Home Safety Checklist For Allentown
Keeping safe and secure in your home should be your number one concern. But are you missing a few key safety components? Take this home safety checklist for Allentown and find out where your home needs an update.
This guide starts with a few whole-home safety ideas, and then we delve down to specific room ideas. Then, contact (601) 298-3167 or send in the form below to speak to a security expert.
General Home Safety Checklist for Allentown
While you should use a individual room process for home safety in Allentown, there are a few items that work for all of your rooms. These devices can sync together through a smart hub, and often can react to other components. You can also manage every one of your home safety devices through a smartphone app, like ADT Control:
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Monitored Security System: Each one of your doors and windows should have a sensor that warns you to intrusion. As an alarm trips, your monitoring expert picks up the call and immediately calls a first responder.
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Smart Bulbs For Every Major Room: Sure, you can set your smart bulbs to make your home more eco-conscience. But smart lights can also help you stay safe in an emergency. Have your downstairs lights flip on when a sensor triggers to frighten off burglars or illuminate the way out to a outside place.
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Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in Allentown can save you up to 15% in utility costs. It also can turn on your exhaust fan when your alarms senses a fire.
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Monitored Fire Alarms: At the very least, you have a fire alarm on each level. You can increase your fire preparedness by installing a monitored fire detector that senses unusual smoke and heat, and pings your 24/7 monitoring agents when it thinks that there’s a fire.
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Smart Door Locks: Every door that needs a keyed lock can upgrade to a smart door lock. Now you may preset key codes to family and friends and receive texts to your smartphone when they are activated. Your doors can even automatically unlock, letting you quickly flee the house when you have a fire or dangerous situation.
Family Room/Living Room Safety Checklist For Allentown
You’ll hang out most in your living room, so it can be the perfect room to start making your home safer. Electronics, like a big screen or video game console, usually reside in your living room, making it a popular room for burglars. Start with hanging a motion sensor or security camera in there, then try some of these ideas:
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Motion Sensors: By installing motion sensors, you’ll have a high-decibel siren if they sense unusual movement in your family room. You’ll want motion sensors that aren’t set off by pets or you’ll have your sirens go off each time your pet comes in for a bite of food.
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Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera gives you a constant watch on your family room. Watch live streams of everything so you can know what’s happening from the mobile app. Or speak with your family when they come back from school by using the two-way talk feature.
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Surge Protector/Outlet Maintenance: Safeguard expensive electronics and quit overloading your circuits with a surge protector. For additional convenience, set up a smart plug with anti-surge functionality in the unit.
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Furniture Bolted To The Wall: If you have babies or toddlers, you’ll need to bolt your entertainment center or other heavy furniture to a wall. This is especially important if your living room has carpet that could make objects extra wobbly.
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Special Locks For Sliding Doors: If your family room uses a sliding door that opens to a patio, deck, or screened-in porch, you already get that the door lock is fairly flimsy. Install an enhanced lock, like a cross bar or locks that secures the door to the top and bottom of the opening.
Kitchen Safety Checklist For Allentown
The kitchen has room for items that should provide comfort and safety to your home. Many of these things are also a snap to add and should be bought from the Target or Walmart:
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Fire Extinguisher: A fire can spring up from an unwatched skillet or a faulty burner. Always keep a fire extinguisher in close reach for any cooking mishaps.
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Circuit Interrupter Box On Each Outlet: A circuit interrupter outlet should be used everywhere there’s nearby running water to prevent electrocution. That includes the plug outlets close to your sink and kitchen counter. Since 1987, it’s been required to have one circuit interrupter outlet per circuit. But for simplicity’s sake, you’re going to want to use a single GFCI on each outlet.
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Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A CO detector is recommended for spaces that have natural gas for the oven and range. If your gas appliances spring a leak, the CO detector will play a loud noise and ping your monitoring center.
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Clorox Wipes Or Spray: The largest safety problem in the kitchen is actually bacteria and contamination from raw meat and vegetables. Always store disinfectant wipes or a bleach spray to clean your surfaces before and after preparing food.
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Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The milk, meat, and perishables in the refrigerator need to remain at a constant temperature to be safe to use. If you leave the fridge or freezer door open, then a small beep will let you know so you can close the door. Some fridges come with an alarm, older models won’t, and you’ll have to get a refrigerator alarm from online.
Bathroom Safety Checklist For Allentown
Just because you may not have a lot of square footage in your bathroom there’s still safety hazards. From flood prevention to anti-surge outlets, here are five safety improvements for your bathroom:
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Flood Detectors: A leaking toilet or shower can create a whole lot of destruction. Discover leaks early with a flood detector and save yourself from reflooring the entire bathroom.
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Non-slip Shower Mats: A fall in the bathroom can be painful, causing cuts, gashed heads, or sprained ankles. You can steer clear from these hazards with a textured bathroom mat for after your bath or shower.
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Textured Bathtub Stickies: Likewise, a bathtub can be a slippery place to stand in. Make sure each has some textured stickers so your feet have a rough patch to grip.
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Medicine Door Lock: If you have curious children or a family member with memory complications, you should take additional precautions regarding prescription medicine. Safeguard your bottles by using a medicine cabinet with a child-proof lock.
