Your top home safety tips

Published on 15 June 2015

As we come into the summer months, and with burglaries on the rise, we’ve been asking you to be extra vigilant when it comes to home safety, especially if you’re going away.

As part of this drive, we asked you to share your best home safety tips on our Twitter and Facebook pages, and got a great response. Here are our favourites:

WINNING TIP:
Keep doors and windows locked when not at home, and leave the radio on, which will make the potential intruder think there is someone home – thanks to Martina Wright, winner of a €200 Homeware voucher.

Get a good guard dog, eg German Shepherd, and outdoor sensor lights are a must have – Maggie McNally

Make sure car and door keys can’t be reached through your letter box – Catherine Rafferty

Don’t leave keys in traditional places like under mats or pots. Instead wrap them in foil and bury them in a secret place in the garden – Belinda Daly

Get timer switches on interior lights that go on and off at different times, so it looks like people are coming in and out of rooms – Elisa McKenzie

Don’t post messages on Facebook or Twitter saying you’re on holiday or not home as this invites burglars into your house – Siobhán Seoighe

If you lose your keys, change the locks immediately – Emer Mary Breen

Never leave notes on your door for tradesmen or visitors when you’re not home as it’s a signal to burglars that the home is empty – Miriana Radovanov

If you’re going away for a night or more, lock each room in the house and bring the keys with you, so if someone breaks in it’ll take a lot more time and effort gaining access to each room – Aishling McSherry

Store your valuables in your child’s sock drawer as thieves always search the master bedroom leaving the kids bedrooms untouched – Pam Field

 

Thanks to everyone who took the time and trouble to send them in, we hope you find them as useful as we did. And you can find lots more tips around home security and protecting what’s most precious and personal to you here.