Interior/Indoor Lighting For Home Security & Deterring Burglars
Lighting for the interior of your home is one of the most important factors to consider with home security. Having well thought out interior lighting is important for home safety as well as deterring burglars from entering your home. Below are some tips to keep in mind with interior lighting for home safety purposes as well as deterring burglars.
Home Safety
Interior lighting is important for easy free viewing of rooms in the home. It is important to analyze your switch circuit and ensure there is appropriate lighting in all areas of your home. In your evaluation, be sure to make sure your switch circuit makes sense. Do you have to cross a dark room to turn on a light switch? You always want to be able to see what is in the room without having to cross it. This is also important if you awake at night and need to check something out or get the phone. Below are some tips for wiring interior lights that make sense.
- Light switches at all entrances to a room: It is important to not walk across a dark room to turn on or off a light switch. If there are multiple entrances, consider 3 way switches.
- Install lights in dark areas of your home: All areas of your home should have have the potential to be well lit. This is important for you while wondering your house at night and to limit the places intruders can hide inside.
Burglar Deterrent
Burglars tend to pray on homes that they know the owners are out for the night or on vacation. Burglars typically will not attempt a robbery when someone is home, so it is important to make your home seem as if someone is there, even if they aren't. One excellent way to do this is through some clever security lighting devices.
Why Clever Security Lighting?
The whole point here is to make it seem as if you are actually home. Some burglars are smart in the way they evaluate homes and if they see the same light on all day and all night, that is a dead giveaway that you are likely not home. Even if they see a light go on around dinner time and off at bed time at the same time each night, this can be a giveaway as well. Using clever tactics can make it nearly impossible for a burglar to tell that it is an automated system turning the lights on and off. Timers are great to use for overnight trips and especially for long vacations.
Timers can range from small simple timers with limited programming abilities that can plug into a wall socket to a wall switch timers with many advanced timer settings as well as heavy duty timers that can control heavy duty appliances such as TVs, radios and more. Using timers in a clever way can easily create the illusion that someone is home. When coming up with an automated system try to recreate what would actually happen if someone were home. Also, be sure that the lights and changes that are done are visible from the outside looking in so it will deter burglars looking from the outside.
Some suggested types of security lighting
- Photocells: Photocells will automatically activate lights when the sun goes down. This is a great option to put in doorway entrances so no one ever comes home to a dark house.
- Plug in timers: Simple plug in timers are great for lamp shades and other plug in lighting that you may have. Be careful being too simple with these. A light that is programmed to go on and off the exact same time each day can be a tell tale sign that no one is home.
- Programmable Timer Switch: Many of these come with 7 day programmable options and can change the time the lights go on and off each day.
- Heavy Duty Plug in Timer: These are good options to hook up to appliances that draw more power than a standard lamp, such as a TV.
Other Popular Home Security Topics
Outdoor Home Security Lighting
Having outdoor security lighting can protect your home from burglars. Understand how these lights work and why they are effective in protecting your home.
Increase the security of your home by starting with the exterior. Burglars assess homes from the outside, know how to deter them before they try anything.
Interior home lighting is very important for home security. A well thought out interior lighting setup can improve home safety as well as deter burglars.
