Halloween Exterior Lighting – Protect Your Home on Treat Night & Mischief Night
For kids, Halloween is one of the greatest nights of the year, full of tricks, pranks, treats, masks, and more. Thinking back on your childhood, we’re sure you agree Treat Night offered up plenty of great memories.
But for homeowners, Halloween can have a different connotation. While still a night for dressing up and going to parties (or staying home and eating a bag of mini Snickers), it’s also one where you might find yourself worrying about your home. Egging, burglaries, and other crimes are known to spike on what’s appropriately called “Mischief Night.”
While we’re lucky to live in a relatively safe area, it’s still a good idea to follow a few guidelines for protecting your home from Halloween mischief. Here are a few we’ve come up with:
- Put the car in the garage. Why leave an open target for egging or graffiti, both of which can be permanently damaging to your paint job?
- Bring loose items inside, too. That means shovels, rakes, gnomes, planters, and other items that might be snatched or, worse, used to break into your home.
- Let pets into the house. This protects both your furry friends and Trick-or-Treaters. After all, your dog might be fine with people most of the time, but presented with yelling kids in scary costumes, Fido could get spooked. Best to keep everyone safe (and prevent any potential lawsuits) by letting your pets ride out the night in the living room.
- Position your candy intelligently. Instead of handing out candy on the porch, you might want to think about handing it out in the driveway. This reduces traffic on your lawn and flowerbed, eliminates the need for anyone to go near your front door, and puts you in a good spot to meet parents and keep an eye out for vandals.
- But if you want to stay inside, keep candy handy. If staying out in the driveway all night doesn’t appeal, make sure you keep your candy nearby. Opening your front door, then dashing off to get another bag of Reese’s Cups, is practically an invitation for someone to enter the house.
- Most importantly, make sure your home is well lit. Exterior lighting is important at all times of year for deterring burglars and vandals. On Halloween, when petty crimes tend to run rampant, exterior lighting is all the more important. Floodlights that bathe your yard in visibility are great for preventing anyone from sneaking around. For even better protection, go with a motion sensor floodlight fixture, which illuminates the porch and yard if anyone comes close, creating an atmosphere of vigilance. Make this relatively small change and rest easier knowing your home has high visibility and low appeal for potential thieves or vandals.
Wes Carver Electric wishes all of our customers in Bucks County and Montgomery County a happy Halloween! If you need your yard equipped with exterior lighting before Mischief Night strikes, you know who to call or email.