GMan Creative Dot Net

Archive for March, 2009

What can you do to safeguard your home if your house keys accidentally end up in the wrong hands? That’s a question nearly two out of every three American homeowners should consider closely, according to a new study.

The study, Danger at America’s Doorstep: Who Has Keys to Your Home?, looked at how homeowners protect–or fail to protect–their house keys and safeguard their home.

The survey found that a majority (64 percent) of American homeowners have knowingly circulated their house keys outside of their immediate family and nearly one-third (27 percent) of American homeowners have given out a key three or more times.

Every 15 seconds a burglar breaks into a house, apartment or condo in the U.S. Burglars are often quick to attack a home’s easiest point of entry, and nothing’s easier than unlocking a front door with a set of keys. According to John Heppner, President and CEO of Fortune Brands Storage and Security, including Master Lock Company L.L.C., “Too many Americans underestimate the potential risks they invite to their homes when they let their house keys wander.”

Fortunately, there are ways to prevent strangers from entering your home–even if they have your key. For example, the Master Lock NightWatch™ Deadbolt looks and works just like a standard deadbolt lock, but it offers a powerful new security feature-a patent pending blocking function that locks out all keys.

To activate, owners simply lock the deadbolt as they would a standard deadbolt and then pull the lever towards them. This simple motion locks the deadbolt into an “engaged” position that blocks out any key. The lock can only be engaged or disengaged from indoors and can be easily installed in any standard entry door, replacing any other standard deadbolt.

To safeguard their homes, homeowners should:

1. Keep keys secured where they won’t be forgotten or left behind.

2. Don’t hide keys in “secret” places outside your home-experienced burglars can usually find them.

3. Never attach your keys to anything that lists your name, address or phone number, and never leave them behind in a locked (or unlocked) car.

4. Always separate your house keys from your car keys each time you valet your car or drop it off for maintenance.

5. Only give your keys to someone who will watch over them as if they were their own.

Now that you’ve weathered the winter, the door is open for you to focus on the maintenance of your home-not only the inside of your home but outside, too, making sure the house is safe and properly maintained. Doing this will help to prevent safety risks and costly repairs in the future. Dan Steward, president of Pillar To Post, North America’s largest home inspection service, offers these suggestions:

Inspect the deck: Wooden decks can become damaged and corroded from the harshness of winter. See if nails or screws are popping up. Clean the deck and seal it.

Check electrical outlets and extension cords: Replace any loose-fitting plugs or frayed extension cords to prevent a fire hazard.

“Degrease” the garage: If the family car has been leaking oil or other fluids onto the garage floor all winter, now is a great time to clean it up. A greasy garage floor is slippery and potentially a fire hazard. Use nontoxic, nonflammable, biodegradable degreasers such as Simple Green. Pour the concentrate on liberally and scrub with a nylon brush. Cover the area with about an inch of kitty litter and let it sit for 24 hours. Sweep away the kitty litter for a clean floor at low cost.

Improve the yard with size in mind: Look to see how plants and trees have grown during the past year. They may be too large and could cause damage to the home’s structure. Leave enough space between the house and those baby shrubs you’re planting to allow 12″ between the plant and wall. This provides adequate ventilation and reduces the risk of future damage.

Clean the A/C: Use your garden hose to rinse off the evaporator coil fins on your A/C condenser unit.

Check the garage door: The garage door can weigh up to 400 pounds. Springs and balancing mechanisms can fail over time, which can cause great damage to the door and harm to people around it. Now’s a good time to take a close look at the springs.

To avoid safety risks and expensive repairs down the road, it’s always a good idea to get a complete home inspection from a reputable and established company such as Pillar To Post.

Inspect smoke, radon and carbon monoxide detectors: Test them and change the battery every three months or as needed. Be certain there is a detector on each floor of the home.

A home security camera or series of cameras can be an excellent addition to an already effective home security system. A home security camera is used for a variety of purposes. The primary purpose is to act as a visual deterrent to would be burglars. In most cases, having a home security camera or several cameras installed on your property is likely to discourage a potential burglar. For most homeowners convincing them a home security camera would be beneficial isn’t the problem. The problem is convincing them that buying a security camera isn’t as overwhelming as it seems. This article will offer tips for choosing the right home security camera for your needs.

