Merry Christmas guys.

As the thread title says...when you are leaving the house for hols etc. do you shut your curtains or leave them open?

I'm off to Google advice myself but, wondered what the general consensus might be.
Burglaries are very prevalent where I am at the moment and am thinking of security.


Cheers

Closed. No one really notices closed curtains during the day but they will notice open ones at night.

Closed as said above, During the day people will assume they are closed due to bright winter sun...If they notice at all

Get a timer and plug the radio and a light in, timed to come on in the evening. If someone were watching the house every night for the pattern, they'd notice, but it should be fine to deter casual thieves.

My car was broken into the last night of a two week holiday, and I think one of the things that showed it was unattended was idiots putting flyers under the wipers that weren't moved and showed people that the car hadn't been visited for days.

Timer for the lights upstairs and down. Close or partially close downstairs curtains if only to deter thieves from looking inside and seeing the layout of the house and belongs exposed to daylight.

half way open. That way any thug with designs on the joint has to really get close to case the place.

Half way and get a timer

Full length window - closed. They are always closed in the day when I'm out anyway. Normal size window - a bit open.

I'm on the first floor so feel my place is fairly secure. Downstairs has been broken into (they now have bars on the windows) but I've been here 15 years without any problems.

Sun..? Haven't seen one of those in a little while now. Fog, lots of fog.

Thanks guys - will go with half open and I've got two timers. I think I might use one for a lamp downstairs and another for the christmas lights I have on the first floor window - that way we'll look festive and not like we aren't here.

I think. Or maybe not. Not sure - don't want to burn the house down.

I bought venetian blinds for my front windows just to use when we go away (which we do quite a lot) and I almost close them - can't really tell from the outside whether they are open or closed.

Lock the windows and doors obviously and make sure nothing is clearly displayed through gaps in curtains i.e spare car keys, cash, tablets etc. If you have sensor light make sure it's on and don't mention on social media you are going away.

It's extremely unlikely anything will happen anyway.

Closed just because at night anyone who wants to rob you will be peering in windows. YOu don't want them seeing a living room full of all your gear like a fancy tv and pc and so on. A friend of my dad's has a radio on a timer.

I always close mine but I leave a couple of lights on as security lights except in the summer when it's only dark for a couple of hours. Our fish tank lights are on a timer.

I tend to think about if the sudden change is noticeable - if you've always left your curtains open etc then they are suddenly shut all the time. If someone has been casing the place.... Sorry not allaying your fears am I

I'm going away at Christmas too. My downstairs curtains will be closed and upstairs partially closed. We have two ceiling lights in the living room so the one closest to the back I'm leaving on. Mainly because it's not that noticeable in the day time but it casts a dim light at night time. I've got a timer for my lamp in my bedroom and one for my daughters.
You can buy timer switches for ceiling lights too, I never knew that up until last week when I was looking online for the lamp timers. Can't afford them this close to Christmas but I'll be getting a couple in the new year.
I'm also letting my (trustworthy) neighbour know I'll be away so she can keep an eye out and also leaving a contact number with her.

Closed . With one simple window light and a lamp on a joint timer . Just a santa or a snowflake basic dec. Not a full tree . I distrust tree lights or decs with transformers hugely and never have them on unless we are home . Those transformers get HOT .A simple 3 pin plug dec is safer in my opinion .
A lamp on a timer in the front bedroom is good as well and leave that bedroom door open to let the light shine out onto the landing and back rooms. Just remember to set the bedroom timer to come on after the living room one goes off .

I dont understand this. My living room curtains are never closed, we have voiles over the window but the window is a bay with a sofa in it so the curtains dont close over it anyway. They hang at the edges for decoration.

The upstairs bedroom at the front is a spare room so the curtains are never closed. We sleep at the back which obviously cant be seen from the street.

So you have the luxury of living somewhere where open curtains doesn't mean displaying all and sundry to the street / with a spare room. Is it really too much of a stretch to understand that some people use their curtains as curtains?

No, Im saying that I have never closed the curtains and now Im worried that it is considered that it might be risky.

We are on a street, although we have a small front garden. People can see through the voiles a bit I suppose.

I lived in a vulnerable place once and I had a really good timer wired into the living room "big light". You could set it for the same time everyday, or choose different times to make it look more authentic.

Curtains - I usually go for a halfway option, but the reality is it looks silly. If I see it somewhere else I think, they're on holiday!

I have a timer socket that fits in a standard light fitting, and makes the light come on and off again at random.

I put this in the bathroom as this light can legitimately come on any time day or night - there is often a legitimate reason why a bathroom light comes on at 3am.

we use the fake tv light & out neighbors always know if we are going away. I always close the blinds, but we do that every evening anyhow. http://faketv.com/

however I am still working with the dusk plus switch right now it only really works on/off/

Same here. The fake TV light looks incredibly realistic from outside if placed in the right position.

You have to make sure that no one can actually see the fake TV unit if they look through the window.An upstairs room would be ideal.

I have timer lights, and venetian blinds left partly closed. But my neighbour comes across and alters them every couple of days and moves whichever car is left. In summer his grand-kids cut my grass for me, so it's hard for anyone to realise we're away from home.