Better to have your house dark or a small light on at night?

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USA1
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Re: Better to have your house dark or a small light on at ni

Post by USA1 »

I think the most important thing here is to have a plan in place for when something does happen and to practice that plan.

When our alarm goes off in the middle of the night, everyone in the house knows their role.

Btw...when I'm jolted awake from my slumber by a screaming alarm , I'm 100% aware of what's going on. I know this from experience. :???:
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C-dub
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Re: Better to have your house dark or a small light on at ni

Post by C-dub »

Sorry Jim. My internet sarcasm isn't good this morning. How about, "No Trespassing, Keep out, Yippee Kiyay!" Or just a sign saying "Yippee Kiyay!"

Oh, I see. I forgot the ;-) .
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seamusTX
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Re: Better to have your house dark or a small light on at ni

Post by seamusTX »

Unfortunately some bozo will believe everything you say because it was on the internets.

How many people are still advising others to shoot a prowler and drag the body into the house? I was hearing that forty years ago.

- Jim
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Re: Better to have your house dark or a small light on at ni

Post by C-dub »

Used to hear that a bunch too. Even from a couple of cops. It has been a while, though.
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Re: Better to have your house dark or a small light on at ni

Post by OldCannon »

seamusTX wrote:Unfortunately some bozo will believe everything you say because it was on the internets.

How many people are still advising others to shoot a prowler and drag the body into the house? I was hearing that forty years ago.

- Jim
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Re: Better to have your house dark or a small light on at ni

Post by RPB »

I al;ways kept it dark but

I had LEDs around at places like on smoke alarm next to a doorway, LED on various places for me to get a bearing in the dark, and I rarely turned on a light to walk through the house.


However most computers I built since 2001 have had LED fans and lights and clear sided windows, there's quite a bit of light and the 42" TV is on 24/7.

I have solid wood doors front and rear with "flip locks" on them (these took police over an hour to break once on a "concern for welfare" and actually they never broke, but the door itself did. My windows are at a less than convenient height and I put my cane in a spot it will get tripped over in the dark, and I'm not sleeping where anyone would think normal people sleep. Still, my across the street neighbors sleep with their front door wide open unless it's below freezing, and there are 6 "neighbor dogs" who alert everyone if anyone is near anyone's house on our half the block, or even walks down this end of our street.

Where I used to live in Houston, I tore out around the entrance doors and reinforced the stud framing for over a foot of wood on each side, used the wrap-around metal braces that go around door edges for locks so doors don't split, used can interlocking door and jamb metal device to disallow prying/jamb spreading and sliding anything behind lock bolts to saw them etc.. .... only weakness was the "bump key" (Google or youtube it) but that's what "flip locks" are for at night. I used 6" screws in hinges and put a "peg" in each hinge that went into both the door and the frame ... I used longer than standard metal strikeplates with 6" screws on that side too.

Of course I secured windows better than average too and they were higher than standard windows with thorn bushes and cactus below them too.

Fliplocks are cheap defense against "bump keys" at night (I use longer screws to go into the studs instead of just the frame)
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Last edited by RPB on Wed Feb 23, 2011 1:25 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Better to have your house dark or a small light on at ni

Post by bigred90gt »

We dont leave any lights on inside the house, but the light coming in the windows is enough for me to see my way around. My night vision is very good. Before we had the alarm, there were a few instances where I was woken up by some odd noise, adrenaline running full steam, pistol in hand, going room to room in my house, and I had no problems seeing. Now, we have an ADT alarm (with power and cell backup in case something really wrong goes down), 3 dogs who bark at anything, and a few readily accessible weapons. I do have a tactical slight on my shotgun, but it will not be on until about 1/2 second before I decide to pull the trigger. My wife and I are the only people in my house, and if she is in the bed, than who ever is in there with us is not supposed to be there. So long as I get enough light for enough time to make sure the barrel of my shotgun is somewhere on target, I'm good with it.
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