Home Safety Checklist For Elizabethtown

Staying safe and secure in your house should be your topmost priority. But are you missing a few big safety components? Look over this home safety checklist for Elizabethtown and discover where your home needs some work.

This guide begins with some whole-house safety techniques, and then we delve down to specific room ideas. Then, call (270) 262-4315 or send in the form below to talk to a security expert.

Essential Home Safety Checklist for Elizabethtown

While you should employ a room-by-room method for home safety, there are some things that work for the whole-house approach. These items can link to each other through a wireless hub, and often can react to other components. You might also manage each of your home safety components through a mobile security app, such as ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: Each one of your doors and windows should employ a sensor that warns your family to a break-in. When the alarm goes off, your monitoring expert responds to the call and sends a first responder.

Smart Bulbs For Most Rooms: Of course, you can set your smart lighting to become more eco-conscience. But they can also help you remain safe in an emergency. Make your downstairs lights come on when a security alarm trips to shoo off robbers or light a path to a secure area.

Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in Elizabethtown can save you up to 15% in utility costs. It also can turn on an exhaust fan during a fire.

Monitored Smoke Detectors: At the very least, you need to have a fire detector on every floor. You can increase your fire game by installing a monitored fire alarm that looks for both heat and smoke, and alerts your 24/7 monitoring agents when it detects a fire.

Smart Door Locks: Every doorway that utilizes a deadbolt can be made safer with a smart lock. Now you can preset numbered codes to family and friends and receive alerts to your mobile device when the locks are activated. Your doors can even automatically turn off, helping you to quickly flee the house during an emergency.

Family Room/Living Room Safety Checklist For Elizabethtown

You’ll spend most of your time in your family room, so it’s the most reasonable place to optimize your home safety. Highly sought after items, like your TV or stereo system, probably sit in your living room, making it a popular space for robbers. Begin with placing a motion sensor or security camera in there, then take a look at all these ideas:

Motion Detectors: By hanging motion detectors, you’ll have a loud alarm whenever they sense suspicious motion in your living room. Look for motion sensors that ignore a dog or cat or you’ll get your sirens go off every time your dog roams by for a drink of water.
Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera offers a visual on your living room. Watch constant feeds of the area so you can see what’s happening through the mobile app. Or speak with family members in the room by using the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Protect those electronics and quit overburdening your electric system with a surge protector. For additional energy-efficiency, use a smart plug with surge protection in the unit.
Entertainment Center Secured To The Wall: If you have any small children, you’ll want to attach your entertainment center or other heavy furniture to your wall. This is especially important if your living room uses carpeting that can make furniture extra wobbly.
Special Locks For Sliding Glass Doors: If your family room has a sliding door that slides out to a patio, deck, or screened-in porch, you probably get that the latch is pretty worthless. Use an enhanced lock, like a bottom bar or small locks that bolt to the bottom and top of the door frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Elizabethtown

The kitchen has room for items that can bring safety to your house. Many of these items are also a snap to add and should be found in the Target or Walmart:

Fire Extinguisher: A fire can spring up from an overfilled frying pan or a towel that’s too close to a burner. Always store a fire extinguisher in close reach for any stove or oven emergencies.
Circuit Interrupter Box On Each Outlet: A circuit interrupter outlet should be installed anywhere they’re by water to ward off an electric shock. That includes the plugs by your kitchen counter and sink. Since 1987, it’s been code to have one circuit interrupter outlet per dedicated circuit. But for simplicity’s sake, you’re going to want to install an unchained GFCI per outlet.

Monitored CO Detector: A CO detector is advised for the kitchen if you have natural gas for the oven and range. If your gas burners leak, the CO detector will emit a loud sound and contact your monitoring agent.
Cleaning Wipes Or Spray: The largest safety issue in the kitchen is the invisible bacteria and contamination that comes with raw meat and other foods. Always have cleaning wipes or a bleach spray to scrub off your area before and after making a meal.
Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The milk, meat, and perishables in your fridge should stay at a chilly temperature to be ready to consume. If you leave the freezer or refrigerator door open, then an alarm beep will let you know so you can check the seal. Some appliances already have an alarm, others do not, and you’ll have to pick up a refrigerator alarm from online.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Elizabethtown

Just because you may not have a lot of room in your bathroom there’s still safety concerns. From flood prevention to electric safety, here are a few safety ideas for your bathroom:

Flood Detectors: A leaking sink or bathtub can lead to a whole lot of water damage. Find water problems early with a flood detector before they cause hundreds to thousands of dollars in ruined floors, walls, and fixtures.
Non-slip Bath Mats: A slip in the bathroom can be painful, causing bumps, gashed heads, or sprained ankles. Or avoid these issues with a non-slip bathroom mat for your wet feet.

Textured Bathtub Strips: Another water hazard, a tub can be a slippery surface to move in. It’s a good idea that each tub has some textured stickies so your feet and toes have a rough patch to grip.

Medicine Door Latch: If you have curious children or anyone with memory difficulties, you have to take additional precautions regarding medicine. Safeguard your prescriptions by using a medicine cabinet with a locking latch.

GFCI Circuits: Just like the kitchen, you need to also put in a grounded GFCI outlet on every bathroom receptacle. These will cut the current if they ever get wet or you have a sudden spike from a curling iron or hair dryer.

