Light is one of the best deterrents when it comes to burglary. Lights on in your home let potential burglars know that somebody is in the house and in most cases will prevent them from attempting to break in. You can use lighting in a number of ways in order to deter burglars. By using a combination of interior and exterior lights you can ensure that your home is much less likely to be targeted. Let’s look at exterior lights first.

Exterior lights

Exterior lights are placed on the outside of your house and usually positioned in areas where burglars would train to gain access to your home, namely above front and back doors. There are a few different types of exterior lights you can get but one of the most effective are motion sensor lights. Motion sensor lights come on when they detect movement of any kind. These types of lights are perfect if you want to make your home more secure since they’re only triggered when there’s movement in front of them. An alternative to motion sensor lights are low-watt lights that are triggered to come one when it goes dark via a photo-electric cell. Which you opt for is down to personal preference. You should speak to a lighting professional to find out what all the options are as well as their pros and cons.

Interior lights

When it comes to interior lights, you should make good use of them in order to give the impression that the house is occupied when you’re not home. By leaving lights on upstairs and downstairs, it helps to create the impression that your house is occupied. It’s not a good idea to leave only the hall light on, especially for long periods of time, since this can grab the attention of thieves just as much as having no lights at all on.

You can also get automatic switching devices that will turn the lights on and off in your home in a random order – helping to deter any would-burglars.

Remember

• Invest in some good exterior lights to deter burglars from targeting your home
• Make sure that you leave lights on in your home when it’s unoccupied at night.
• Consider investing in an automatic switcher for your home
• Don’t leave curtains open when your lights are on
• Make sure any exterior lights are positioned well i.e. above doors and main windows