Many of us look forward to the winter months. They mean snow to play in, holidays to celebrate, and extra time off work and school. Even if you’re not thrilled about cold weather, winter provides a great excuse to escape to a warmer climate for vacation. 

Burglars look forward to winter too, but for different reasons—homes can be more vulnerable during the winter, making them a perfect target for break-ins. 

Luckily, you can protect your home from burglars with a little information, planning, and help from smart home technology.

Why do winter burglaries occur?

Crime tends to be seasonal, with studies showing slightly more household burglaries occur in the summer than winter.

But that doesn’t mean winter burglaries don’t occur. There are still 1.4 million homes broken into each year in the United States, so it pays to take precautions year-round.

In some ways, winter may be a more attractive time for burglars for a number of reasons, including:

• Holiday travel means empty homes. Remember the movie Home Alone? While some (ok, most) parts of the movie were far-fetched, the block of empty homes during the holidays was pretty spot-on. Many people travel during the winter months, leaving their homes empty and vulnerable.
• Fewer daylight hours. Burglars don’t like to be seen. One common theory suggests that fewer daylight hours in the winter means more time after sundown to commit crimes.
• More unattended cars. If you’ve ever let your car warm up in cold weather, you’re not alone. But unattended, running cars are an open invitation for theft.
• More deliveries to homes. More than 800 million packages are delivered to homes in the winter months between Thanksgiving and New Years Day. This influx in packages can lead to an increase in porch piracy, or package theft from your front porch,

At the end of the day, most burglaries—regardless of season—are crimes of opportunity. So how can you keep your home safe?

Protecting your home from burglars

These tips will help you keep your home safe in the winter months, whether you’re at home or away.

Home security tips

• Don’t make it look like you’re not home. The number one goal for a burglar? Don’t get caught. Homes that look empty are easy targets, so make sure you take steps to look like you’re home even if you’re traveling. If you live in an area that snows, for example, undisturbed snow in the driveway and up to the door is a good indication no one’s home. If you’re going to be away, consider hiring someone to clear your driveway and front walkway of snow or ask a neighbor to collect any mail and packages you might be expecting.
• Use automated or smart lighting. Nothing says “No one’s home!” like a dark house. At the same time, unnatural lighting patterns (such as the same lights left on day and night for several days) can also indicate to a burglar that no one’s home. With smart lighting, you can control your lights from your smartphone or automate your lighting to give the appearance of being home.
• Ditch your spare keys. Spare keys or hide-a-keys are a common way to keep from getting locked out of your home. Unfortunately, a savvy burglar can easily figure out where most spare keys are hidden. Smart locks are a better, more secure alternative and work via a code rather than a key. They also allow you to lock or unlock your doors via your smartphone, so you don’t have to wonder if you forgot to lock up or not.