How Can Snowbirds Protect Their Homes While They’re Away?

Every year, thousands of people around the country head for their homesteads in warmer climates to avoid those chilly, snowy winter days. How can snowbirds protect their homes while they're away? Leaving your home for months at a time can be scary for some folks, but that is where a local, trusted home security provider can help!

Leaving your home unattended can lead to a host of questions, such as:

• What if someone tries to break in?
• What if there is a fire while we’re away?
• What if a pipe bursts and floods our basement?

These questions can be quite concerning for folks who may not have a neighbor or relative that are close enough to keep a watchful eye. A local security company, such as NWOSS, can help ease your mind and provide answers to a lot of your important questions.

Below we will provide answers to some of those important questions and provide a real-life example of how a home security system can not only protect your home from burglars, but other threats such as fire, water damage, and more.

Here’s the scenario –

Tim & Donna have recently retired and have purchased a home in Florida to spend their winter months. While they are excited to spend time in the warmer weather, they are worried about how they are going to protect their home here in Ohio. Both of their children live out of the area, so are unable to check in on the home regularly. They do have a trusted neighbor that is willing to check on the home, but they would like a way to monitor their comings & goings.

Here at NWOSS, we are quite familiar with Tim & Donna’s situation and have some great solutions to help protect and manage their home while they’re away.

Home Intrusion System

The first item we would suggest installing would be a standard home intrusion system. Home intrusion systems include items such as - door contacts for exterior entry doors, window contacts for easily accessible widows shielded from the road, and motion sensors to monitor the interior of your home.

Most home intrusion systems require a passcode to be entered to arm & disarm the system, making it a great solution to protect your home from burglars and monitor who is coming and going throughout the day. Multiple passcodes can be created, allowing you to give specific codes to a family member or neighbor that may be checking in on your home. You then know who exactly may be arming & disarming your system.

Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Detectors, Temperature & Water Monitors

These items work together to provide instant alerts that can help protect your home from any environmental factors that may cause damage while you're away.

Our smoke/carbon monoxide detectors link directly to the home intrusion system and can dispatch the local fire department within seconds of detection. Timing is imperative when it comes to a fire or carbon monoxide leak, and by installing these detection devices, you can make sure possible threats are dealt with right away.

Temperature sensors are great tools for the winter months when temperatures in Ohio can fall into the single digits. Our temperature sensors are designed to alert you once the temperature in your home reaches a certain threshold. For example, if the batteries in your thermostat were to go out while you're away and your home's temperature drops below 60 degrees, you will be notified right away and can address the issue.

Water monitors are perfect for homes with a basement or other areas that may be prone to flooding concerns. The monitors are designed to be placed at surface level to provide instant detection of any water on the ground floor, which can help in the event of a sump pump malfunction or busted pipe due to freezing in the winter.

Z-Wave (Smart Home) Devices

Z-Wave items, otherwise known as Smart Home devices, are great solutions to help protect your home. For this scenario, the two items we would recommend the most would be smart lights & a smart thermostat.

Smart thermostats are perfect for travelers as you can control your home’s temperature settings from anywhere via your smartphone. This not only allows you to monitor the temperature of your home but also allows you to save money as you can create customized schedules and allow your heating/cooling system to run more efficiently.

Smart lights are perfect for warding off any intruders that may be watching your home. Smart lights may also be set to specific schedules giving the appearance that someone is home during different parts of the day. For example, you could set a schedule for your kitchen & living room lights to be on in the morning and then schedule a bedroom light to turn on in the evening. Giving the appearance that someone is home acts as a great deterrent for unwanted guests.

Virtual Keypad App

The Virtual Keypad app is the piece that ties all of this together and creates an easy, streamlined way to control your entire home with the touch of a button. All you must do is download the VK App to your smartphone and link your various home security & smart home devices to have ultimate control of your home while you're away. You can arm/disarm your system, create schedules for smart home devices, and receive instant alerts for any issues that arise. The Virtual Keypad App truly makes it feel like you never left home at all.

Video Surveillance

The last item we would recommend would be adding a visual element to your protection plan in the form of an interior or exterior security camera system. Interior cameras would be a great solution if you would like to monitor family members, neighbors, or service technicians that may be coming in to check on or service your home. Exterior cameras would allow you to monitor events happening around your home and act as a deterrent to burglars. These camera systems can also be added to your VK App for easy viewing and allow you to save short clips if needed.

In conclusion, we were able to find a solution for all of Tim & Donna’s questions and provided them with a great protection plan to help secure their home while they’re enjoying the sunny Florida weather. Through the VK App and customized passcodes, Tim & Donna were able to monitor how often their home was being checked on and were even able to increase the temperature and turn on some lights before anyone got there. Even though they’re thousands of miles away, Tim & Donna feel comfortable leaving their Ohio home, and that’s the peace of mind a local, trusted home security provider can provide.

If you or someone you know is a frequent traveler during those winter months, give NWOSS a call so we can build a customized protection plan to fit any of your needs today!