ᐅ Burglar Protection: Planning Outdoor Lighting with Sensors

Joedreck schrieb:

So definitely in the dark.

Of course, the onset of darkness is often used as an indicator by intruders to determine whether someone is home or not. So, perhaps I wasn’t entirely precise in my wording. What I wanted to express is that it’s not always true, as is often assumed, that burglars only come at night.
Lighting is never a bad idea, and having burglary-resistant doors and windows on the ground floor definitely makes sense.
My point is more that, in addition to basic security measures, one should carefully consider their individual situation and exactly what risks they want to protect against. Advisory services often recommend the maximum package, which may be excessive.
I came across this today and found it amusing: "For a secure home – classic and smart video door intercom systems."
Depending on the property, this can be a nice and useful feature, for example in a typical detached house. However, when it comes to protection against apartment break-ins, its effectiveness tends to be close to zero.
Ultimately, this is like heating, controlled ventilation systems, or other technical installations in a house; the homeowner should carefully consider what is appropriate for their very own, unique situation.

pagoni2020 schrieb:


....maybe this is so rare because it doesn’t make much sense

I do think crawl space protection is useful. If a burglar approaches the building—because you haven’t covered every meter of the garden with motion detectors—and moves along the facade towards a window to break in, the light with crawl space protection would be triggered. Without crawl space protection, which unfortunately most don’t have, they can move close to the facade without the area lighting up. Right?

annab377 schrieb:

I think the anti-tunneling protection makes sense. If an intruder approaches the building because you haven’t installed motion sensors covering every meter of the garden and moves along the facade toward the entry window, the light would be triggered by the anti-tunneling protection. Without anti-tunneling protection, which unfortunately very few have, the intruder can move close to the facade without the lights coming on. Right?

If it makes you feel more secure, then you should do it. There’s no definitive proof whether it helps or not.
If you want to exclude every possible approach a criminal might take, such as “tunneling” under or near your house, it becomes a never-ending story, and in the end, something unexpected will always happen.
As @Joedreck also mentioned, the main goal is to make it as difficult as possible for an intruder to break into your home—completely preventing it is not realistic anyway.
It’s about sending a message to the “typical” burglar that it might be easier to try the house next door.
Burglars are usually quite lazy and want quick results. Therefore, it’s sensible to properly secure hard-to-see side doors, windows, or patio doors on the ground floor with effective burglary protection. That seems like sufficient and reasonable protection against home break-ins. If you want to protect yourself against other things, or fear certain situations (e.g., unwanted people at the door), then you might consider a peephole in the door or an intercom system.
In general, I find the “watering can” approach used in this area a bit excessive—trying to act overly cautious to feel supposedly safer.

Security is subjective. As previous posters have mentioned, more is involved than just lighting. A dog (regardless of size) is more of a deterrent. There should also be adequate mechanical protection.

Be clear about how much "security" you want or need and what you are willing to spend. A proper security plan covers many areas and comes with a corresponding cost.

Mushroom head locks on windows would be the first step to deter opportunistic burglars.

pagoni2020 schrieb:

Therefore, equip hard-to-see side entrance doors, windows, and patio doors on the ground floor with proper burglar protection.

And even if this hard-to-see door is under floodlight—organized burglars know exactly where to go to avoid being seen. Anyone who carefully looks at their house from the visitor’s side will notice these hidden areas. But anything that seems subjectively secure should also be implemented.

For example, we don’t have much in terms of security measures except mushroom locks, a visible dog food bowl, and on the patio there are a coffee cup, shoes, and garden tools left near the patio door—making it look like we just quickly stepped inside the house. I arrange this before every vacation, and then I feel comfortable.