One of the first aspects of a home security camera to consider is whether you will use a wireless home security system or one that requires connection to a power source. There are many security camera options that are wireless. This means the camera does not need to be connected to an external power supply and there is no need for wires. However, the camera still requires a source of power which is often an internal battery. A wireless home security camera may be easier to install because there is no wiring but it can be more difficult to maintain because the batteries may need to be replaced or recharged frequently.

The location of your home security camera should also be considered before you make your purchase. In most cases, a home security camera is installed outdoors. This requires several considerations. Protection of your camera from the weather elements is very important. You should choose a home security camera that is designed to work well in your environment. You should also consider where you wish to install the camera. To effectively deter a burglar, the home security camera should be installed in location of high visibility because burglars will not be deterred if they do not see the home security camera. This will affect your purchase because you will want to choose a home security camera that will be easily installed in the desired location.

Finally, you should decide how you wish to record the images from your home security camera. The recordings from your home security camera can be recorded in a variety of ways including on video tapes, DVDs and on your computer. You should determine which method you want to use before purchasing a home security camera to ensure the camera you choose is compatible with your method of recording.

There are many options available for those who wish to purchase a home security camera. All of these options can seem overwhelming and may intimidate some homeowners from making a purchase. It is important to remember that careful research will make the purchase of a home security camera a much simpler process

A basic locking cabinet can secure valuable papers or personal items but it will not protect them from theft or fire damage. Only safes can provide a superior level of protection for documents, jewelry, guns and personal items. Computer data that would be difficult or impossible to duplicate if lost. Home and business security systems require the addition of security safes to eliminate the possibility of data and document loss due to fire and climate disruptions.

The proliferation of home robberies are classified as “snatch and grab.” The intruder invests approximately 3-5 minutes within the home. The very presence of a home security safe is a deterrent to such robberies. Any additional time invested within the home increases the odds of apprehension. Theft prevention and climate control management have rendered security safes a requirement for any home, office or business. The needed security afforded by home and business safes completes any existing security control system. Home security safes offer protection of personal documents, jewelry and irreplaceable items. Home safes are a major deterrent from robbery and provide needed security from fire and climate changes. Advance Safes offer a large inventory of wall safes, floor safes, fire safes, gun safes, and electronic digital safes. Home safes are a perfect compliment to any home security system.

Fire could destroy your business! In fact, eight businesses burn almost every hour in the U.S. resulting in over 2.3 billion dollars in annual losses.* Unfortunately, seven out of ten businesses have not adequately protected their vital records. When that information is destroyed a business often fails. Don’t become a company that incurs fire damage resulting in critical loss of data (customer, personnel, accounting files, etc.) by not utilizing quality fire and data media safes. Survival is possible but preparation is necessary.

Security safes are an essential protection against fire, theft and climate changes. Theft prevention, fire protection, data security and storage are a requirement for any business or home office. Advance Safes offer a complete inventory of fire safes, data media safes, depository safes, floor safes, treasury safes (TL-15 and TL-30), vaults and hotel safes. A quality safe is an essential requirement for any business security system. A safe investment is a long-term security dividend. Please consider our inventory of security safes as a welcome addition to any home or office environ. Contact us at: advancesafes@hotmail.com.

*Source: National Fire Protection Association article Fire Loss in the U.S. During 2004 Abridged Report.

To view our inventory of home and business safes visit

http://www.centurionsafes.com

Lights have long been known as a means of welcome family and guests. Sailors were often welcomed home by finding that those who loved them most left candles glowing in the windows. However, today we find lights a key partner in staving off a criminal element from invading our homes. It is remarkable how effective a well thought out lighting plan can be in securing personal property.

Confusion can be an ally in the security of your home. A simple electronic timer can be an effective means of convincing burglars that you are home. When lights turn on and off at various times, a burglar may come to believe that someone is in the home and entertain second thoughts about the viability of a robbery attempt. Timers can also be used to turn home entertainment centers on and off in your absence lending credibility to the belief that there is someone inside the home. These timers can be one of the most cost effective forms of the use of light to deter both budding as well as more experienced burglars.

