One of the most basic steps you can take when building your home security system, is the setting up of garden security lighting. Garden security lighting is also one of the most effective ways of discouraging criminals and it is one of the cheapest techniques too. All in all the installation of garden security lighting is the most effective and cost-effective method of home security

Other outdoor security gadgets such as security cameras are much more expensive and only serve one purpose, that is the security of your home. On the other hand, garden security lighting can be used to provide a welcoming light to guide the way to your front door to your visitors or to light up your backyard if you want to sit outside or admire a particularly beautiful group of flowers. They are also good for illuminating a fountain on a pond.

Adding motion sensor lighting controls to your garden security lighting also increases its usefulness. The passive infra red motion sensors will pick up body heat automatically and switch the light on framing the moving object in a powerful beam. Microwave sensors provide a similar function but work on movement. They prolong the length of time the bulb will last and reduce electrical use, while ensuring you get light when you need it.

However, if you sit behind drawn curtains in your home at night, you may not see the warning of the lights coming on. Therefore, some of these garden security lighting systems have a built-in bell or buzzer which makes a sound when the light comes on. You can also have them send a signal to your main indoor alarm system control box, which will beep and let you know where the light is that was activated (front, rear or side of the house).

Garden security lighting can also be solar powered. This makes them slightly more expensive to buy but very much cheaper to put in and to run. Some of these lights are permanently fixed to the house’s fascia boards while others are just pressed into the ground. This latter sort are ideal for garden parties that go on into the night, as long as you remember to put them back where they should be before going in.

It is a good plan to direct the motion sensors of the lights some four feet above ground level or they will be activated by every cat that comes over your fence in the middle of the night. Similarly, you can turn down the sensitivity of the PIR or microwave sensors so that the sensors do not pick up birds like pigeons.

The lights have daylight sensors on them too so that the motion sensors only activate the light at night. Some of these sensors will still record movement in the daytime and report it back to the main unit if you want that.

So, all in all, there are plenty of different alternatives when you are considering home security, but garden security lighting has to come at the top of your list, if you want an effective, reassuring home security system.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with home security systems comparison. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.

When people think of home security, they are inclined to think of electronic surveillance systems. However, there are other methods to protect yourself and your family from injury and intruders. I will give you my top ten tips for home security.

1] Windows are really the key to home security. Window-stays become loose or sloppy as they get older and sometimes you can get a window-stay to jump off its peg by thumping the outside window frame. Fit window stay locks

2] Doors must be sturdy, well-hung on strong hinges and have secure locks. Fit deadlocks, especially on external doors.

3] Extra keys must not be hidden near the door under a mat, a flower pot or a stone. If you want to leave a key with a neighbour, choose the neighbour carefully. Be wary of those with teenage kids, their friends may become aware that the spare key in the fruit bowl is to your house.

4] Tools that can help a burglar must be locked away. Keep your shed and garage doors locked and if you have a ladder, chain and lock it to a fixed point like a wall.

5] Dogs are helpful for home security, but they should not be relied on. Some thieves will poison a dog to get in. If you leave your dog in the house, get a box to fit inside your door to collect whatever comes in, lock the letter box closed or seal it off for good. If you leave the dog in the garden, try to get a neighbour to check up on it from time to time.

6] Plants and bushes should not be allowed to grow big enough to obstruct anyone’s view of windows and doors. Passers-by and ‘nosy neighbours’ are a big disincentive to thieves, but if no one can see a ground floor widow, the burglar can gain access unnoticed. if you do want bushes under your windows, make them tough, thorny ones.

7] Boundary walls or fences are your first line of defense. They can be a good deterrent, if you get the style right. Some people embed broken glass into the top of the wall, but this can be against the law and can hurt unwary cats. The best thing to do is nail carpet-gripper just below the top, inside lip of the wall. Anyone putting their hands over the wall to pull themselves up will get a very horrible shock and leave DNA.

8] Valuables should not be put on show near windows. Your house is your home not a presentation case. Put your TV, DVD player and video recorder in a cabinet, maybe get a safe for your valuables but conceal that too.

9] External lighting is a key part of night-time security. Get exterior lights that are activated by motion (microwave) or heat (passive infra red), put at least one on each outside wall of your house.

10] Electronic surveillance systems are a necessity these days. You do not need cameras, but they are helpful for identifying intruders. Your home security system can be wired or wireless, monitored or not.

These top ten home security tips should prevent your home from becoming an easy target for burglars.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with wired home security systems. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.

In all likelihood, every home and every business would benefit from the security of a panic alarm. Breaks-in are common enough, but with people living longer the chances of stroke or heart attack have risen too. If you were living alone it would be dreadful to be lying on the ground incapacitated for hours. Panic alarms are the solution. They can be placed in a handy location or worn around your neck.

These are not the kind of personal alarms that emit a high pitched whistle or siren sound. Those alarms are meant to deter criminals on the street or to draw attention to the user. No, I mean a device that triggers your home security system. it does not create a noise of its own, but signals with the main security control box by some type of radio signal.

Some of these panic alarms do not activate the main security siren, but instead send a message to a monitoring security company. These so-called silent panic alarms are most often used in banks, firearms shops and places that deal with lots of cash. However, any business could use a silent panic alarm. Household alarm systems usually activate the external siren in order to signal your neighbours that you are experiencing problems.

Panic buttons are particularly helpful to the elderly or and infirm. Sometimes, people fall and cannot get up. You could also have a heart attack or stroke and not be able to make it to the phone. A panic button on a ribbon around your neck would solve this problem. Some of these panic buttons are monitored too and others even have a microphone and speaker so that you can speak to an operator and give details about your situation.

Some of these panic buttons have a keypad so that you can send codes to the operator. Other systems have been built into watches and brooches in order to make them easier to carry. If you wear your panic alarm, it is much less easy to forget to take it with you when you go upstairs or into the garden.

If you can afford security, you really ought to have a system, as good as you can afford, installed into your home and business. A panic alarm is a useful extra item for home and office use too, but it is especially reassuring to the elderly. Many older people are frightened of falling when they are in the house alone and fear of burglars or worse is a constant worry. A panic alarm linked to the main home siren is also a comfort to women living alone.

If you do get a home security system with a panic button, make sure that you keep a spare battery near at hand and check that the battery in the device has not become depleted. You should also advise the neighbours you get on best with that you have a home security set-up and that they should come to your aid or phone the police, if they hear your home security siren and see the flashing light.

Owen Jones, the author of this writer, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with home security systems comparison. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.