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Traveling this holiday season? You are not alone, last year 63.9 million Americans traveled during the holidays. This leaves a lot of homes left unoccupied and vulnerable to criminals. To ensure a safe, worry-free trip, Protection One, the third largest U.S. provider of security systems to homes and businesses, has provided 15 simple cost-free tips for securing your home over the winter holidays:
- Secure all windows, including those upstairs. To reduce the chance of easy entry, cut tree limbs away from second-story windows.
- Have a neighbor remove snow from walkways and driveways while traveling. If this is not possible, have a friend put tire tracks in your driveway to make it appear that someone is there.
- Make sure to keep high-ticket items, such as gifts, out of windows.
- Ensure the address of your house is always visible from the street in case of emergency.
- Keep the heat at 55 degrees or higher to ensure that pipes don’t freeze and cause flooding.
- Remove objects that might allow access to your home, such as ladders or trashcans that could be used to enter a window or scale a fence.
- Do not leave a Facebook, Twitter, Myspace or any other online message letting people know that you will be out of town.
- Turn your telephone ringer down, so no one outside can hear repeated rings, and review your answering machine message to make sure it does not imply you are away.
- Make sure to have all mail, newspapers and deliveries stopped or picked up by a neighbor, friend or relative.
- Never leave a key hidden outside. Burglars know all the best hiding places.
- Have a friend move your car occasionally if it is parked in the driveway.
- Use timers to operate lights.
- If you have a real Christmas tree make sure to dispose of it before your travels and never use holiday lights on it while out of town.
- Take care when disposing of product packaging, so that you aren’t “advertising” recent, high-dollar purchases.
- If you have a security system, ask your alarm provider about wireless backup or Web-enabled security in the event your phone line fails or is tampered with and so that you can receive convenient alerts via your cell phone or other PDA.