While there’s nothing quite like feeling the sunlight on your face after a long winter, it’s still important to remember that too much heat is never a good thing. And this isn’t just about your face–it’s also about your house and vehicle. Keeping your home cool is important for it structurally, not to mention how important it is to ensure that young children, elderly relatives and pets are not subject to temperatures that are too much to handle.

Keeping doors and windows shut is about more than home security. It’s also an essential way to save energy and make sure the pumping AC doesn’t go to waste. If you’re running the AC while you have the windows open, you’re wasting a cool air, while also making your house a bit more vulnerable for a break-in. Try to keep the doors and windows shut so you  can save on your energy bill and make the most out of your system.

It’s also a good idea to inspect your HVAC system before the summer, in case it looks like it will need any repairs. If you get it fixed early, you might also be able to find more reasonable prices. This way, your home is more prepared for a particularly brutal summer.

It’s also worth noting that the summer heat can have other effects on your home security. Sometimes when it gets particularly hot, it is easier to accidentally trigger a power outage in your own home by overloading extension cords or using too many devices on a single fuse at  time. Fortunately, many home security providers offer systems that work even when the power goes out. ADT  home alarm systems come with battery backup so you’ll get hours of home monitoring even if you lose power.

If you want to protect your car from the heat of summer, the best idea is to find shade.  Try to park your car in places where it won’t get direct sunlight. This will make everything from the interior to the paint job last longer, and it will also be a lot more pleasant to get in on a sunny day.

While summer might mean taking a break from the office to hit the beach, for many Americans, it also means preparing for hurricane season. If you’re not sure where to begin, don’t wait until the last minute to get ready. After all, there are some things that a home alarm system can help out with, and others that might require a little more work. Here’s a simple hurricane preparedness checklist so you can make sure you cover all the basics before a big storm arrives:

1. Do you have enough food and water for two to three days? If you’re far enough away from the ocean that evacuations aren’t necessary, then you need to have enough supplies to make it in case you can’t leave the house for a few days. Stock up on nonperishable food and enough drinking water for the entire family.

2. Did you move the lawn furniture indoors? When it comes to home security during a rough storm, this can mean the difference between a manageable amount of damage done to your home and something more serious. Make sure to move all lawn furniture and outdoor decor inside if a big storm is headed your way.

3. Did you park your car in a safe spot? Once you’re finally able to leave the house, it’s important to have a car ready. But if your car incurs damages due to falling branches or live wires, you won’t be able to go anywhere. Try to park it somewhere safe – ideally in the garage. And if you’re  leaving the house, remember to set that ADT home security system before you hit the road, just in case looters are eying your property after the storm is over.

The first step when you’re leaving for a summer vacation is to remember to activate your ADT home security system . Burglars know that people go away in the summer, and they prepare accordingly. To avoid falling victim to a burglary, you need to make sure that your property looks occupied – even when it isn’t. Be sure to replace the light bulbs around your house, including your exterior lights, and set some sort of timer that will turn lights on and off both indoors and outdoors. This way your house will look more lived-in.

But home security is about more than making sure robbers don’t break in. Also be sure to handle the smaller steps around the house. Unplug electronic devices from overloaded power strips, and be sure that you remember to turn off things like coffee makers, irons, and flat irons. This will greatly reduce the risk of a home fire.

Before you leave town, remember to make essential home security updates to your house. If you take the right steps before leaving, it will make for a much less stressful return home.

Home security is about much more than keeping criminals outside of your house. It’s about protecting your loved ones and personal belongings from other dangers as well – like fire and carbon monoxide poisoning. And while advanced burglary monitoring is a function of all ADT home security systems, remember that there’s more to taking care of your property than worrying about a break-in. In fact, statistics show that in most parts of the country, people are more likely to deal with a fire or water damage than a break-in.

So what can you do to help protect your home from a fire?

Install Smoke Detectors – Once they’re in place, make sure you regularly replace that batteries to keep them functioning.

Be prepared – Have items around the house including fire extinguishers in case a small fire breaks out in the kitchen or another area of the house.

Get an ADT home security system – ADT allows you to integrate smoke detectors into your home alarm system. If there is smoke or fire in your home, the alarm will sound and ADT will immediately contact the local authorities.

Whether it’s during the winter months when fires are statistically more likely to occur, or at another point in the year, take the steps necessary to help prevent a fire in your home.

As summer approaches, families across the country will make travel plans. In addition to booking flights and finding deals on hotels, one thing can’t be overlooked – home security. One of the best ways to protect your home is installing and activating a home security system. Homes with monitored security systems are reportedly three times less likely to be burglarized.

Another great way to help keep your home safe is by hiring a house sitter. He or she can make sure things run smoothly while you’re gone – and most importantly – make you home look occupied. An occupied home is much less appealing to a burglar than one that looks empty. House sitters are also ideal for people with pets.

Here are a few tips to follow when you hire a house sitter:

Keep them informed. If you have dogs or cats that require medicine, a particular kind of food or something else, be sure to let your house sitter know ahead of time. And be sure to leave the house sitter with a list of emergency contact numbers in case anything goes wrong.

Give an overview of your home security system. The house sitter should know how to arm and disarm your ADT security system. Let them know how the system works and create a plan in case a break-in or other home emergency occurs.

Give clear instructions. Make sure everything that needs to be taken care of while you’re away gets clearly listed or communicated. This will make things easier and less stressful for all parties involved, and clear expectations are always great – even if someone is doing you a favor.

Don’t forget about the mail! If you are going out of town, make sure the house sitter brings in the mail and newspaper. When they start piling up, burglars will realize no one is home.

