Christmas and New Year, a ski trip, a few days with family: in winter, many homes stay empty for several days in a row, at the time of year when night falls earliest. There is no need to turn your house into a fortress. A few steps before leaving, and two or three well-placed devices, cover the essentials.
What really matters: the empty home
According to Insee data from the Cadre de vie et sécurité survey, two thirds of the homes targeted by a burglary were unoccupied at the time. It is not the season that attracts, it is the absence. The same source offers a more encouraging figure: for 55% of the households affected, the burglary stopped at the attempt stage. A good share of attempts fail, and that is exactly where obstacles and alerts play their part.
Before leaving: the steps that cost nothing
- Sign up for the Opération Tranquillité Vacances (the French holiday home-watch scheme). It is free, online, and the police or gendarmerie add your home to their patrols. Watch the deadlines: in police areas, registration must be done at least 3 days before departure. Full details in our article on the OTV.
- Double-lock the door and never leave a key in the inside lock of a glazed door, as the French Ministry of the Interior's prevention sheet reminds us.
- Put away DIY tools, which could be used to force an opening.
- Do not announce your departure on social media.
- Do not hide a spare key outside, even for the person who will come to water the plants: see what prevention advice says about outdoor hiding places.
Long nights work against you
In winter, it is dark by late afternoon. A burglar looks for discretion, and an outdoor area plunged into darkness for long hours offers plenty. The Gendarmerie nationale (French national police force) lists lighting and presence detectors among prevention measures: a solar floodlight with motion detector lights the driveway or entrance as someone passes, with no wiring. In winter, the panel receives less light: install it where it is best exposed during the day.
Be alerted, even hundreds of kilometres away
When nobody is at home, a siren sounding on site only warns the neighbours, if they are there. What matters during an absence is an alert that reaches your phone. The WiFi opening sensor alerts you as soon as the door opens: for 64% of burgled households, the break-in was attempted through a door. The outdoor WiFi camera alerts you when someone approaches, and lets you check what is happening before calling anyone.
Visits while you are away
During a long stay, someone often drops by: to collect the post, feed a pet, check the heating. Rather than handing over a spare key, a code key safe fixed in a sheltered spot lets you give access for the duration of the holiday, then change the code when you return.
The other risk of an empty home: water
Water damage is the most common household claim, with more than a million cases a year in France. A leak that starts on the first day of a week-long absence has all the time it needs to cause damage. A smart water leak detector placed under the sink or near the water heater alerts you at the first contact with water, so you can warn a relative or neighbour. The details: how to detect water damage in time.
The checklist before closing the door
- Registration for the Opération Tranquillité Vacances done
- Door double-locked, windows and patio doors locked
- DIY tools put away
- No departure announced online
- Key safe code given to the person who visits, to be changed on your return
- Sensor, camera and leak detector notifications enabled on your phone
The matching products
For a long absence in winter: the opening sensor and the outdoor WiFi camera to be alerted, the solar floodlight with detector for the long nights, the code key safe for visits, and the water leak detector for the other risk of an empty home. Everything is in the SentinHome catalogue.
Going further
To choose which opening to equip first, see door or window. And for outdoor lighting, what a solar floodlight with detector changes before a break-in.