool are a good idea not only from a security standpoint but from a watching-your-kids-to-make-sure-they're-being-safe standpoint.

Deadbolt with a Thumb Latch Best Near Windows

A deadbolt is a good idea on just about any door since it adds a layer of security.  However, deadbolts right next to windows (or in doors with windows in them) might not be as helpful as you would think.  Ask yourself if someone could break one of the panes, reach through the opening, and unlock your door from the outside.  If so, that deadbolt is worthless.

There's an easy solution, though.  You can install a deadbolt with a removable thumb latch.  This way, you can simply take the latch off after you lock the door and place the latch somewhere out of reach.  These deadbolts don't cost much more than the regular ones, but they can save you a lot of money if they prevent a break in.  Ask at your local hardware store to buy one.

Moving into a New Home: Security Priorities

When you move into a new home, there are a couple security steps you'll want to take right away to ensure your family's safety.  First, change the locks.  There's no telling how many people have keys to that house, but at a minium, the old owners do.  Next, get involved with the Neighborhood Watch; if there isn't one set up, check in with the local police station and find out how to start one.  Lastly, if there is an existing home security system (burglar alarm, etc.), have a professional come out to inspect it and make sure everything is in working order.  Also, as with the locks, make sure you change the codes.

Source: May 4th, 3005 episode of It Takes a Thief

Stun Gun/Taser for Self Defense?

We want to be safe in our homes and on the street, but it's not always easy to figure out the best way.  The stun gun or taser is becoming an increasingly popular self defense weapon because it is probably not lethal (though you might want to read about taser deaths for more on that).  However, it is worth spending the time to do some research if you're considering buying one.  It's also important to get some training with a stun gun if you decide it's for you as statistics related to personal security and self defense tend to show people more likely to have their own weapons used against them in a confrontation.  Also, the knowledge that you have a weapon might make you, ahem, stupider in a given situation (the need to prove oneself, or the belief one has the means to take care of oneself, can often lead us into an aggressive move even in instances when walking away is an option).

Regardless, if you're looking for more information, here are a number of articles I've scrounged from around the Web that show how a stun gun/taser works and how they are being used.

How Stun Guns Work
Taser Guns Being Marketed to Consumers
Stun Guns at Wikipedia.org
Q&A with Taser International Co-founder Tom Smith

It's also important to note that stun guns/tasers are illegal in some areas.