If you’re in the process of moving into a new home, you likely have more than enough on your plate. From coordinating with movers to finalizing last-minute inspections and important paperwork, there’s a lot to do. But before you get entirely overwhelmed, remember that breaking down your to-do list can help make the moving process a lot easier.

One of the first and most important steps of the move-in process is installing a monitored home security system. Monitored systems connect your home to security centers that provide surveillance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. ADT home security has four nationwide monitoring centers – the most in the nation. Plus, homeowners can get up to 20% off of their homeowners insurance when they install a monitored security system. This is a huge perk. If your new home already has a security system, ADT installers can overtake the system and rewire it with the latest ADT technology.

Of course, there’s more to home security than installing an ADT home security system when you move in. Be sure to consider how you’re disposing of all of your boxes and packaging. It’s easy to be in such a rush to clear out boxes that you don’t think about the potential dangers. Placing boxes in front of your house can advertise to burglars exactly what they’ll find inside.

If you moved any expensive items like TVs and stereo equipment in their original packaging, it’s a good idea to break down and dispose of those boxes before putting them on the curb. Also, change the locks on all the doors. This will prevent previous owners and anyone they gave spare keys to from accessing your new house.

There are plenty of reasons for living alone if you can afford it. For one thing, there isn’t the constant stress of dealing with a roommate, or having to worry about your own home security because someone else forgets to lock the door at night. It’s also exciting just to have your own space.

Of course, when you live alone, there are certain safety concerns to take into consideration. And whether it’s the government or ADT telling you this, it’s important to know that criminals prefer to break into homes when they are empty. They don’t want run-ins with homeowners because they are typically just going after personal belongings and valuables. So what do you do about your place if you live alone? Well, installing a home alarm system is a definite step in the right direction.

If you’re ready to install a home security system, there are a lot of things to consider. One of the most important factors is burglary monitoring. You want a system with 24/7 home security monitoring. This way, you’ll know your home is being watched around the clock by security professional and technology. You can even customize a system for your specific needs. Companies like ADT have special pet-sensitive motion detectors so pet owners don’t have to worry about false alarms.

Taking simple and effective steps towards improving your home security will make living alone an even more enjoyable experience.

As parents age, their home security and safety becomes a big concern – especially if they live on their own. Fortunately, the latest home security technology makes it easier than ever for the elderly to stay safe at home and contact the authorities in case of an emergency.

The first step in helping protect your senior parents is making sure their home has a reliable home security system in place. ADT provides more than just 24/7 burglary monitoring – they also have one-touch monitoring for medical emergencies and fire. Their security keypads and keychain remotes make it easy for people of every age to alert the local authorities if an emergency occurs.

Of course, having an ADT home alarm system is not the only step in keeping your parents safe and secure. The next time you’re at their house, do a simple walk-through and identify any potential danger areas. If climbing the stairs is a risky idea, get one of the chairs installed that makes it simpler to get upstairs. If you notice lots of spots where wires are running under the rug, increasing the odds of someone falling and getting hurt, figure out a new way to re-route them that won’t cause a problem. After all, it’s a combination of those little things with the bigger items like a reliable home security system that will help keep your parents safe and healthy–and will leave you feeling good about their independent lifestyle for years to come.

Anyone who is adjusting to life away at college will find that things are a little bit different than they are back at home. If you were previously living with your parents, you probably didn’t spend much time thinking about home security. But life in a college town or city is considerably different, and taking a few minutes to reassess the way you think about home security can make the difference between having a seamless transition to living on your own or having a more difficult experience.

The first thing to think about when it comes to staying safe at college is your surroundings. If you are off-campus in a house, you might be able to get an ADT home alarm system to improve the odds of you avoiding a break-in. If you are living in dorms, however, you won’t be able to rely on a home security system for extra protection, so it’s better to learn more common-sense steps to keeping yourself and your property secure.

If living in dorms, then you have to take into account that in addition to sharing common spaces with a whole lot of people, you also have a roommate. And while you’re getting to know these people, it is important to keep your valuables stowed away someplace safe. Be sure to always put away valuables, and lock up the dorm room when you aren’t going to be there; you don’t want to provide easy access to your valuables.

If you have to cross a bunch of vacant parks late at night on a walk home from the campus library, don’t carry valuables like your laptop, and try to avoid deserted spaces in general. Most colleges and universities have an escort or public transportation that will get you home safely if you live off-campus, and others even offer taxi vouchers. Be aware of your options so that you can maximize your safety and home security.

A house is broken into in the United States every few minutes, and it seems as though more and more people are investing in home alarm systems to help out with the task of keeping their belongings and their family safe. But sometimes, it can be difficult to adjust to having an alarm, or to learning how to properly operate one. Fortunately, ADT makes activating your home security system easy. Here are a few tips for getting the most out of your home alarm:

1. Always make sure that windows and doors are securely closed. This is a crucial part of making sure your alarm works every time.

2. Make changes for pets. If you didn’t have pets when you first had the alarm installed but now do, it can lead to more false alarms. And when a home alarm system has a lot of false alarms, people are less likely to set it. ADT offers pet-sensitive motion sensors, making this an easy problem to solve.

3. Always turn it on. If you don’t turn on your home alarm, you aren’t going to be able to get the most out of it!

4. Make sure everyone in your house can set the alarm. This is a key step towards increased home security. If even one member of your household isn’t sure how to work the alarm, then you have a weak link. Be sure that setting the alarm is part of everyone’s routine when they leave the house.

5. Do the proper maintenance. Are there floodlights that are part of a timed system that needs replacing? Are you using a battery-powered alarm panel that should have its batteries replaced? These simple home security maintenance steps can make a huge difference in the safety of your home and loved ones.