Home Activities bring the comfort of your home and make a truly magical holiday gathering that everyone will enjoy. Here are ideas of family fun activities.

Tips to Better Home Security

Tips to Better Home Security

Having the best security system, is the first step to ensuring that your home is secure and safe. However, if the system is too sophisticated for the other occupants to understand, they will ignore the equipment or find a way to escape it all the same.  You should note that, the people you live with should be a part of your security plans. Hence, you must be realistic about how much; they are willing to put up with, in the name of better home security. Most importantly, do not make it easy for thieves to access your property.

Steps to enhanced security

1.    Ensure that your home appears active-Burglars are opportunistic, meaning they will wait until you are out of town, to get into your home without a hassle.  The first tip is never to allow mails or newspapers to pile up in your entrance. Instead, request a neighbor or a relative to pick them for you. You should also regulate the interior lights using timers, just as you would if the house was occupied.

2.    Another way to better home security is by laying out perimeter defenses.  This ensures that nobody gets access to your property. You can do this by investing in a high wall or fence. Nevertheless, that you own a high fence, should not make you complacent about enhancing your security.

3.    Illuminate the entrances- Most thieves like working in environments where they are not easily seen. Hence, while fences and security doors may seem like adequate measure against forceful entry, if the entrances are not well lit, they will be able to break in. There is no better way of illuminating these areas than with motion detector lights.  These can be placed anywhere to sense movement.

4.    Ensure the doors are fully secured- Most thieves concentrate to the doors. Hence, the construction of your door and the kind of locks, it features, will either allow or prevent a potential break-in incidence. For all the exterior doors, you should install deadbolt locks. The locks require a key to open.

5.    Guard your home windows- Your house may have a couple of windows. This implies that there are many points of entry.  Burglars know that sometimes you can forget to lock all the windows. Use sturdy locks on all your windows. If you have double hung windows, then, you can use window pins.

6.    Take note of all other entry points- The windows and the doors, are not the only entry points in your homer. Other access points, which burglars are likely to use include garages or any exterior structure that connects to your main house. Some other areas you need to check to better home security include attic, crawl spaces, and any other opening, which may lead an intruder into your house.

7.    Install an alarm system, if you are yet to install one.

8.    Label your valuables- In case, your possessions are stolen, the local police, will locate your valuables.


To better home security, you can employ the above tips.  This will ensure that the security in your home is at its best.

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Maintaining your Home Security without Alarms

Maintaining your Home Security without Alarms

It is paramount to feel comfortable and safe in your home. There are different ways of securing your property that are rather expensive.  Not every homeowner can afford some of these security systems. Most people cannot understand how you can achieve optimum home security without alarms. It is true you can secure your home, without investing large chunks of money, if you apply the following measures:


•    Install enough locks on your doors- Thieves love it the easier way, hence, a door with a few fortifying features will easily give in to a break-in. You might not have sensors on your door, to alert you when a thief gets near it, but if you install adequate locks, they will be discouraged.  For all exterior doors, deadbolt locks have never disappointed and are yet to.


•    Hide your spare key in a safe place- If you have an extra key, consider hiding it in a secure place. That said, the spare key should not be placed anywhere near the mat or the door frame.

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Home Security for your Garden

Home Security for your Garden

For most homeowners gardens offer the best place to relax and enjoy the tranquility of nature. To this effect, they install all manners of furniture and aesthetic objects, to make their gardens, offer the so much needed peace. It is also, where pricey artifacts and sculptures, collected from all over the world find their way. Burglars have taken note of the importance, which homeowners place on their gardens. Hence, this is their first stop, before they get into your home.  Here are some things you can do to achieve home security for your garden:

1.    Invest in a sturdy fence to run all around your garden-  The fence, should be high enough and with protective devices on top to prevent even the determined burglar from climbing down to your property. A fence is enough to deter any intruder, who may have thoughts of getting into your garden.

2.    Prevent entry from the existing passageways- If they are entry paths; guard them with a tall and strong gate. This will prevent thugs from accessing your garden or worse still finding their way to the house.

3.    Plant deterrent hedges- It is not the most secure way, but it has worked with many homeowners and it can work for you. There certain plant species, which have spikes all over their surfaces or cause an itchy effect. Those people, who are aware of such plants, will not dare come near any of them. While placing hedges all around your garden, remember not to place them so close to your entrance, as this will only give burglars a favorable environment to break-in.

4.    Guard your outdoor structures well- If you have an outdoor shed or any other structure, stretch your home security for your garden further by ensuring that they are fully locked. Otherwise, thieves will get away with your expensive garden equipments and tools. Besides, they may be used by the burglars to gain entry into your home.

5.    Keep your garden neat- As said earlier, thieves love to work in places, where there is no illumination. Hence, if your garden is all overgrown and tree branches are swirling around your house, a burglary or a break-in case will be inevitable.

6.    Install garden lighting- While garden lights have always been seen, as decor elements. They also play a significant role in improving home security for your garden. They ensure that those dark areas, are exposed, so that no intruder hides in them and creep towards the house unnoticed.

