Home Security Guide
Where burglars actually get in, and what to fix first
This is the short version. Every link goes to a longer guide.
Start with the front door
34% of break-ins come through the front door — more than any other single entry point. Roughly 38% of all unlawful entries involve no force at all, which usually means a door left unlocked or a window left open.
Before you buy anything: lock the door you always leave unlocked. That's free and it addresses more than a third of the risk.
Then reinforce. A security bar braced against the floor, or a barricade that pins the door shut, adds seconds and forces noise. Door security →
Then the sliding door
Sliding doors are the weakest common entry point in most homes. The factory latch is usually a small hook that can be defeated by lifting the panel out of its track. A bar in the channel stops it sliding. A pin lock stops it lifting. You want both. Sliding door security →
Then ground-floor windows
Front doors and ground-level windows together account for the large majority of entries. Window locks and 120dB contact alarms are cheap and take minutes. Window alarms →
Add noise
A 120dB alarm on a door or window does two jobs: it wakes you, and it tells whoever opened it that they've been noticed. Most opportunistic entries end at that point. No app, no hub, works in a power cut. Alarms →
Get warning earlier
A driveway alarm tells you someone is on the property before they reach the house. Driveway & perimeter →
Look like a bad target
Most break-ins happen during the day, when houses are empty. The FBI logged 216,601 daytime residential burglaries in 2024 against 174,053 at night. Looking occupied matters more than looking fortified. Deterrents →
Cover what happens if it goes wrong
Fire blankets, fireproof document storage, and something to carry. Fire safety → · Personal safety →
The honest limit
Everything above helps. None of it calls anyone. If you want a person on the other end when something happens at 3am, that's a monitored system, and it's a different product from anything we sell.
Source: FBI Crime in the United States, 2024.