Protecting your home and family is crucial – both while you are at home and not at home. Most homes are broken into during the peak winter and summer months, when people are away on vacation. Moreover, during the last ten years, over 5 million homes have been burglarized and 28% occurred when the occupant was home. These scary statistics should give you a glimpse of how important home security is. While having state-of-the-art locks and windows can help prevent break-ins, you generally need some other preventative measures to fully defend your home.

Image via: Moroso Construction

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Here are 5 home exterior security options.

Considering a guard dog to your family

There are plenty of dog breeds that work for adults and children, so that your guard dog can also make a great family companion too. More often than not, guard dogs are more bark than bite, but a loud enough bark should scary away anybody attempting to burglarize your home. You can either invest in a professional guard dog or purchase a breed, like German Shepard or Doberman, which will really look the part and protect you home.

Install smart phone enabled locks in your home

Thanks to the advent of smart phones and other devices, you can actually purchase a number of different apps that can automatically, and even remotely, lock the doors of your home. This is a great tool in case you forget to lock up before you go to sleep at night or go on a vacation. Many of these apps are as simple as a download and minimal configuration of equipment.

Invest in a good home security system

If you have a bigger budget for your exterior home security needs you can also purchase a high-end system that will secure all your window and doors with sensor-activated alarms. Best of all, many of the high-end security systems have patrol officers on the ready who will be dispatched if they see a sign of forced entry or a signal for alarm. This is not only a great way to prevent theft, but also apprehend potential burglars in the act so that you can protect your community as well.

Here, there and everywhere in the high tech world you can find a number of different small and inconspicuous cameras. By rigging your home with these cameras you can always be on the ready to see who is at your door. A number of brazen burglaries are done by force, so having a camera is a great way to see who is at the door before you open it.

Image via: David Johnston Architects

Consider safety lighting for your outdoor home

Another great way to protect your home is to get powerful floodlights that are motion activated. Turn on the mechanism at night or before you go out of town and anyone who tries to break into your home will be met with a blast of bright light. To the burglar it will look as if someone is at home and has turned on the light. Bright floodlights are one of the most effective ways to deter a burglar and safeguard your home.

For more home safety tips on Stagetecture, click here.

Modern technology, as with most of mankind’s innovations, is both a blessing and a curse depending on the given day or experience. The internet allows for information sharing on a global scale, which gives individuals the ability to solve some significant problems faster and more efficiently than ever before. However, the internet also gives you unending exposure to media, and most outlets make their money by peddling fear and doubt. Given crime rates and global unease, more and more people are turning their attention to home security, thinking they can use technology to protect their safety far more effectively than the government or the local police force. And while some may insist that placing a security sign in the front yard is all the deterrent you’ll ever need (even if the system the sign advertises isn’t actually installed in the home), proactive individuals are more interested in hunting down long-term solutions. Here are some of the cutting edge technological tools now available to keep your home safe.

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Home Safety Ideas

Some people look at the crime rates in the U.S., see the positive trends and wonder why that is the case. Many experts suggest that crime rates are dropping because cameras are much more prevalent in our society, both as part of those omnipresent mobile devices and placed permanently around our neighborhoods. Now you can bring the peace of mind that surveillance provides home with you, with the Logitech Alert 750e Outdoor Security Camera. You can have it installed and running in only a few hours, and it records right onto a microSD card. It’s motion activated, so you won’t have to screen countless hours of nothingness, and it can also connect right into your router so you can watch live video on any web browser or through one of Logitech’s mobile apps.

Another great piece of technology for your peace of mind is the Craftsman AssureLink Garage Door Opener. You purchase the hardware for $330, and you can handle the easy install yourself. Then you register the unit with Craftsman and sign up for $20-a-year service. You can open or close your garage door using Craftsman’s AssureLink app or through any web-enabled device. It’s a great way to let people inside your house while you’re away without running the risk of a hidden key being uncovered and stolen. The system also provides a great deal of data, including the amount of time the door has been left open, and a toggle for turning the lights on and off. And if your power were ever to go out, it actually has it’s own battery, so you won’t be stuck lifting that heavy garage door.

Finally, if you want a complete solution, check out the 2GIG Alarm Kit. It’s a sleek little interface with a color touchscreen that in the past has only been sold to dealers of security systems. But now you can find certain online stores that will sell it to you, and also give you permanent technical support completely for free. You’ll install it yourself, by placing sensors on each window and door in your home. The 2GIG will tell you when anything has been opened, and also uses motion sensor technology to protect your entryway. Link it up with your cell phone for only $21 a month, and control the whole thing through an app for only $6 extra. It’s truly a top-of-the-line security alarm system for a low-end price tag. And that’s just as important in this economy as issues of security.

For more home safety tips on Stagetecture, click here.