Did you know that there is a residential burglary every ninety seconds in Canada and every 18 seconds in the United States? As very well, respectively, 80 percent and 60 percent of these break-ins occur during the day?
You also need to know that the garage is a good entrance point to do this, as often valuable belongings are maintained there, such as motorcycles, mountain bikes, etc.. And do you know another thing: it is frequently through negligence that these robberies occur? How exactly?
We too often forget to precisely lock our car doors, like when we go to the mall…
Thieves know how to be discreet while walking through parking lots and checking if the doors of your car are all locked. If they aren’t, they will assess if the remote-control door-opener for your garage door is clipped to your sun visor. If that is the case, they then search for your registration to get your residence address. And that’s it! … In less than thirty minutes, they will have committed their crime.
Does that only happen to others? Perhaps – But only in case, below are some tips that will help you avoid this kind of situation.
First and foremost, do you know how old your electric garage door opener door is?
Not sure or no idea? Then take a good look at the label on the motor housing. This information is most commonly utilized by lifting the plastic cap that guards the lightbulb.
If the date is before 1993, now is the time to seriously contemplate changing it for the sake of your safety and that your family.
Before this date, the way of coding the signal to operate the door-opener was via dip switches (in position 0, +, ” ). It is quite easy then for thieves to”scan” your code and keep coming back later to input illegally.
Never leave your remote-control in plain sight in your car
- Do not leave it clipped it on your sun visor.
- Hide it in a place in which thieves won’t think about looking for it. If necessary, bring it with you.
- Use a mini remote-control control (375UT) that can be clipped on your keyring. However, a word of advice if you happen to leave your keyring in a coat or jacket pocket at residence, make sure no one inadvertently sits or leans on it because it only takes a small amount of pressure to activate the door opener. Instead, get in the habit of leaving your keys on a table near the door.
- Since the summertime of 2017, it is now possible to operate your garage door from your smartphone using Chamberlain / LiftMaster’s My Q
Leaving residence for a prolonged period?
The safest way is to disconnect the motor from the electrical outlet. This so makes it impossible to use a remote-control control or to tamper with your exterior keypad to start the garage door.- Another option is to press the lock button on the control panel near the access door to the residence. Ensure you have firmly pushed the buttons and that the indicator light is blinking so you know it is engaged.
- You can add on a side lock that is installed on the inside the door and has a metal pole that engages in the vertical rail. You can also lock this sidelock with a padlock. Remember to unlock it when you keep coming back from your trip and especially before operating your garage door with your remote control.
- Finally, LiftMaster has started selling an automatic lock (841LM) that can be activated from your smartphone. This means though that your door opener has to be connected to a Wi‑Fi network.
Do you have windows in the top section of your garage door?
Without much effort, burglars can quickly detect what you have stored in your garage. And if they are armed with a wire clothes hanger, they can easily pop the manual release latch on the track of the door opener. If the windows are clear glass, cover them with a curtain or opaque or reflective privacy film.
In the case you are planning on changing your garage door soon, make sure you purchase windows that have tinted or frosted glass.
Get a more strong garage door
This applies especially if you have a non-insulated garage door or even one that only has a single panel of polystyrene insulation.
Select a sandwich‑style garage door, one with the two sides coated in metal sheeting. Built to become stronger, this type of door stands up to being hit with a metal bar and sometimes maybe an electric saw. And if you select a door injected with one 3/4-inch (45‑mm) thick polyurethane, it’ll be stronger.
A couple more tips to keep your garage secure day and night
Double check out that your garage door is shut for the night. As any police force will advise you personally, make the rounds of your different access doors around 9 pm to ensure they are all precisely secured. For your garage door, there is a monitor (829LM) that will inform you if your door is firmly closed. What’s more, if you are equipped with LiftMaster’s My Q technology, you can see from your smartphone.- Exterior lighting for your residence and around your garage is essential. Better is installing lighting combined with motion detectors.
- Think about connecting a security camera to your Wi-Fi network for added protection.
- Look into getting an alarm network connected to your garage door network.
- A simple but effective means to leave a radio playing at all times in the garage. Tune in to talk radio so that a voice is heard almost all of the time.
If the phrase security means a ton for you.