7.    Do not leave possessions such as mountain bikes unlocked- This makes them vulnerable. The same goes for the playing equipments for your kids.

8.    Contact a home security company, to tell you about the kind of a security system you need for your property.

To sum up, it is equally important to enhance home security for your garden, as it is for the entire home. This is because thieves access homes through gardens. The above guide can help you make your yard safe and secure.

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Boost Your Home security with Electric Blinds

Boost Your Home security with Electric Blinds

Climbing up on a sofa near the window, to adjust blinds, can be a daunting task for a person with a busy schedule.  Primarily, blinds like other window treatments, are made to allow light in and regulate temperatures during the cold months of winter and the hot days of summer. However, you can take boost your home security with electric blinds. They utilize a smart home technology, quite an asset in modern homes.
How do electric blinds work?

Use of a receiver

If you are shopping on a budget, you can buy blinds, which use receivers attached to all the head rails. The receiver detects a signal from the remote, to run the blind you choose. Hence, you will not adjust the wrong blind. These blind are also able to alert you in case, somebody tries to get into the house, and they are beneficial in keeping peeping toms away. For a room with four windows in total, you will need a remote with four channels and well-spaced receivers, for interrupted operation.

Radio frequency technology

When on the verge of improving home security with electric blinds, you are likely to encounter blinds, which use radio frequency control. For this, the remote does not have to be attached to the blinds, to allow a motorized control. Nowadays, remote technique, utilizes several radio frequencies to manage individual blinds. All you need to do is to point the remote to the blind, while at a distance of 65 feet and it will respond as required. Some remotes do not even require you to be along the line of sight.

Lifting mechanism

Some electric blinds operate using the same principle as the lift gates. They even have rechargeable batteries, which charge when there is optimum sunlight and keep the energy powering  the drawing up and down of the blinds, during the cloudy days. It may seem like a dream, but this surely happens. However, the extra feature comes at a price. Actually, they are a few dollars up the cost of electric blinds, which use remotes or receivers.

Benefits of electric blinds

They are necessary for sheltering out sunlight and letting in just what you need. They also regulate the temperature, when it is cold they add warmth and when it is sunny, they regulate the air coming in. Another important benefit of electric blinds is their capability to keep intruders away. They contain sensors, which can alert the entire home security system. You can ensure your home security with electric blinds, which can be controlled right from your Smartphone. This is more convenient, since you can control them, when you are miles away. This will come in handy, if you have an elderly person at home and cannot afford to stay with them all day. Blinds can do more that allowing light and keeping the room temperature at optimum. It is also proven that you can improve home security with electric blinds. The blinds allow you to control them, when you are far from them, increasing efficiency and convenience.

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Use Wi-Fi home security cameras to secure your property

Use Wi-Fi home security cameras to secure your property

Home security is an important concern for homeowners as well as for renters.  There are many security systems in the market, suit different properties.  One of the latest developments in home security systems is Wi-Fi home security cameras. These cameras are even better than CCTV cameras are easy to control remotely. While the initial installation cost is high, they are very rewarding in the end. They are designed to monitor the home and send signals in a remote way.

How do they work?

Wi-Fi home security cameras use the popular smart home technology. They use radio band to transmit both audio and video signals constantly to a remote receiver and then, connect to an Internet company. This enables the homeowners to monitor their homes, from their smart phones or tablets. The beauty with these cameras is that you can install them anywhere, the cost of installation is lower, and you can get video surveillance feeds through the Internet.
Important things that you should look for in Wi-Fi home security cameras

•    Ease of installation- Unless you want to call for a technician, find a system that is easy to install without involving a router configuration. Look also if you can find a unit with comes with a chat unit.

•    Infrared night vision- Any security camera, is not complete, if it does not allow for night vision. Ensure to find a Wi-Fi security camera system, which allows you to view at least 10 to 15 meters in highly dark areas.

•    Audio and video quality- If you are buying security cameras, just make sure they can produce quality images and audible sounds. Remember you and the local authorities will use these results to apprehend the burglars.

•    How connectible is the system- You should determine the connectivity of the security unit, using several web-enabled devices in your home, including iPad, Smartphone, iPhone, tablet and your TV screen. This will ensure that you are able to view the status of your security, no matter where you are.

•    Bandwidth usage- Since, you also use your Smartphone, tablet or the laptop, for other things; you certainly do not want a Wi-Fi camera system, which will occupy all the space there in. Hence, a unit that features external cloud storage will be most welcomed by many homeowners.

•    Versatility- Security cameras were in the past used for stopping burglaries but today, they are used to watch over children, pets, and the elderly. Therefore, if you find a security camera system, which combines all these functions, do not hesitate to invest in it.


Wi-Fi home security cameras should form a part of your security system. They are easy to install and just what you need to protect your home from theft. Furthermore, they also help you to know what is going on at home, when your children are alone at home. For some, they do home inspection on your behalf, as your workers, go about your work. Lastly, you can control them from your Smartphone among other devices.

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