safeandsecure.ie/topics/home/lock-up-light-up
Lock up, light up: securing your home for the dark evenings
The evenings are getting darker. Lock every door and window, every time; keep keys out of the lock and away from windows and the letterbox; and put a lamp on a timer so the house looks lived in.
Last checked against the sources listed at the end of this page.
We sell nothing on this page. It has no affiliate links, and nobody paid to be on it.
The short answer
- Lock every door and window, whether you are at home or going out (opens in a new tab). Over the last three winters, an unsecured door was the way in for 23.9% of residential burglaries (opens in a new tab).
- Keep keys out of the lock and away from windows and letterboxes (opens in a new tab), but somewhere everyone in the house can find them in a fire (opens in a new tab).
- Make the house look lived in: some lights on, with timer switches or motion detectors (opens in a new tab). Before you go away, ask a neighbour to keep an eye on it, and keep the trip off social media until you are home.
Free help first
Ask a Garda Crime Prevention Officer
The Gardaí’s home security sheets end the same way: for more on any crime prevention question, contact your local Garda Crime Prevention Officer (opens in a new tab). Ring or call into your local Garda station and ask for them. The Gardaí publish a station directory (opens in a new tab) if you need the number.
Your neighbours: Community Alert, Neighbourhood Watch and Text Alert
These are community safety programmes run with the Gardaí (opens in a new tab): Community Alert mainly in rural areas, with Muintir na Tíre, and Neighbourhood Watch in towns and cities. Text Alert groups get texts about suspicious or criminal activity in their area. Our guide to Text Alert, Neighbourhood Watch and Community Alert explains how to join one.
Aged 65 or over and living alone? The Seniors Alert Scheme
This is a personal alarm, not a house alarm. It is a button you wear as a pendant or on your wrist. Pressing it rings a helpline that is open day and night, all year (opens in a new tab), and the operator decides whether to send a local volunteer or the emergency services.
It is for people aged 65 or over with limited means who live alone, are alone for much of the day, live with another person who qualifies, or care for someone in their household. The equipment and fitting are free, and monitoring is free for the first year. After that there is a yearly fee, which Citizens Information says may be about €70 (opens in a new tab).
You apply through a local community group registered with Pobal, and a family member or neighbour can apply for you with that group. Pobal (opens in a new tab) lists the groups by county and answers questions on 01 511 7222.
Why do the dark evenings matter?
The clocks go back an hour on Sunday 25 October: under EU rules, summer time ends on the last Sunday in October (opens in a new tab). From then on, it gets dark an hour earlier by the clock.
The Gardaí’s winter phase of Operation Thor, their work against burglary, runs from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 (opens in a new tab). They say burglary from homes tends to be higher in winter, and that international evidence points to “a surge in burglaries of up to 20%” (opens in a new tab) in the winter months, when there is least daylight. Their figures, published on 1 October 2026:
- 78.8% of residential burglaries (opens in a new tab) happen between 4pm and 8am, in the twilight and night-time hours.
- Over the last three winters, an unsecured door was the way in for 23.9% of residential burglaries (opens in a new tab).
- Jewellery is the most stolen (opens in a new tab), by number and by value, followed by tools, hardware and cash.
The good news is that burglary is far less common than it was. The Gardaí recorded just under 3,500 residential burglaries (opens in a new tab) in the first eight months of 2026, 72.2% fewer than in the same months of 2015.
The steps on this page come from the Gardaí’s own winter campaign, Lock Up Light Up (opens in a new tab), and their home security advice. Most of them cost nothing.
How do I lock up properly?
Lock every door and window, whether you are at home or going out (opens in a new tab). That includes the back and side doors, and the front door while you are out in the back garden.
The Gardaí say most burglars are opportunists who pick the easiest target they can find, and they list what makes a house easy (opens in a new tab):
What makes a house easy to get into
- A window left open for air: burglars will use the smallest opening.
- An outside door left unlocked.
- A key on a string, under the mat, or in some other “good hiding place” outside.
- A side door left unsecured, which lets them round to the back of the house.
- A shed or garage left unlocked, with tools inside that help them get in.
- Ladders and tools left out in the garden.
Where to keep your keys
Away from windows and the letterbox. The Gardaí warn that burglars “fish” car keys out through letterboxes (opens in a new tab). They suggest a letter tray or restrictor (opens in a new tab) on the inside of the letterbox to stop it.
