Leave the lights on?

[agrumpycow]

I heard a local police blokey interviewed on local radio a couple of days ago regarding the increase in burglaries at this time of year due to darker evenings.

One of his suggestions (and it's not a new one) was to leave lights on when out when it was dark to make it look as though someone was in - not just one light by the way.

If people took notice and did this I would hate to think of the energy used, and wasted in my opinion. What are your thoughts on this?

[Duke of York]

We use an idea that I got from my mum about having lamps on timers so they come on at a set time whether we are in or out so nobody can tell

All our lamps have energy efficient bulbs in so I suppose we are keeping the wastage to a min, but in these days of trying to save energy I'm not sure it would be seen as a popular move but if it saves us from unwelcome guests I think it is worth it

[Ollie]

Suppose it all depends on the area you live in although it's possible to be a victim of burglars wherever you are. Timers are certainly a better idea than leaving the lights on all the time.

I would sooner rely on a good dog. doesn't have to be a big or nasty dog just one that barks at any activity when you are not around.

Roger

[Duke of York]

Originally Posted by Ollie

I would sooner rely on a good dog. doesn't have to be a big or nasty dog just one that barks at any activity when you are not around.

Roger

Well in that case we should be alright we have a Westie who barks not just at any activity but absolutely nothing

But we are lucky to be in a neighbourhood watch area and one of our neighbours is good and keeps a eye out while we are away

[agrumpycow]

Originally Posted by Ollie

I would sooner rely on a good dog. doesn't have to be a big or nasty dog just one that barks at any activity when you are not around.

Roger

That's actually what we do Or two in our case. They're only little but barking together sound a lot bigger than they are.

Interestingly we've had 3 burglaries in our end of the street (10 houses) in the last year or so and each of these households were not dog owners, with 5 of the others not burgled having at least one dog (makes you wonder who's watching the houses .

A timer switch would be a good move and with energy saving bulbs could make it more energy safe. I could just imagine the cumulative effect of many households leaving 2 or more normal light bulbs on all day because it will be dark when they get home.

[Ollie]

Originally Posted by agrumpycow

That's actually what we do Or two in our case. They're only little but barking together sound a lot bigger than they are.

We have two as well. An Airedale Terrier and a Standard Poodle. Both of them have the complete run of the house when we are out. No problems with dog hairs either as they don't moult. Costs a fortune to have them clipped though
Roger

[pressld2]

If you have one of the timers that plugs into a wall socket and the lamp plugs into the timer then you can use low energy bulbs in the lamp with no problems. That's what I do when we're away from home. If, however, you have the timer built into the light switch itself, as I do for my porch and patio lights, then you can't use low energy bulbs. The timer needs a miniscule current (and I do mean miniscule - about the same as needed to power a digital watch) to flow over the circuit, including the element in the bulb, at all times. Low energy bulbs have no element therefore the timer won't work. I'm amazed that bulb manufactureres still haven't come up with a solution to this. Perhaps there's not enough of us with built in timer switches to make it worth their while.

Dave P.

[agrumpycow]

Originally Posted by Ollie

We have two as well. An Airedale Terrier and a Standard Poodle. Both of them have the complete run of the house when we are out. No problems with dog hairs either as they don't moult. Costs a fortune to have them clipped though
Roger

Ours are trained to stay downstairs but I'm not wholly convinced they stick to that when they're on their own
And as for the grooming - £50 every 2 months I even bought my own clippers, clipped them once but now they still go to the groomers while the clippers are used to cut the hubby's hair

[agrumpycow]

I'm not totally convinced that leaving lights on, even with timers, is a particularly effective way of deterring burglaries.
Closing curtains and lights going on and off in different rooms, noise of a TV/radio, etc. are surely more of a sign of occupancy and cannot be replicated without a lot of effort.

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by agrumpycow

noise of a TV/radio, etc. are surely more of a sign of occupancy and cannot be replicated without a lot of effort.

My living room hi-fi has a timer function so we also have that set to come on automatically while we're away (on radio 4 of course ). But as we're double glazed I'm really not sure how effective it is. If someone broke a window while it was on they might think twice about entering I suppose.

Dave P.