For many years, homeowners have believed that having lots of lighting will deter burglary attempts. As a result, the common approach is to install as many lights and leave them on to give the impression that someone is home. But thieves have become smarter over the years. Not only do they know how to monitor activity in and around the home, but they also know that people leave their lights on as a gimmick. Therefore, many burglaries occur during the day when no one is home, and the lights left glaring have no effect on scaring off thieves.

The good news is that you can keep your home safe by using lights in a strategic way. By combining your lighting equipment with alarms, motion sensors, and video cameras, you can make your property safer while keeping up with the latest trends.

Use motion detection lights

Security lights are becoming more effective due to the installation of motion sensors. Motion sensors trigger a signal to your lighting system, making them illuminate strategic areas when a certain level of activity is detected. In this way, you don't have to leave your lights on the whole day. Motion detection lights can catch thieves "red-handed" and even trigger an alarm under specific conditions.

Make your lighting smart

Speaking of alarm triggering, you can take advantage of security lights by making them smart. Installing motion detection (as previously discussed) is one of the ways of doing this. Another way is to integrate your lighting with other components of your alarm system. For example, you can set your lights to be controllable from a mobile application along with your cameras and locks. In cases where suspicious activity triggers your lights to come on, you can set your door and windows to lock immediately in response. Your lights may also trigger cameras to detect facial features and identify an unknown person on your property.

Install lights in strategic areas around your property

You don't need to turn your home into a light show when deterring burglars. Instead, consider the most vulnerable areas of your property and install lighting in those areas. Dark backyards, dense shrubs, and expansive driveways would be a good place to start. Motion detection lights in such areas can help you pick up on unusual movement so as to deter burglary attempts before they even get near your home.

To learn more about using lights to make your security system more effective, talk to a security professional near you.