Not in the lock. A key left in the door can be used to lock you out, or taken and copied (opens in a new tab).
But never out of your own reach. Where a door can only be opened with a key, the Gardaí say everyone in the house must know where that key is (opens in a new tab), in case of fire. Keep keys out of reach of a burglar, not of the people who live there.
If you have an alarm, use it (opens in a new tab). If you are thinking of getting one, our guide to house alarms in Ireland explains the kinds, when the Gardaí respond, and how to check an installer’s licence.
How do I make the house look lived in?
In the evening, turn on some lights (opens in a new tab), and use timer switches or motion detectors. The Gardaí add that LED bulbs use less energy than the old kind. When you go out, their advice is to make sure the house looks occupied (opens in a new tab).
One light left on all evening can give the game away. Among the signs of an empty house, the Gardaí list no lights on at night, or just a porch or hall light (opens in a new tab), and lights left on all day.
Inside: lights that come and go
In a lived-in house, lights go on and off at different times in different rooms. So the Gardaí suggest some lights on for long spells and others for short ones (opens in a new tab), front and back, upstairs and downstairs.
The simplest way is a plug-in timer on a table lamp. The other ways they list are switches you control from a phone app, and “dusk to dawn” sensors that fit into a ceiling light socket.
A radio on a plug-in timer helps too. They suggest a talk station rather than music.
Outside: the porch and the garden
A porch light can have a sensor that turns it on at dusk and off at dawn (opens in a new tab), or it can go on a timer.
A floodlight usually works with a movement sensor. Fit it high on the wall, out of easy reach (opens in a new tab), and aim it at your own ground, not at your neighbours’ house or the sky. Avoid leaving dark corners and shadows.
Lights help most alongside good locks. The Gardaí call lighting an aid to other security (opens in a new tab), such as good doors and locks and an alarm, not a replacement for it.
What should I do before I go away?
The Gardaí say the majority of burglaries take place in unoccupied homes (opens in a new tab), so the aim is a house that does not look empty.
Before you go
From the Gardaí’s advice for a house that will be empty (opens in a new tab):
- Ask a trusted neighbour or family member to check the house often, at different times of day.
- Put timers on lamps inside, and motion detectors on outside lights.
- Check every door and window, and set the alarm.
- Ask a neighbour to collect your post.
- Cut the grass and trim the hedges, so the house does not look neglected.
- Tell your local Garda station the house will be empty, so patrols can keep an eye on it.
Curtains left open or closed all day are a giveaway too. The Gardaí suggest asking a trusted neighbour to open and close them while you are away (opens in a new tab), and doing the same for them another time.
Post and deliveries. A build-up of post, papers or milk on the doorstep (opens in a new tab) is one of the signs of an empty house, and so is a note left for a delivery driver. Stop deliveries before you go, or ask a neighbour to take them in. For a longer trip, An Post’s MailMinder service holds your post for up to 12 weeks (opens in a new tab), for a fee. An Post asks for the form at least 5 working days before you go.
Keep the trip off social media
The Gardaí say that even with strict privacy settings, your holiday plans could be shared with the wrong people (opens in a new tab). Their advice:
- Don’t post your travel plans before you go.
- Don’t post updates or pictures while you are away. Share them when you are home.
- Don’t tag other people who are away too.
- Think about turning off location sharing in your phone’s camera app.
And don’t leave large amounts of cash or jewellery (opens in a new tab) in the house. Jewellery is what burglars take most.
Get ready for the dark evenings, step by step
- 1
Walk round the house in daylight
Check that every door, window, side gate, shed and garage locks properly. Put ladders and tools away. - 2
Choose one place for keys
Away from windows and the letterbox, and not in the lock. Make sure everyone in the house knows where it is. - 3
Put a lamp on a timer
In a front room, set to come on before dark. Add one in another room, upstairs or at the back, if you can. - 4
Check your outside lights
A porch light on a dusk-to-dawn sensor or a timer. Any floodlight high on the wall and aimed at your own ground. - 5
If you have an alarm, use it
Set it when you go out. Our guide to house alarms in Ireland covers choosing one, and when the Gardaí respond. - 6
Swap numbers with a neighbour
Someone who will keep an eye out, take in the post and check the house when you are away. You can do the same for them. - 7
Print the checklist below
Keep it by the door you use most, and write your neighbour’s and your Garda station’s numbers on it.
