Secure Your Home with Window Locks

Windows are a second most favourite point of entry for an intruder in to your home. Having good quality window locks could help to prevent you becoming a statistic. Windows on the back of your house – out of the public eye – are where most burglars gain entry. Another popular point of entry for burglars is the front door so I’d suggest if you are on a mission to secure your home that your read the door lock article as well.

If you have uPVC windows and are looking for locks then you made need to speak to the manufacturer of your windows to replace the lock that is built in to your windows. Most, if not all, uPVC window locks come as part of the window unit, and it is very difficult to retro fit locks to the exterior frame. Because the frames are plastic they do not provide strong fixing points for the lock and you always run the risk of hitting the glass when you put the screw through the window frames. This isn’t to say that you can’ fit locks to uPVC windows, but it is definitely more difficult.

The majority of window locks on the market merely stop an intruder from opening the window from the outside of the property, so it is almost like your standard bolt. If they had gained access to your property and wanted to escape from the inside out then in essence they would just need to ‘undo’ the bolt. There are however key operated locks that will prevent any one from getting out of the windows from the inside unless they have the key.

One of the oldest types of lock for casement windows is the stay lock. If you have wooden windows with stays to keep them open then I would highly recommend this type of lock. The big advantage that this type of lock has over every other sort of lock is that it can be locked when the window is open and closed which means that you can leave the window open overnight and not have to worry about intruders. The amount that the window can open is not restricted either. You will have all of the opening increments that you had previously. Where the stay fits over the prong to keep the window open is where the locking occurs, you will usually be provided with a special key to lock it.

If you don’t have window with stays there are still some locks available that will allow you to have the window securely open at night. However, most of these are labeled as child safe and as such only allow the window to open about 3” so will not give you the possibility to of opening the window as much as it can.

There are the snap lock type of window locks that will fit to casement windows, transom windows and pivot windows, when the window is shut these automatically snap shut. These do offer a number of advantages, the first one being that you don’t need to remember to lock the windows, if they’re shut, they’re locked. The second advantages being that if you’ve left the house in a rush and realize that you have left a window open you can push it shut from the outside, saving you the hassle of unlocking the house again to get in close and lock the window. The lock comes as two pieces, the lock part and the striking plate. The plate fits to the window frame and the lock fits to the window.

There are also a variety of sash window locks available – sometimes called sliding window locks – the majority of these work in a similar way to back gate bolt. There are bolts and stops, the bolt fixes through the lower sash in to the upper sash effectively locking the two sashes together so that there is no room for movement. Sash window lock stop work slightly differently, the stop is positioned above the lower sash, how high you position the stop will determine how much you can open the window . This has a distinct advantage over the sash window bolt, in that you can still open your window for ventilation safe in the knowledge that no one can enter your home through it. The disadvantage of the stop over the bolt is that it doesn’t look so tidy.

The final type of lock left to mention is the handle lock. Similar to the uPVC window lock this type of lock, locks the handle in a fixed position so that it cannot be moved. The window need to be shut and the handle rotated in to position and then locked. This type of window lock is only suitable for casement windows but it is operated by a key.