Many homeowners have used dusk to dawn lighting as part of their home security plan. While this does provide a measure of protection it may do little to actually alert homeowners to any theft potential due to the light’s consistent glow throughout the night. Unless a neighbour sees the intruder or someone in your own home is awake to monitor events, robbers may simply approach the home in the same manner they might under the cover of darkness. Furthermore, a ‘dusk to dawn’ system will also require more frequent bulb replacement as well as an increase in associated energy costs.

For the outside of your home we recommend an effective canvassing of your property with motion sensing lighting. In this set of circumstances, well placed lighting activates when movement is picked up by the light’s sensors. Lights should be strategically placed to cover all entrances to your home and should operate independent of any other lights in your home. If these lights are well positioned they can make it very difficult to for a burglar to slink onto your property without appropriate detection. This type of lighting can temporarily disorient the thief and provide you with an opportunity to get a good look at the offender without them being able to see you. It is important to remember that lights such as these should be placed out of arms reach. When this tip is not followed burglars realise the lights may be easily destroyed on a subsequent visit. Another satisfying feature of motion sensing lighting is its ability to operate using much less electricity than traditional dusk to dawn lighting.

Some homeowners have considered a unique blend of dusk to dawn lighting and motion sensing technology. In this scenario, outdoor lighting remains available consistently using low wattage. This can provide a warm glow to your property. When motion sensing technology detects movement the lights immediately switch to full illumination. The effect combines both an esthetically pleasing night time look to your home with an efficient theft deterrent.

Burglaries are an ongoing issue and homeowners can provide the most effective means of thwarting robbery attempts. Those who burgle are primarily males under 25 years of age. They are typically looking for easily portable items like jewelry, cash, guns and laptop computers that can easily be sold. While force of entry can and is used in many burglaries, the primary choice of a robber is easily accessed properties. Three of the best deterrents we know of are proper lighting, lack of ready accessibility to your home and home security systems or burglar alarms. When these three are combined, burglars are more than willing to avoid your home. You are no longer viewed as an easy target. Should your neighbourhood provide a united front by including these features in the majority of homes, you will discover a more secure atmosphere for your family.

We know that lighting alone can not prevent crime nor can it absolutely assure the ultimate safety of your family, but statistics prove that a well lit property is an effective crime deterrent and is regularly used as a primary component in comprehensive home security plans.

http://www.musthavesecurity.com/security-lighting.asp

We make it through because we learn how to use these tools safely, which should always be the primary focus where firearms are concerned. Safety becomes doubly important when firearms and children are in the house. Unsupervised kids and guns do not mix, so it’s important to start educating your children about firearms safety at an early age.

Remove the Mystery
Take the time to instruct your kids about guns, remove the mystery and neutralize the “forbidden fruit” syndrome. Take your children to the range and let them shoot your guns under your supervision. Help them learn how they work and the proper way to handle them safely. Above all, make them respect what firearms can do.

Develop a Fall-Back Plan
Should an intruder break into your home, do they know what to do? More important, do they know where to go to avoid injury should you have to defend them? One of the big dangers in using any firearm for home defense is that you run the risk of hitting the wrong person. It’s easy for a bullet to penetrate through some drywall and hit somebody on the other side or even exit your house and hurt a neighbor.

The use of deadly force should always be a last resort, and firearms owners should be well versed in their state and local laws. Once again, your brain is your greatest safety tool. You probably have worked out a fire plan with your family, so doesn’t it make sense to work out a home-invasion plan? You should know where the other family members are located. You should also know where it’s safe to shoot and where it’s not safe.

Consider loading your handgun with specialty ammunition designed to reduce penetration and the chances of a ricochet. Perhaps the best known and most proven ammo of this type is the Glaser Safety Slug. The Glaser uses a bullet with a thin jacket filled with small birdshot covered with a soft plastic tip. It’s been proven to work well in stopping intruders but won’t penetrate walls as easily as conventional loads do. Educating your children and establishing a fall-back plan for your family is all part of being a responsible gun owner. It’s how we ensure their safety, whether it’s with our lawn mowers, power saws, gas cans or firearms.

One of the best investments a gun owner can make is a gun safe. Not only does it provide reasonably good protection from theft, but it keeps guns out of the reach of curious young hands and provides a ventilated environment for uncased firearms