Smart home security tips for a worry-free Winter
This blog post is an advertorial for Hive and all content is my own.
We love our homes and I love being at home. However with the darker evenings, longer nights, visiting friends and family, and the upcoming Christmas celebrations to consider I know all too well how important it is secure your home during these months. Ever since we were burgled in our previous home just before Christmas at 4.30pm in the afternoon when it was dark I have always been very security conscious and therefore security at home is very important to me.
To provide reassurance and peace of mind we have a burglar alarm and we have doorbell camera at our current home, that are clearly visible from the front of the property and roadside. I’ve written this blog post to help you think about some of the best ways to secure your home this Winter by sharing six of my smart security tips including how a Hive Homeshield security camera can help and give you that extra peace of mind you may be looking for.
Keep all valuable items out of sight
This is a really simple thing to do, make sure that nothing of value or something that could be tempting is left on display through a window or door. Hide away all of the Christmas gift parcels as they arrive and don’t leave them piled high in your hallway next to your front door. This will also keep them away from any small hands who are on the hunt for their Christmas presents too!
Move keys, car keys and hand bags away from the front door area
All of these items are really quick and easy items to grab should anyone happen to enter your home when you’re away or when you’re not looking if you’ve kept your front door open for too long. Keep these items away from your front door and hallway reducing any temptation for these items to easily be taken.
Invest in security alarms
Consider adding a burglar alarm to your home that can easily be set if you’re away, and provide instant notification via text or phone should the alarm be triggered.
Check all doors and window locks
Make checking all locks on yours doors and windows part of your home maintenance routine. This can include checking that all windows can close and lock properly, and that all door locks work. It sounds really obvious but in reality how often do we check our window locks?
Leave a key with someone you trust
If you’re going away this winter or over the Christmas break leave a house key with a friend or a neighbour who you trust just in case there are any problems when you’re away, or to check on your property to give you reassurance that you may need.
Invest in a Hive Internal Security Camera for your home
We have recently added the Hive Homeshield Indoor Camera in White and Champagne into our living room with a view of the hallway to help provide that extra peace of mind during the winter months and over the Christmas period.
The smart camera was really easy to set up and is part of the Hive Homeshield collection, allowing us to monitor our home should we be away. Some of the benefits that I love about the smart camera is that it is fully functional on your phone, which means I can set the camera up for monitoring wherever I am and I also receive all notifications on my phone should the camera be triggered. Fingers crossed that never happens.
In addition to this the quality of the footage received to my phone is amazing. It can be live streamed so you can check on your home when you’re not there and and it can be downloaded too should it ever be needed and passed to the police.
We’ve placed our Hive View Indoor camera in our living room to capture anyone walking in from the front door through to the kitchen, walking into the living room, going up the stairs and coming down the stairs. We felt that this was the best position and viewpoint in our home for it, plus it’s also close to a power source and our router which is needed for this device. It does need to be connected to your wi-fi to allow any triggers to be sent as a notification to your phone, email or a call. For now I’ve opted for in-app notifications and email, however if we are away I may increase the notifications to include the call option, just for that extra certainty.
I found setting up the smart camera really easy to do. The components are all simply boxed together and they grip together by magnets. In terms of angling the device it’s on a swivel base and the camera can be tilted up or down depending on where you are positioning it in your home.
To set up the device on your phone first of all simply download and sign up with the Hive app. Then once you’ve completed a few administration screens your device should be set up, and you can then easily select when you want the camera to be monitoring, which can vary across the days of the week. For example if you’re going to work you can adjust the monitoring to be between 8am and 6pm on weekdays and then have different monitoring times over the weekend.
Should the smart camera by triggered by noise or movement an in-app notification is sent immediately to your phone and you are able to access the app to view footage from the camera itself.
The other good thing about the smart indoor camera is that it’s small and looks good. Although home security isn’t about looking stylish, it is nice to be able to have a camera on our sideboard that doesn’t look too obtrusive.
For only £9.99 a month, plus the purchase cost of the smart camera which has a RRP of £179.00, I think that this product is good value to provide you with the additional reassurances that you need this winter and beyond. In addition to having an indoor camera you can also have a Hive View Outdoor camera that can be fixed to an exterior wall of your home for that added extra peace of mind.
I do hope that you’ve found my home security tips useful and helpful, and help you to feel less worried or anxious about home security this winter?
Claire