We often see homes that we visit during surveys with keys in all of the locks. The usual reason that people give is that in the event of a fire at night they are not hunting around for a key to open a door. This is a perfectly understandable precaution, but it is not good from a security standpoint. Burglars will enter through a relatively small opening, but will always look for a door to open to allow them to escape quickly, should they be disturbed and with their ill-gotten gains. A key in a lock is almost as good as an open door.

The key (if you pardon the pun) to escaping the possible fatal effects of fire is to give yourself as much time as you can before the situation becomes out of control. Have an early waning system, with plenty of properly maintained and operational smoke detectors installed. If they are part of your GuardHome intruder system then it will sound all of your sirens and make calls to your trusted contacts. So the likelihood of you, your friends and neighbours sleeping through the emergency is greatly reduced. And as we look after your batteries, you know that your smoke detectors will be working.

Decide on your escape routes from your home and have the necessary keys “safely” located in a place where any anyone in the household can access them. Then practise the escape route so that you can literally do it with your eyes closed, especially if you have young children. These simple precautions will save you far more time than simply leaving a key in your lock.

If you must leave a key in the locks then make sure that you have a GuardHome intruder alarm fitted as a deterrent.