Do you know how easily someone could break into your home through one of the doors? If you don’t know, you need to find out. Almost 66% of burglaries occur in residences. 62% occur during daylight hours. 60% happen while people are at home. For this reason, door security is your first line of defense against intruders – at any hour.

Door security has four elements:

- The correct door

- The right locks

- The locks in the right place

- Installing the right alarms.

First, you need the right door. This might be a high-security steel door. If you have a patio or balcony, you might want to install French doors or a sliding glass door. This would not present a door security risk if you are above the second floor of a building. On the first or second floor, you might need additional safeguards.

The second thing you need for door security is a good set of locks. The door knob or door lever should have a good solid lock. This is not a place to sacrifice quality for price. The best locks include either a keypad, for entering a code to open the door, or a sensor that reads fingerprints to unlock the door. It is far more difficult to get past one of these!

In some cases you might need a three-point lock. These use a bar that runs vertically up the door. The locks are positioned at the top, the bottom and the side of the door to make it more difficult to break in. Three-point locks are ideal for French doors and other doors where additional door security is needed. Patio/sliding glass doors can be doubly secured with either a wood or metal rod that lies in the slide so the door cannot be slid open or with a patio door lock screwed into the bottom of the door preventing the door from sliding. These are generally operated with a key. A good deadbolt lock is usually suggested for door security. The best deadbolts are operated on both sides of the door with a key (which should be removed from the lock).

Third, the locks need to be installed in the right place for optimal door security. Installing a deadbolt just above the door knob/lever makes sense on a solid door. It is not however, the best place for a deadbolt on a door with large windows. It would be too easy for someone to break out a window and easily access both locks. The better choice in these cases is either a three-point lock or to install the deadbolt closer to the floor – low enough that it cannot be reached through the window.

Fourth, good door security requires the right alarm. Most alarm systems place magnetized sensors in the door and the door frame. These activate the alarm if the door is opened. But what if an intruder breaks out the windows and climbs in through the opening? Doors with a large window can be used without leaving you vulnerable. This is accomplished with a glass-break sensor. The instant the glass is broken, the sensor responds to the sound by activating the alarm. The glass-break sensor might be your first warning that someone is trying to enter your home. Activation of the alarm might be enough to scare off an intruder.

You can keep your family safe at home by ensuring door security. You can choose and install good locks in the right places in the right doors. And you can install the right alarm system to protect your family.

About the author: Todd Cavanaugh is a 10-year home security specialist. Protech Security Systems installs pre-wired and wireless monitored security systems, 24-hour camera surveillance systems, access control systems and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. For more information, see his recommendations on door security.