Child’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Elizabethtown

A child’s bedroom should counterbalance safety with simplicity. If their window shades or other items are safe but tricky to manage, then your children may perform risky activities -- like climb a bookshelf -- to touch them. Try these straightforward, and safe, ideas:

No Cord Window Treatments: Safety professionals have identified cords from shades and blinds an unsuspecting danger for kids and pets. Install motorized blinds or shades that you can easily open and close via remote. Or better yet, connect your shades to your ADT security system so they can raise automatically when it’s time to get up, and go down at night for extra privacy.

Tableside Security Camera: An indoor security camera placed on your kid’s desk can act like an HD baby monitor that you can view with your phone. And if they want something, they can push the two-way talk feature on the camera.

Outlet Covers: While each outlet should use outlet safety caps on them to protect your young children, this is especially important in a child’s bedroom. It’s the one room in your home where your child will most likely be solo without adult supervision.

Window Safety Ladder: If you use bedrooms on the second story, then you should put in a window fire ladder. These should help your children escape in case the stairway or lower levels are blocked off with fire. Make sure to rehearse how to unfurl them a few times a year.

Toy Box Or Low Bookshelves: It’s strange to view a toy chest as a safety item, but you’ll get it if you’ve ever tramped on a building block in your bare feet. A clutter-free floor gives your child a quick way out if there’s an emergency.

Main Bedroom Safety Checklist For Elizabethtown

The main bedroom should be a refuge, so let your safety items make life easier if you experience an emergency event. After all, being wrenched awake by a wailing buzzer can be quite a shock.

Security System Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your nightstand gives you a sense of what’s going on without getting out of bed. You could always use your ADT phone app but, the touchscreen can be faster to use when you’re coming out of sleep and disoriented.

Device Charging Stand: We depend on our cell phones for almost everything now alarm clocks, web browsers, games, and maybe even phones. The only problem is that an uncharged device will cut us off from the outside world if there’s a problem. To make sure your phone always works, a an easy-to-use charging station is an important part of your nightstand.

Nightlights Or Voice Activated Smart Lights: A plug-in light helps ground you when you’re startled awake from a siren or other loud noises. If you have trouble falling asleep with an outlet light, put in smart lights in your bedroom. Then you can have light on-demand with a push of a button or vocal command.
Fireproof Lockbox: Store your vital paperwork like birth certificates, stock certificates, or a spare checkbook in a fireproof safe. Your safe can be a big one that is located out of the way or a small handheld lockbox that you can carry on your way out during an emergency event.

Temperature Sensor: The issue with bedrooms is that they might feel too hot or be chilly since they are far away from the thermostat. A heat sensor can communicate to your smart thermostat so you can have a pleasant, restful sleep at a wonderful climate.

Garage/Basement Safety Checklist For Elizabethtown

Most safety problems in the garage or basement have to do with your water heater or furnace. Discovering hazards before they start can stave away larger problems later on. So, as you walk around your basement or garage, check over these critical items:

Water Detector Or Sump Pump Alarm: Placing a flood alarm in back of your water heater or sump pump drain can prevent you from wading into a mess when you step into your basement or garage. The last you need is to lose the weekend bailing out water and going through all those ruined boxes.

CO Alarm: It’s smart to install a carbon monoxide alarm in a place where a CO leak can occur. If you use a gas furnace, try to hang a detector in the same room as your inbound pipes.
WiFi Water Shutoff Valve: If your water sensor finds a plumbing leak or a burst pipe, then you will want to cut off the main water valve immediately. With a wireless shutoff valve, you can block water flow from your phone. That’s nice when you’re on vacation and get a flood sensor notification on your smartphone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage door up brings about all sorts of headaches. You can lose a bunch of heat through that large opening, and all sorts of animals or thieves can just wander in. A sensor will text you about an open garage door and allow you to close it remotely.
Heat Sensor: A temperature alarm in your garage or basement is a definite if you wonder about frozen pipes. The temperature in these rooms can be wildly different than your main rooms of the house, so you will want to keep a close look on them with the ADT mobile app.

Outside Perimeter Safety Checklist for Elizabethtown

Your landscaping, drive, and front porch are just as crucial to secure as the interior of your house. Try the items on this checklist to defend your perimeter:

Doorbell Camera: See who’s knocking on the the front step before you open it and chat with visitors. View package deliveries and review video clips if they are taken.

Outdoor Camera: You can install outdoor security cameras to guard against late night activity in your yard. These cameras are nice in places where you may not have a window installed -- like a side yard or by the garage.

Low Shrubs: Tall foliage can give you some solitude, but they also hinder your view of the outside. Don’t give potential burglars a place to hide. Plus, high bushes or greenery around your structure can obstruct gutters and summon ants and termites.
ADT Yard Signs: One of the most popular disincentives for a thief is advertising to would-be intruders that you have a monitored home security system. An ADT yard sign by the front door and a window decal will show people that they should shove off to an easier target.

Motion Activated Outside Lights: Light is the biggest deterrent to people who sneak around in the dark. Motion-controlled lighting on your deck, patio, or garage can frighten lurkers away. Lights also help you see the walk when you come to the house on those dark, winter nights.

Contact Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You Finish Your Home Safety Checklist for Elizabethtown

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t help you with every item on your Elizabethtown home safety checklist, we can install a powerful security system. With alarms, security cameras, and home automation, we can personalize the best system for your home’s needs. Simply call (270) 262-4315 for more information or fill out the form below. Or personalize your own solution with our Security System Designer.