Lighting for when on vacation

[Lsbcal]

I've been thinking about upgrading our house lighting for burglary prevention. Right now we have some lights that come on with motion sensing at a few points outside. There is a timer on the front door lighting that even corrects for seasonal variations and day light savings time. Some LED lights go down our walkway. A light comes on in the upstairs bedroom for the 9pm to 12pm times. We also have an alarm system.

It occurred to me that when the shades are drawn all I might need is a decent power LED work light to shine on the shades for a room in a lower level. Here is one for about $35, Designers Edge L1306 108-LED Portable Bright LED Workshop Lighting, Green - Portable Work Lights - Amazon.com


Does this sound like a good idea attached to a mechanical timer on a wall socket? Or is there an even better one?

Any other thoughts on home security items that really work and are simple installations?

[KingB]

How about this one instead?

FakeTV FTV-11 Extra Bright Burglar Deterrent

Amazon.com : FakeTV FTV-11 Extra Bright Burglar Deterrent : Security And Surveillance Products : Camera & Photo

[omni550]

I like my Fake TV. FakeTV - The Burglar Deterrent

I bought the FTV-11 ($40.). It comes on at dusk and you can set it to run for dusk+3 hours or dusk+7 hours.

I leave it plugged-in all the time (even when I'm home) in the seldom-used front room, so it appears as though the TV is on (and someone is home).

omni

[Lsbcal]

I had looked at the Fake TV a long time ago. Thanks for reminding me!

Took a look at the Amazon reviews and this thing is worth a try. When I look at the star rating it gets only 4 1-stars out of 206 reviews -- a good ratio.

Since it's Amazon fulfillment, I can just ship it back should it not work for us.

P.S. That video on the FakeTV sight was a chuckle. The actors must have had a good time being burglars and the woman with the baby was a hoot.

[braumeister]

Many years ago I started putting certain lamps on a timer when I was out of town. There are some you can find in hardware stores that have a random feature. You set it for on and off at some time in the evening and it randomizes those times within an hour or so on each side. Pretty effective, I think.

[JoeWras]

+1 for Fake TV. I saw it here and bought it. Very convincing, and very cheap to run.

Because of the way our room gets some lighting, I instead put it on an external timer because the dusk feature wasn't working very well.

Still a great buy.

[Lsbcal]

I got the Fake TV and it is working very nicely. Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

I ordered the FTV-11 but an FTV-10 was in the package. It was OK but too dim for our situation. Just got the FTV-11 replacement order and it works great.

[heeyy_joe]

I thought Fake TV was the Kardashians.