Every evening, and before you go away
Print this page and keep it by the door you use most. Tick each line as you go, and write your neighbour’s number and your local Garda station’s number in the notes.
Every evening
Every door locked (front, back and side), even when you are at home
Every window shut and locked, even a small one left open for air
Keys out of the locks, away from windows and the letterbox
Somewhere everyone in the house can find them quickly in a fire.
Some lights on, or on timers
Not just the porch or hall light.
Shed, garage and side gate locked; ladders and tools put away
Alarm set when you go out, if you have one
Before you go away
Lamps on timers in different rooms, and a radio on a timer
Outside lights on a sensor or a timer
A trusted neighbour will check the house and take in the post
And open and close the curtains. Or use An Post’s MailMinder (for a fee).
Milk, papers and other deliveries stopped
Grass cut and hedges trimmed
Local Garda station told the house will be empty
Nothing about the trip on social media until you are home
No large amounts of cash or jewellery left in the house
Every door and window locked, and the alarm set
From safeandsecure.ie/topics/home/lock-up-light-up. Last checked 6 October 2026. Sources: An Garda Síochána: Operation Thor (1 October 2026), Lock Up Light Up, Securing your home, home security sheets HS2 and HS5 (garda.ie); An Post (anpost.com).
Print this
The checklist prints on one page, in black on white, with a box to tick beside each line. The whole guide prints without the menus, and with the address of every source.
One thing to do this week
Put one lamp on a timer before the clocks go back.
A plug-in timer on a lamp in a front room, set to come on before dark and go off around your usual bedtime, makes the house look lived in on the evenings you are out. It is the first of the ways the Gardaí list to make an empty house look occupied (opens in a new tab). And if you ever think someone is in your house, ring 999 or 112.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from one of these, and each was read on 6 October 2026.
- An Garda Síochána launches winter phase of Operation Thor (1 October 2026) (opens in a new tab)
An Garda Síochána, press release. The winter phase dates; burglary higher in winter, "up to 20%" from international evidence; 78.8% of residential burglaries between 4pm and 8am; an unsecured door as the way in for 23.9% over the last three winters; jewellery the most stolen; burglaries in 2026 against 2015; and the steps: lights, timer switches or motion detectors, lock all doors and windows, use a house alarm, store keys away from windows, no large amounts of cash or jewellery at home.
- Lock Up Light Up campaign (opens in a new tab)
An Garda Síochána. Make the house look occupied when you go out; store keys away from windows and letterboxes; car keys "fished" through letterboxes.
- Securing your home (opens in a new tab)
An Garda Síochána. What burglars look for, the signs of an empty house, advice for a house that will be empty, and holiday plans on social media.
- Home Security information sheet HS2: Doors (PDF, August 2020) (opens in a new tab)
An Garda Síochána, National Community Policing and Crime Prevention Units. Keys out of the lock, out of reach of burglars but known to everyone in the house in case of fire; a letter tray or restrictor against key fishing.
- Home Security information sheet HS5: Lighting (PDF, August 2020) (opens in a new tab)
An Garda Síochána, National Community Policing and Crime Prevention Units. Outside lights (dusk-to-dawn sensors, timers, floodlights with movement sensors placed high and aimed well); inside lights on timers to look lived in; a radio on a timer; a neighbour to open and close the curtains; ask your Crime Prevention Officer.
- Garda station directory (opens in a new tab)
An Garda Síochána. To find your local Garda station’s number.
- Community crime prevention programmes (opens in a new tab)
An Garda Síochána. Neighbourhood Watch, Community Alert (with Muintir na Tíre) and Text Alert.
- Seniors Alert Scheme (page edited 19 November 2024) (opens in a new tab)
Citizens Information. Who qualifies, how the personal alarm works, what is free, the yearly monitoring fee after the first year, and applying through a registered local group.
- Seniors Alert Scheme (SAS) (opens in a new tab)
Pobal, which runs the scheme. The registered local organisations, by county, and Pobal’s contact details.
- Pause My Post (MailMinder) (opens in a new tab)
An Post. Holds your post for up to 12 weeks, for a fee; send the form at least 5 working days before the start date.
- Directive 2000/84/EC on summer-time arrangements (opens in a new tab)
European Union (EUR-Lex). Summer time ends, in every member state, on the last Sunday in October: in 2026, Sunday 25 October.