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Worried homeowners will return to the house to double-check they locked the front door 3,136 times over their lifetime, according to new research.
Despite locking up properly 77 per cent of the time, more than half of those polled admit to being a worrier when it comes to home security.
As such, the average person will return to the front door at least once a week to make sure it is secure.
The study shows busy Brits have a habit of forgetting things when leaving the house – with a fifth forgetting to shut the windows or turn off the lights, and 12 per cent have accidentally left the TV on.
Taking the mobile phone out of the house, emptying the kitchen bin and turning off the heating also feature highly on the top 20 list of things regularly forgotten.
When going on holiday two thirds of travellers admit they worry about how safe their house will be – so much so, 13 per have cut a holiday short because they couldn’t think about anything else.
This means that, this summer holiday, over 4 million Brits will worry about their home’s safety whilst away.
The research coincides with the launch of Bosch’s Smart Homes portfolio in the UK, with products such as the smart plug, window and door sensor and 360-degree indoor camera on shelves now.
Steffen Hoffmann, President of Bosch UK which conducted the study of 2,000 said: “As our lives get busier, we’re increasingly used to coordinating our lives on our smart phones. It’s little wonder that being unable to check on our homes remotely is leaving us feeling a little homesick.
“Our study found that large numbers of us are concerned about our home safety. Whether it’s forgetting to lock a door, close the windows or turning off the oven, these nagging doubts eat away at our sense of security.
“Smart technology used to just be for the early adopters, but our new Smart Home portfolio is designed specifically to bring security and convenience to everyone in your everyday life, helping to address the worries and fears our research highlighted.”
The study shows putting valuables out of view when going away, setting the burglar alarm or turning off the hair straighteners are also things people forget frequently, with 12 per cent spending much of their day worrying about the latter.
Researchers found one in six people have been late for work due to returning to the house to lock the front door properly, while one in 20 have missed an important appointment.
One in 10 people admit they’ve been so concerned about the house they’ve phoned a neighbour to check on it, while one in 20 have called a friend at work to ask them to nip round.
More than four in 10 people say locking the front door is their biggest concern, while 21 per cent often worry about whether they’ve shut the windows.
Whether or not the iron has been left on, forgetting to put the burglar alarm on and leaving the oven running also cause people to worry all day long.
But despite being worried about their home security, only a third of those polled have a burglar alarm and just 16 per cent have a motion sensor.
Three in 10 people admit they have no security measures in place whatsoever – instead preferring to leave the lights on when they leave the house or asking a neighbour to keep an eye on things if they are going to be away for a long time.
Just under four in 10 homeowners have considered buying a smart device to prevent the worry about leaving their property unattended.
Steffen Hoffmann for Bosch continues: “Something as simple as a smart plug means that people are able to control devices from their phone, wherever they are, which is immediately reassuring. Likewise, window and door sensors will let you know if you’ve left the windows or doors open, and will mean you’ll never worry if you’ve forgotten again!”
TOP 20 THINGS BRITS FORGET:
1. Take the phone
2. Empty the kitchen bin
3. Turn off the lights
4. Shut the windows
5. Turn off the heating
6. Make a shopping list
7. Turn off the TV
8. Tidy up clothing before people come round
9. Lock the front door
10. Take your wallet
11. Clean the toilets before people come round
12. Pack lunch for work
13. Put valuables out of view
14. Set the heating timer accordingly
15. Set the burglar alarm
16. Turn off hair straighteners
17. Lock the car
18. Turn off the iron
19. Blow out candles
20. Turn off a tap
ENDS
