How To Use Smart Devices to Protect Your Home.As the holiday season approaches, many people will be away from home for extended periods. Consequently, crime gets worse at this time of year – for all the goodwill in the air, thieves know that an empty house is an easy target.
But what if the house didn’t look empty? Smart home technology allows you to create the appearance of being in your home, even when you are several flights away.
No security system is reliable, but thieves need easy targets. If you make your home too difficult to burglarize, most would-be burglars will go elsewhere. We’re not going to talk about CCTV cameras here, as we’ve talked about this before and this is an obvious deterrent.
This article will show you how to keep your vacation home safe. We have previously covered how to protect your smart home devices from hackers, but here we will talk about using smart devices to protect your home.
Move the curtains & shades as normal
Smart blinds allow you to open and close your blinds from afar. Opening them in the afternoon and closing them in the evening creates the feeling that someone is at home. By closing the blinds, you can hide valuables inside your home, but if they close for several days in a row, this is a sure sign that you are not at home.
However, if you are opening the blinds, make sure that all seductive objects are hidden from view. For example, do not leave expensive game consoles in sight or store jewelry on the windowsill. You can program your smart blinds to open and close at specific times of the day, or you can do it yourself from your phone.
Use a smart thermostat
Protecting your home during your absence is not only about protecting against unwanted elements, but also ensuring the safety of items inside the home.
Many people set the thermostat to a much lower temperature when they are not available in winter to conserve energy, but if it gets too cold it can damage temperature-sensitive items in the house. You also burn a lot of energy by returning your home to its normal temperature when you return.
The best alternative is to use a smart thermostat and put it in “eco†mode. This mode takes weather data from the Internet and sets the temperature based on the outside temperature. This will prevent hypothermia in your home (and save you the hassle of coming back from travel) while keeping your utility bill in check.
Set outdoor lights on regular schedule – but keep indoor lights random
Street lights should be turned off during the day and on at night. A deviation in this pattern, for example when the light remains on continuously, signals that no one is home.
If you have a smart switch, you can set it to Away mode, which turns it on and off at random. If you leave the lamp on, the light will turn on and off as if someone were in the house. Smart bulbs can do something similar.
It’s also a good idea to connect your TV to a smart switch so you can turn it on and off.
Install a security system
One of the main benefits of a smart home is how easy it is to connect a smart security system to it. Security systems offer many benefits such as live video coverage of your home, motion detectors, sirens, and more.
These devices alone are often enough to scare off potential thieves, especially if they are visible from the outside. If someone turns on a siren in the house, it will get more attention than most burglars would like.
However, you can link your smart home system to your home security system for even greater effect. If someone activates the motion sensors, the lights in the house may come on. You can make the light blink and blink. This gives you the opportunity to take your security system to the next level.
Use the smart lock to monitor your door
Home security systems include door and window sensors that alert you if any entrance is open. If you don’t have a security system, a smart lock can serve the same purpose. Not every smart lock will alert you if the door is open, but it will alert you if the door is open.
Smart locks are also a great way to let friends or family in who can keep an eye on the house while you are away; you never have to worry about the door being unlocked. In many cases, Smart Lock is automatically locked after a certain amount of time. Otherwise, you can lock the door simply by tapping on the phone.