By Vance Neely
We all know that our garage doors are incredibly important to gaining entry into our garages and houses. They make our lives incredibly convenient by giving us easy access. It is important to remember that not only does it gives us easy access, but it has the potential for others to have relatively easy access also. It is possible to keep your garage and home secure, but you must follow some safety tips to do so.
One of the most important is to keep your garage door closed. We often leave it open because we do not think about it as a doorway to our homes. Many of us store items in our garages and leasing the door open allows potential thieves to have access to those items, as well as to a door leading directly to our homes. You should not leave your garage door partially open because someone can crawl under the door. Always make sure the door to your house that is inside your garage is always locked. It should be locked when you are at home and away from home. This way if someone makes it into your garage, that person is not able to access your home.
It has been common for thieves to break into cars and take the garage door opener that is kept in the car and use it to open the garage door. If you must keep your garage door opener in your car, keep it in a place where it can not be easily seen. If you have your car programmed to open your garage door by pushing a button, a thief can break into your car and push the button to open the garage door. Many experts recommend that you do not program the buttons in your car to open your garage door, even though that may seem inconvenient.
There are some other convenient but possibly more secure options. You can use a keychain garage door opener that stays with you at all times. This way it is easily accessible to you but not to others. You do not leave it in your car when you are not in it so there is no chance of it being stolen that you. You can get a garage door opener that provides you a mobile app to open and close your garage door. This also ensures that you have the ability to open your garage door on you at all times. You could also get a garage door opener with a keypad that allows you to use an access code to get into your garage. Of course, as with any access code, you should be careful with whom you share this information.
When you are going on vacation, you should consider unplugging your garage door opener, or using a vacation lock, if one is available on your garage door. On some garage doors, this is an optional accessory and you may not have the vacation lock. You can always unplug it. This protects your house while you are away because none of the remotes can be used when the garage door is unplugged.
