This shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.
We have lived in 3 different states in our 11 years of marriage. All of our moves happened within the first 6 years…and they weren’t neighboring states!! (Texas, Pennsylvania, and Indiana) In Texas and Pennsylvania we moved a few times, so add it up and we have had our eclectic mix of housing!! 😉 Apartment living, bunking with the in-laws, old homes and new ones… Now that we are in the Midwest and have absolutely NO family anywhere close, we travel often as a family and my husband travels consistently for work. Security and smart lighting is IMPORTANT, no matter where you live and the older I have gotten the more I have come to that realization! It’s a good feeling to have peace of mind that your home is safe.
SO how do you keep your home safe? Of course the obvious is a home security system that is monitored by a third party, but not everyone can afford the extra upfront AND monthly costs.
Here are a few less expensive things you can do to keep your home more secure:
- Don’t leave newspapers and flier laying around outside.
- Stop your mail when you are out of town.
- Keep your yard and landscaping well maintained.
- Don’t leave electronic boxes out on the curb. Break them down and put them at the bottom of the trashcan. Broadcasting higher ticket items is never a good idea.
- Reinforce door jams if you have a weak frame.
- Secure sliding glass doors and windows with a piece of wood or metal bar in the track.
- If you’re on vacation in the winter and you live where it snows (we do) have a neighbor either shovel a path or at least leave tire marks in you driveway. Two day old snow with no marks is a good indication no one is home!!
- LIGHT!! This is one of the best and effective ways to keep people away.
I don’t like to leave the lights on the entire time I’m away. AND now I don’t have to….I found this AMAZING new system to help with keeping the lights on (and off) while I’m away! It’s a WINK Hub that can connect to GE LED Link bulbs and can be controlled from my phone. When I’m away I can set a schedule to have them turn off and on at certain times.
Another awesome feature is you can have it set to turn on when you arrive home. (I think this is the COOLEST feature…I’m easily amused!) They come on when I pull into the driveway!!
When I’m home I can control them without even getting off the couch! 😉 (They even have a dimmer option.)
This is a new product but you can find it at Home Depot. It’s very affordable and can be used with other security featured in your home!!
My husband travels frequently, and I take advantage of the times when he’s absent to run errands that would take me away from home in the evenings. On those days, I typically am forced to turn a lamp on when I leave the house in the morning, in order to avoid coming home to a dark house way out in the middle of nowhere…but it pains me to think of the power meter ticking away unnecessarily. I need to win this! 🙂
After I lost my husband my son in law purchased a thing that you plug into an outlet, then plug in your lamp. Then you have a remote that goes on your keychain. As I pull in my driveway I hit the remote and the light comes on. Very convenient. Unfortunately I don’t have it anymore so I can’t even tell you who made it, but I’m sure a little googling will produce something.
It’s a good idea to protect your home and property.
I’ll use the GE Link bulbs and Wink Hub in our study room.
With winter coming and shorter fays, it would be great to have lighting in our front room when we come home from work at night.
Would love this! Especially the ability to turn on lights before I get home! I’ve got my fingers crossed!
I really love this system! We travel often too and this would definitely give me peace of mind! #client
Very cool idea!
I could definitely use this system since hubby and I travel to Houston frequently to shop and visit our son. What immeasurable peace of mind you’d have knowing that your home looked lived in while you’re away. Love it!
Thanks so much for introducing me to these GR products! I will use this at my mom’s house. She is 70 and lives alone. What an added sense of security!!
I would expand this system to include more bulbs. That way my house would be well lit before the sun comes up and after it gets dark at night. Enough lighting is key to safety.
I like the hub and light bulbs linked to be able to program them. That would be a great feature for when I travel and need them to come on at different times.
My husband and I go out often so it would be nice to have this when we are not home. My elderly mother lives with us and when we go away for the weekend, she would have the comfort of the lights turning on automatically. She uses a nightlight at night time and is afraid of falling.
A very cool idea i would love this.
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