It’s the holiday season in Edmonton, and many are going on vacation to escape the cold, or travelling to see family for Christmas. While most of us look forward to travelling, coming home to find that someone else made use of you not being home can leave you feeling frustrated and your privacy violated. (Did you know? Alberta has the second-highest rate of break-ins in Canada.) 

So, how can you secure your house while on vacation? And can you protect your house and home without a security system?

Thankfully, there are some simple, practical things that you can do to greatly reduce the likelihood of theft or breaking and entering. We have you covered with a list of steps you can take, most being completely free or very budget-friendly. 

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Light It Up

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Should you leave the lights on when you go on vacation?

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Lighting goes a long way to deterring would-be criminals from attempting to break into your home or steal from your yard. But, leaving the lights on can get pricy or lead to other issues.

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Motion-detection outdoor lights keep criminals from being able to approach your home in the dark and do their work unnoticed. Setting indoor lights to a timer makes it look like somebody is home, rather than leaving the house sitting dark for days or weeks on end. 

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If you do not have the technology set up for setting your indoor lights to a timer, consider having somebody come by your house in the evenings and spend some time indoors with the lights on. This is a much cheaper and safer alternative to leaving your lights on while you are on vacation! 

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Don’t Broadcast It

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Keep your travel plans offline. Even if your profile is set to private, it is best to avoid all risks of someone somehow seeing your plans online. 

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It’s tempting to update your social media with photos and videos of your time away, but we encourage you to save those photos and videos for later and to share them once you are back home. Bonus: sharing them after vacation helps to drag out that vacation feeling for a while longer. 

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Lock Up Your Valuables

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Keep your valuables tucked away behind lock and key to ensure they’re not easily visible nor easily accessible. 

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Another good idea is to adjust your blinds and curtains the way you plan on having them when you’re gone, and then walk around your house and see what can be seen from the outside. Make sure that televisions and other items that could be tempting to steal, can not be seen from the outside. 

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Any hints of valuables should be removed as well. For example, if you just purchased a big-ticket item, don’t leave the box sitting outside by the recycling. This lets people know that you likely have this item in your home and can tempt them to break in. 

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Double Check

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Check every window, door, and any other point of entry for your house, garage, and other structures you have on your property. Make sure all of it is secure and locked (and that all the locks work) before you leave. 

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If you have any spare keys, now is the time to check that those are not hidden outside somewhere! Be sure to bring them in and tuck them away safely. Intruders are definitely well aware of the most popular hiding places for spare keys and do check to see if they can find them.

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Don’t Forget the Garage

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If you have a keypad that can open your big garage door from the outside, consider disabling it while you’re gone. If your garage door opens via a remote controller, it’s also smart to disconnect the remote from the door. This is because your garage remote could potentially be hacked, allowing thieves to get into your garage.

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And, since many garages are attached to the house, this can also give the thief easier access to your home. 

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Hide the Signs

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Depending on how long you plan to be gone, it can be smart to take some extra steps to cover up the fact that you’re not home.  Consider how much mail you might get while you’re gone, if your landscaping will start to look neglected (ex.: noticeable unshoveled snow), if packages and newspapers might collect at your door, etc. 

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If you might be gone long enough for these signs to give you away, have someone stop by to do some snow shovelling and mail checking for you. Another option is to go to the post office and have them pause your mail delivery. 

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Make it Look Lived-In

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You don’t want potential intruders to be able to look into your home through your windows. That way, they might see something they want to try to steal, or they’ll realize you’re not home and feel comfortable breaking in.

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On the other hand, closing every blind and keeping everything shuttered can make it appear far too obvious that you’re gone. Try to find a balance between ensuring nobody can see into your home, and leaving some blinds open so that your home still looks lived-in. This might be easier to do with second-floor windows, indoor lights on a timer, etc. 

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Speaking of making your home look occupied at all times, try to find a trusted friend or loved one who is able to come check on your home regularly while you are gone.  Whether they’re helping you with chores and your plants or just hanging out in your home for a bit to make some noise and create movement - it’s a good idea to have someone check in multiple times while you’re not home. 

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Get a House Sitter (or Pet Sitter)

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If you really want to make sure that your place looks lived in while you are gone, getting someone to house-sit is a great way to ensure your place is occupied. It can be a more expensive option, but you can again ask friends or family members as they may be willing to do you a favour for a more budget-friendly price. 

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If you have pets, this is a win-win as pets often do better when they get to stay in their familiar home environment rather than when they are boarded away from home. 

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Pack Away Ladders and Other Equipment

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Tools can be used by suspicious persons to gain entry into your home. They can be used to smash windows, pick locks, get into your shed or garage, etc. Ladders are a great way to access higher-up windows. 

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Ensure that these things are stored away, out of sight. 

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Park It

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If you’re not bringing your car on vacation with you, consider parking it on the driveway while you’re gone. Otherwise, you can also ask a neighbour to use your driveway as their parking space until you’re back. This helps make your home look occupied. 

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Change Your GPS Settings

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If your car will be left somewhere visible and potentially accessible, make sure that you’re not leaving a portable GPS inside the car. This could be an item considered valuable enough to break into the car and steal.

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However, there’s another reason you don’t want your GPS visible: your home address. Many (if not most) of us have our home addresses saved in our car’s GPS. Burglars know this and can use your GPS to get your home address and break in. This is especially true if your car is left in a long-term parking spot at the airport, where suspicious persons assume that those parking their cars there are out of town. 

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If your car’s GPS is built in, be sure that you go into your saved locations and either delete your home address or change it to something random.

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Get a Doorbell Camera

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Doorbell cameras can be a great way to add an extra layer of security to your home. You’ll get notified, regardless of where your travels take you, and you can even speak to the person at your door if need be. Just make sure that you don’t let it slip that you’re out of town! 

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The footage filmed and stored by the camera can also be used as extremely helpful evidence, should the unfortunate happen and someone break into your home. 

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Tell Someone

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While it’s not a good idea to broadcast your plans, do pick a trusted individual with whom you can share your travel plans. Let them know where you’ll be, and leave behind your number and other ways to get in contact with you. This is important should something happen with your home while you are away or for people to best be able to help you should something happen to you while you are gone. 

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Hope for and expect a smooth, drama-free trip, but plan for things going wrong - just in case. 

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Summary

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If you follow the above steps, you’ll greatly reduce your chances of having someone notice that you are gone and abuse your absence. 

To condense things down in an easy-to-see summary, here are the above steps again: 

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✅ Light it up

✅ Don’t broadcast it 

✅ Lock up your valuables 

✅ Double check (locks, closed doors and windows, etc.)

✅ Don’t forget the garage

✅ Hide the signs (mail, newspaper, garbage, landscaping, etc.)

✅ Make it look lived-in

✅ Get a house sitter (or a pet sitter)

✅ Pack away ladders and other equipment 

✅ Park it (park a car on your driveway)

✅ Change your GPS settings

✅ Get a doorbell camera 

✅ Tell someone