Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't get why people leave lights on. isn't this an indication that you're not home? When you turn off all the lights every night except when you aren't there?
You do not just "leave them on."
You put a lamp or a couple of lamps on timers so they are only on during the hours for which you set on the timer. Staggering times is useful to make a house look lived-in: Maybe a living room light goes on at 6 and stays on until 11 or 12 and then switches off. Maybe in addition, a bedroom light goes on at 11 and stays on until 1 a.m. or whatever. The point is NOT to have the whole house blazing away with light from inside ALL night long.
I'm kind of amazed that several posters do not seem to get this. Someone also posted how it's a fire hazard to leave lights on all the time. That's not what anyone with sense is doing! And yes, lights on all night every night does advertise that no one's home, but lights going on
and off in rooms people would usually use in the evenings looks realistic. Before someone decides to say, but but but...burglars will figure out the timings: If any burglars are THAT determined that they're sitting outside a house monitoring various lights' on and off times over a couple of nights to see if the times are the same...hell, they're welcome to come on in. /s
Timers are maybe $18-$30 at any home store and many grocery stores and drugstores. Easy to use. We use them and mix up the times in a couple of rooms, when away even overnight and especially on longer trips. Set it and forget it. By the way -- our local cops (suburban DC) advise residents to use lights on timers when away from home. So it's not just crazy old me, it's the cops saying a house with lights is one that looks lived in.