FakeTV Helps Protect Vacant Homes

It's common knowledge that vacant homes are prime targets for burglars and vandals.

Now a company has developed an inexpensive way to give off the appearance that there are people living in the home-or at least watching TV there.

Eden Prairie, Minn-based Opto-Electronic Design says "FakeTV" is a burglar deterrent device that gives off light in just the way a real television does, so from outside the home it looks like the home is occupied.

A built-in light sensor turns FakeTV on at dusk, and it stays on for a preset time. Computer-controlled LEDs reproduce the scene changes, color shifts, flicks and fades of a real television.

"When the burglar sees the light from an operating television, his imagination supplies the image of the person watching it," the company said in a press release. Modern televisions turn on with push buttons or a remote, so therefore they cannot be put on timers.

The usual tips still remain the first line of defense for a vacant property: keep the yard maintained, stop the mail, and frequently clear away advertising material that gets left at the door.

FakeTV costs $39.99 and is available at www.FakeTV.com or by calling or call 888/621-5800.