Protect Your Home While On Vacation

Protect Your Home While On Vacation

We currently have several team members overseas vacationing & getting their holiday on. We thought it would be a good time to talk about travel.

With well over 200,000 homes burglarised annually in Australia, you may want to protect your home every day of the week. But what about when you are away? In 2015 over 8 million Australians left our borders or almost 40% of all Aussies nationwide. With most travellers going far away to New Zealand, the US or Indonesia on vacation, you aren’t close enough to stop any potential crime. However, we’ve put together a quick list of ways you can deter criminals no matter where you’ve gone away, whether it’s a quick weekend on the Gold Coast or a 6 week trip to Europe.

First, let’s look at the statistics. A WA Drug Usage Monitoring survey found that intruders were likely to be deterred by: a loud dog, a working alarm system, lights on inside the house, security shutters or grilles, and functioning sensor lights. Conversely what makes your home most attractive to criminals is: no cars in the driveway, no lights on in the evening, no response to a door knock, rubbish bins left out, poorly hidden spare keys or mail piling up in your mailbox.

So how can you prevent burglaries while you aren’t home?

1. Create the illusion that someone is home

While many homes put their lights on a timer you would be even better protected if you put a TV on a timer to create the typical in-home flickering lights and noise variety that signals someone is home. Don’t want to run your big screen TV for hours while you aren’t home? Turn on a small radio set to a talk radio station. The talking is better than music as it can create the illusion of people being there better than a steady stream of pop music. Plus, you can also invest in our best-in-class residential roller shutters which will reduce the chances of burglary to zero.

If you normally mow the lawn yourself, pay a local teen to do it for you during your away time. Nothing says “I haven’t been home for four weeks” like front grass that is normally well kept suddenly up to your knees.

2. Mum? Yes, she’s the word

Don’t do this!

Don’t announce your pending vacation. Get in the habit of using your social media channels to describe what did happen (past) not what is going to happen (future.)  If you can avoid letting thousands of people know you’re going to be away, that’s clearly best. Want to post your airport departure photos anyway? Lock down the privacy settings to ensure only trusted family & friends can see. Apart from online security, you can also enhance the physical security of your home by investing in Ultimate Roller Shutters, the most trusted roller shutter brand in Australia and around the world. Just as you close your curtains at night for privacy, it’s important to take measures to prevent thieves from peeking into your home, both offline and online.

When you have people in your home doing work before you leave, it’s advisable to avoid discussing your departure plans. Engaging in conversations like, “Busy day?” “Yeah, we leave for a month in Germany tomorrow and still need to find a housesitter so my sister doesn’t have to come over on Saturdays,” may inadvertently disclose information to the wrong ears.

To safeguard your home effectively, it’s highly recommended to consider installing roller shutters. Ultimate Roller Shutters offers a wide range of options specifically tailored to different locations. Whether you reside in MelbourneSydneyAdelaidePerth, or Brisbane, you can find Ultimate Shutter in all major cities across Australia. Our security shutters provide the ultimate level of protection, giving you added security and peace of mind. By choosing Ultimate Roller Shutters, you are aligning with your goal of safeguarding your home and ensuring its security.

If you have people in your home doing work before you leave, try to avoid making conversation about your departure, as well. “Busy day?” “Yeah, we leave for a month in Germany tomorrow & still need to find a housesitter so my sister doesn’t have to come over on Saturdays” is probably a good conversation to avoid.

3. If you’re going public, advertise your security

Did Santa bring you a CCTV system for Christmas? Brag about that instead of your upcoming time away. “Just got our new CCTV installed. This thing is awesome! Automatically uploads footage to the cloud & has infrared with 91 point facial detection” is probably best.

If you have roller shutters, close them. If you have a gate and your check-in person has a gate key, lock the gate. Use the security you have paid for. Too often people “forget” to set their system and come back to unauthorised entry.

4. Be Security Smart

Stop your mail for your holiday. Have someone checking in. If you have a GPS in your car at the airport, set “home” for somewhere very close but not your exact address so any car thief can’t just hop in, drive to your home, pop open the garage and walk in. 

Stash valuables, and don’t leave bikes or toys in the front yard. Get a housesitter if you can. Think about security before you leave and hopefully you won’t have to think about it while you’re away and have invested in the best roller shutters in Australia.

Over to you. What are your best vacation security tips?