We know that smart home devices can do all sorts of things. Smart lights offer adjustable colors and brightness to set the mood, while locks help secure our doors and cameras monitor our homes for incoming deliveries and potential bad actors. But these handy gadgets can also help deter unwanted guests before they reach the front door.

By using a basic smart light or smart plug, you can make it look like you’re home when you’re not. Best of all, this setup is very affordable, since you can get started for $10 or less.

Let’s get started so you can start securing your home.

Use a smart plug to deter thieves

Smart sockets are a fantastic smart home device for beginners and enthusiasts. While there is Many Uses for Smart PlugsJust like allowing you to control your favorite lamp remotely, one particular feature is very useful in deterring thieves: scheduling.

The ability to program a light to automatically turn on and off creates the illusion that someone is home. But for the best effect, you would want the light, or better yet, lights, to turn on and off randomly over a specified period of time to imply that there is activity inside. Some smart plugs, like the Kasa Ultra Mini Smart Plugoffer a feature called Away Mode to handle this for you.

Away mode allows you to set a start and end time for smart plug operation. Then the socket will automatically turn on and off during the specified period and days that you have selected for its operation.

These random activities aim to simulate the presence of people in the home, turning lights on and off as they move from one room to another, making them much less attractive to potential thieves.

Use the rest of your smart home to deter thieves

Since a smart plug can control a non-smart lamp to create the illusion that people are home, direct access to a smart bulb is another option to deter thieves.

Use a smart light allows you to use any light fixture in your home rather than just those that plug into an outlet. The options for programming a smart light are like a smart plug, but again, random programming is the best option here.

Some smart lighting brands, including Philips tint offer predefined automation that will handle most of the work for you, much like the Kasa smart plug. But others require more effort on your part to manually create the routine you choose.

Another route you can take to simulate active home lighting while you’re away is with Amazon Alexa Or Google Home. Each of these platforms offers ways to create custom automations that provide you with that random insight to make would-be thieves think twice.

Getting started with a smart home can be intimidating, but there are three easy steps to follow to dive. Once you have a few devices and permissions under your belt, you’ll be on your way to a home full of amenities and, thanks to this nifty trick, more secure.