Daylight Savings & How It’ll Affect Your Home’s Security – Millennium Locksmiths
Daylight Savings Time (DST) is the practice of moving clocks forward one hour near spring and backward one-hour near autumn. This practice was started to help people use less energy for lighting.
The time change can confuse your home security system, especially if your alarm has a light sensor or any other feature that relies on accurate time. Here’s what you need to know about Daylight Savings and how it can affect your home security system:
Daylight Savings will not affect most alarm systems. Most alarm systems do not synchronise their clocks with the power grid or atomic clocks; they keep their internal clock unaffected by daylight savings time changes. However, if your system uses a radio signal or cellular connection, there may be some disruption during this period.
Motion sensors can be affected by Daylight Savings Time. Motion sensors rely on light levels to detect movement; therefore, they may fail when programmed to turn on automatically, and there is little light reaching them (during the day). It’s best to avoid using motion sensors during these times unless necessary — such as when you’re away from home for an extended period.
With the clock going forward on the 31st of March, it’s a true sign that spring is almost with us. We gain what we lose in a night’s sleep in longer daytime, so it’s a fair trade in our eyes. With more extended periods of daylight comes more time to do the things you didn’t want to do in the cold months of Winter. It’s an excellent time to clear the home of waste accumulating, general spring cleaning & other general house admin you now have the time for. Another important task you should consider is ensuring that the locks in your home are secure. With the long months of Winter bringing harsh weather conditions, it’s always a good idea to check how it’s affected the locks of your home. Older locks can be severely damaged by cold, damp weather, which we get our fair share of in the UK.
Locks have a simple function & which is to shut a door/gate/entrance securely. Over time & months of rain, snow & general cold weather, locks can lose the ability to provide this primary function. With the longer days, we’ll all want to be outside more, taking things in and out of the garage or shed and ensuring we’re making the most of the daylight. From locking up your bikes to ensuring your lawnmower is put away securely, your locks serve many different purposes in securing our things away.
Thinking ahead of time:
It’s always good to review your locks’ condition as you don’t want to deal with a broken lock if it can be helped. It’s much less stressful & overall less risky to replace a dysfunctional lock ahead of time rather than having to call for an emergency locksmith when you notice that your front door lock isn’t working. It’s best to check your locks before you’re forced to!
Planned action will always be less stressful than reacting to a situation, so it’s good to consider how your locks work before it’s too late!
Securing your home:
It’s easy to assume that the locks of your home are doing their job, and why wouldn’t you? Locks work throughout the year, doing their job of securing your home. What many people lose sight of is the fact that locks will wear over time, which creates issues in how they function. The older a lock gets, the more likely it’ll be affected by adverse weather to the point where it either doesn’t function as it should or will compromise the security of your home by being defective. Without the appropriate lock to your doors, an opportunistic burglar can access your home in minutes. We’ve already spoken about the risks of lock-snapping, which you can find more about here: – Lock Snapping
The security of your home should always be a priority, especially if you haven’t looked at it recently. Knowing the condition of your locks can either inform you if they need replacing or, at the least, let you know that your locks are working as they should. The team at Millennium Locksmiths can be your first point of call if you’ve found a lock that isn’t working as it should. From lock repairs to replacements, our professional locksmiths handle your problem with expertise & experience from start to finish. Give us a call on – or visit our website to find out more – Locksmith Slough