Indoor
LightingWe have discussed in great detail two of the bad guy's worst enemies: visibility and noise. Now we're going to discuss the third enemy: light. There are lots of things you can do inside your house to make it extremely safe, lighting wise. But the number-one factor is very simple: NEVER leave your home completely dark, whether you are home or not!! And I do mean never. If I drive through my neighborhood after dark on a weekend-night, I would venture that half the homes are totally dark. That means the bad guy doesn't know if you're home or not, and if he's desperate enough, he'll take the chance on breaking in. If you are home, you are bargaining for much worse than a simple break-in. Here's what I have done with my home for inside lighting.
Timers
The smart home owner will connect one very visible light, e.g., in the living room, to a timer. Timers usually have four "on" times and four "off" times. So your living room light could come on at 2 a.m. and go off at 2:15, come on at 3:30 and go off at 3:40, and so on throughout the night. Do that and you have a wonderful chance of no one ever knowing if you are home, awake, asleep or whatever. Put two timers on two different lamps, set for very different times, and no one will figure out what's going on. It costs virtually nothing. Timers are very inexpensive - about $9.95 for a mechanical timer. They used to make digital timers, but even I haven't been able to find one. They had two advantages over mechanical timers: (1) They could be set for any time to the minute; (2) They could be programmed for random on-off times. So if your digital timer was programmed to go on at 4 a.m. and off at 4:20 a.m., the next night it might turn on at 4:10 a.m. and off at 4:15, and so on. Good to keep them guessing.
Lights in General
If you have a small lamp, leave it on all night if need be. A dark home is simply an inviting home. One thing I have done is install nightlights everywhere - bedroom, office (2nd bedroom), bathroom, living room and kitchen. There is always light on in my home at night. From outside, you cannot tell they are nightlights, and the added attraction is that if you have to get up in the middle of the night for any reason, you won't walk into a wall. The best nightlights are the type that have little sensors built into them and a cover in front of the bulb so that the lights come on automatically in the dark. They are not expensive at all, and if you buy a dozen 7-watt CLEAR bulbs, which provide better lighting, you're set for years.
Remember: NEVER leave your house complete dark at night, whether home or not, especially when home.
The companion piece will discuss outdoor lighting, which is equally (if not more so) important.
