Contributed by Info Guru Oliver VanDervoort

We all want to make sure that our houses are protected.

We want to feel plenty safe when we are inside our own four walls. There are a couple of ways we can do this but they all basically boil down to a combination of two, three or all of the top 10 home security essentials. Depending on the kind of money you have, you can get yourself a tricked out security system. If you do not have a ton of dough to spend, you can certainly get a few of these things and feel quite a bit safer in your home.

10. Peephole

Install a Peephole: You might be surprised just how much safer you can fee with a peephole on your front door. If you really want to be safer you can install on any door that allows access to the outside that doesn’t already have a window in it. By doing this, you are able to see who is at the door without them being able to see that you are looking at them. The best news is that installing a peephole isn’t really all that difficult.

9. Reinforced Door

If you can’t get really high tech with your security options, you can still change your door so that it is reinforced. The bolts will be longer so that it is that much harder for people to force their way into your house.

8. Get a Dog

Whether talking about a dog that will simply make some noise, or one that can actually be used for defense should someone get in a guard dog is a good idea. The best part of this is that you will have a companion when they aren’t serving as a living security system.

7. Get Good Lighting

You are going to want to have good lighting on the outside of your house. If you cannot surround the house with nice bright lights, you should at least make sure that places where someone could make an entrance. Flood lights are a pretty good way of making sure that an area is lighted. Flood lights also serve as a way to intimidate potential intruders.

6. Motion Sensors

If you want to go a little more high tech you can with motion sensor lights. These will only turn on if someone walks past or under them. This serves the purpose of scaring off anyone who is trying not to be seen.

5. Use Signs

If your goal is just to keep people out, then signs announcing a security system can do the job. These signs could actually warn people that you have a security system in place, or you could use it to try and trick people into thinking you have a security system.

4. Loud Alarms

You often see alarm systems in the movies which are silent. These are actually used more often in places where burglars might become violent or take hostages. When talking about people trying to break into your home, you want the alarm to be loud and long. This will get more burglars to take off the minute the alarm goes off.

3. Install New Locks

You would be surprised what just having top of the line locks will do. If you can’t afford the very best, make certain that the new locks you install won’t rust or be easily broken.

2. The Right Security Company

If you do have an alarm system that is linked to a home security company, you want to make sure that company has 24/7 alarm monitoring and a good response time. You want to make sure that if you need help that they are going to respond.

1. Security Cameras

Security cameras serve two basic purposes. The first is that if a potential burglar sees the camera, they are less likely to break in. The other side of that is that if they do break in, you will have visual record of who did it, allowing the police to capture them more quickly.