I don't do it so much now that i'm living on the second floor of a building, but i did used to make heavy use of my timer plugs when I lived in a ground floor flat and went to my mums for christmas.

I've got a couple of floor lamps and i'd put one in the living room and one in the kitchen and i'd set the timers "creatively". The living room one would usually come on at varying times in the evening and go off at varying times later at night or early the next morning.

I'd set the kitchen one to come on and off a lot more often as it would create the impression that i'd nipped out to the kitchen to get someone, turned the light on and then off again when i left.

Although when i worked in amsterdam, i did a similar thing but used one to make the television come on. When I got home one friday night, i'd forgotten that i'd done that and when i opened the front door to hear the TV on, i panicked because i thought somebody had broken in

Thanks guys! Unfortunately we do live in a place where burglaries have increased a massive amount over the recent months. Just two days ago the next street was swarming with police as someone was seen attempting to break in to a house - the front of the house - in broad daylight!

A lot of the burglaries have happened in the daytime - one where the lady was in at the time. One horrible one was where they got the grandparents and their grandchildren up from sleeping and the kids watched while nanny and grandad were being beaten. It really is an issue.

I have an alarm and the back of the house has security lights. I guess I just have to hope we'll be o.k. It's not the items going that really bothers me - it's someone being in my home going through and touching our personal stuff that freaks me out.

The downstairs front has blinds and obscure glass - we don't have a front garden so the blinds are always partially closed. I'm going to put the Christmas lights on a timer as I said before and have another lamp 'somewhere' I haven't decided where yet.

There's loads of conflicting advice about the curtains!

Anyway - I'm off to start frantically packing! Have a good Christmas all

I live on the first floor in a block of flats and at the back away from the street but l always leave one pair of curtains open and the other closed when l go away for a period of time. I also have the radio on and off throughout the day.

On a separate note, for those here who live in flats, are you concern with the entry/exit doors being left open as a result of residents not bothering to close them as they go in or out? Since our flats became occupied by more renters than owners, the emergency exit door is always left open because it's the quickest way to/from the car park. If l received a pound for every time l had to shut it during a year, it would pay for my annual service charge!

I normally leave a light on a timer however that didn't stop the lead from my Kitchen box window being nicked whilst I was on holiday. My kitchen does not have a curtain, so not sure if this helps you? A few other houses lost their lead on the same day I think. That was back in 2010 though when people were stealing drain covers LOL

My advice would be to make the neighbours aware, perhaps they can be a bit more vigilant whilst you are away. At least then the Police might get a few leads to go on if the worst happens.

I have never drawn my curtains, they are always open.

Burglars usually operate in the daytime. They often knock first.
Its more unusual to be burgled at night.

I live in London, curtains open and haven't been burgled in 40 years. As another poster posted, its unlikely to happen.

Its natural to panic though as YOU know the place will be empty, even though its often empty other times throughout the year when you go out.

My next door neighbour concreted over his front garden and turned it into a driveway/parking space, when they go away he gets his son or another family member to come round and leave their car on the drive for several hours at random times so it looks as though the house is occupied.

I understand why people would take sensible precautions with this sort of thing but there has to come a point when the effort outweighs the risks.




So if you take that all into account i'd say that:

1. You're unlikely to be burgled in the first place unless you live in a crime hot spot.
2. Things you do to make it appear you are at home aren't going to have much impact on that risk.
3. You are likely to be taking with you many of things that a burglar would be looking for.
4. In the worst case scenario your home insurances will cover any losses.

One Christmas afternoon(about 4, getting dark) I went for a walk with bf and it was obvious to us who wasn't at home, to burglars, an open invite

I really hope people don't leave these items on show in their house. I saw a car parked near me recently with the sat nav on the windscreen. It was a young boy who didn't know why it was a problem (because his parents paid for everything)

We can always tell when the people opposite are away, as the curtains are all left half-open - dead giveaway!

We have vertical blinds, which are usually closed-ish downstairs. Upstairs, in the room without blinds, the curtains are left open.