Watching one of the live broadcasts over the last week or two the presenters mentioned keeping lights on at one’s house. I don’t recall if they said inside, outside, or both. They mentioned that a bad guy would likely go past a well lit house and move on to a dark one instead.
I’ve always done the opposite, as it would seem to make it much harder on the bad guy to navigate getting to the house/car, getting in either, and get around without running a flashlight letting everyone know where they were.
@Brad - I had a different situation when I was in Va. I kept the front and back yards
lit well. My reason was to get my wife in and out of the house during chemo and
radiation. I also didn’t sleep well and liked to see what was going on around the
house. That is just me. Currently we have a light on in the house. Mike_T
There was another training video a couple of weeks ago about someone who had been home at night when there was a break in. They had the external lights on, she turned the internal lights on after shooting at the intruder and the intruder retreated outside (she stopped shooting I believe after they retreated). But her boyfriend turned off the inside lights so they could see out but no one could see in.
We have outside duel LED lights on each corner of the house and they are dawn to dusk, so we could leave them on. I’m not sure how thrilled our neighbors would be about it! We also have the more orthodox lights at every entry door. Inside, we have nightlights in every room so you can surely see getting around if you get up during the dark hours.
Outside lights are on. Inside I have night lights around the house to give just enough light to see and not enough to spotlight me or my family and not making it easy to navigate the house if you’re not familiar with the layout.
I recently was given a great tip of placing motion detecting puck lights in key areas as well to illumine areas of movement. … entryway, hallways, stairs…
Out front, we light our garage and front porch all night. Out back, we have a motion-sensor light. We have minimal interior lighting when we retire for the evening.
We keep some lamps on at night in the two front rooms near the doors. One must pass through these rooms to approach the bedroom. The bedroom is dark. In my mind, the attacker must walk through the illumination and be exposed. I will be behind cover and concealment in the dark. This is assuming that my dogs and alarms have given me a few seconds warning. In any event, I can see them way before they can see me.
The devil likes the dark. Motion activated floods outside, a front lamp light in the driveway, and indoor lights on the first level on–two reasons–threat identification is easier and I don’t kill myself letting the dogs out at 2 am.
We keep a yard light on front and back at night also a hardwired motion light over the attached garage. I installed battery operated motion lights on each end of the house and one on a dark spot in the front. We have a solar powered double motion light at the peak of the screen porch in the back yard and two battery operated motion lights in a tree on each side to light up the back fence.
We keep a small light on in the living room at night. So yes our house is well lit at night.
I have different lights on and off outside at different times. Most of these are variable times 30 +/- of a set time. Similar set up in the street facing rooms inside the house.
I’m no expert on lighting, but more than a few people have explained to me that while external lighting increases home security and reduces the odds of a break-in, the placement of the lighting is equally important. Lights that are improperly placed provide cover for would-be intruders. If you have bright lighting in some areas that creates dark shadows in others, it may be worth having a security professional analyze your lighting needs.
Indoor lighting is a complex topic. You need enough light to keep yourself safe. Don’t fall down the stairs because you’re afraid of intruders. Bright lighting could discourage potential invaders, but it might also be inviting if they can get the layout of your house from the outside. We’ll all have different lighting needs inside, depending on our vision, the people who live with us, our floor plans, the neighborhood we live in, etc. I wish there was a “right” answer we could give, but it’s really about balancing a different set of risks.
Front and rear porch both have LED lights, that I turn on before I go to bed. Sometimes it’s 10pm, sometimes it 2am. We leave a small night light on to find the bathroom in the dark, and my wife has one of little LED trees in the living room. I can see in the different rooms, from the shadows, where I could be with a firearm and remain unseen.
I keep a very low wattage light on as a nightlight that illuminates a large area of the house (foyer and second floor). Personally, I want people to know that I am home. Others may argue against it. Additionally, I use mosquito zappers in the back that emit a low blue flourscent light.
On the other side, my mother tends to turn the lights off. However, I think it was a habit from when she was a child during Japanese occupation where the Japanese troops marched through her village nightly to ensure curfew and killing anyone’s dog… that’s another story.