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GFCI Circuits: While installing better outlets in the kitchen, you need to also use a surge protecting circuit interrupter outlet on every bathroom receptacle. These will cut the current if they ever get wet or they experience an unusual surge from an electric razor or hair dryer.
Kid’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Allentown
Your child’s bedroom should counterbalance safety with manageability. If their window coverings or other items are safe but hard to operate, then your child may try dangerous methods -- like climb a bookshelf -- to touch them. Try these simple, yet safe, ideas:
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Cordless Window Treatments: Safety experts have identified cords from shades and blinds a hidden problem for kids and pets. Install motorized blinds or shades that kids can easily open and close through a remote. Or even better, pair your motorized coverings to your ADT smart hub so they can raise without anyone’s help when it’s time to get up, and lower at bedtime for an easier sleep.
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Tableside Security Camera: A security camera perched on your kid’s desk or dresser can double as a high tech baby monitor that you can watch from your phone. And when they need something, they can use the two-way talk button that comes with the camera.
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Plug Covers: While every outlet should have covers on them for your small children, this is doubly important in their bedroom. It’s the one place in your home where your toddler will most likely hang out alone without additional supervision.
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Window Escape Ladder: If you use bedrooms on an upper floor, then you will want to have a window fire ladder. These can let a young one leave the house in case the stairway or downstairs are on fire. Make sure to practice how to employ the ladder a few times a year.
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Toy Box Or Low Bookshelves: It’s strange to look at a toy box as a safety component, but you’ll see the light if you’ve ever walked on a Lego in your bare feet. A clean floor means a quick retreat when there’s an emergency.
Master Bedroom Safety Checklist For Allentown
The master bedroom should be an oasis, so let your safety devices give you peace of mind if you experience an emergency event. After all, being wrenched awake by a high-decibel alarm can be quite a shock.
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Home Security Touchscreen: Having a smart hub on your dresser lets you see what’s going on without leaving your bed. You could alternatively use your ADT smartphone app but, the HD touchscreen may be faster to use when you’re coming out of sleep and disoriented.
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Personal Charging Area: We rely on our cell phones for so many things now alarms, news readers, game machines, and sometimes even phones. However, a depleted cell in the middle of the night cuts us off from communications if during an emergency. So, a charging station or cord is should be used nightly.
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Nightlights Or Voice Activated Smart Lights: A plug-in light can calm you when you’re jolted awake from a fire alarm or other loud sounds. If you have trouble falling asleep with an outlet light, put in a smart bulb in your bedroom. Then you can have light simply with a button push or vocal command.
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Fireproof Safe: Stash your essential paperwork like birth certificates, passports, or a bankbook in a fireproof lockbox. This can be a bigger one that is located out of the way or a slender portable safe that you can carry when you leave during an emergency event.
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Heat Sensor: The problem with most bedrooms is that they tend to be too hot or be frigid since they are located across the house from the thermostat. A heat sensor will communicate to your smart thermostat so you will have a comfortable, relaxing sleep at just the right climate.
Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For Allentown
Most safety needs in the basement or garage deal with your water or furnace. Discovering hazards at the source can stave away larger emergencies later on. So, as you look around your storage areas, pay attention to these critical items:
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Water Detector Or Sump Pump Alarm: Putting a flood sensor by your water heater or sump pump drain can save you from wading into a mess when you walk into your basement or garage. Do you really want to lose your day bailing out water?
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Carbon Monoxide Alarm: It’s nice to have a CO detector in areas where a natural gas leak can happen. If you have gas heating, you’ll want to install a detector in the same area as your HVAC unit.
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Wireless Water Shutoff Valve: If your flood sensor detects a plumbing leak or a broken pipe, then you will want to cut off the main water line immediately. With a wireless shutoff valve, you can stop water flow from any mobile device. That’s helpful when you’re out of town and get an emergency leak alert on your phone.
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Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage door up brings about all types of problems. You can lose a bunch of heat through that open door, and rodents or thieves can just walk in. A sensor will notify you about a neglected garage door and lets you close it through the app.
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Heat Sensor: A temperature alarm in your garage or basement is handy if you wonder about frozen pipes. The heat in these rooms can be drastically different than your main rooms of the house, so you may need to have a closer eye on them by using the ADT mobile app.
Home Perimeter Safety Checklist for Allentown
Your landscaping, driveway, and front walk are just as crucial to make safe as the inside of your home. Use this checklist to make your outside safe:
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Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s knocking on the the front step before you open it and welcome guests. View package deliveries and review video clips if they disappear.
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Outdoor Security Camera: You can place outdoor security cameras to alert you to suspicious lurkers in your back yard. These devices come in handy in areas where you might not have a view -- like a side yard or by the garage.
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Low Shrubs: Tall foliage can offer some serenity, but they also obscure your line of sight of the yard and curb. Don’t provide potential intruders an area to hide. Plus, high bushes, shrubs or trees against your home can clog gutters and invite bugs.
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ADT Signs And Decals: One of the largest deterrents for a thief is telling would-be intruders that you use an updated security system. An ADT yard sign by the front door and a window decal will show ne'er-do-wells that they might want to shove off to an unprotected target.
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Motion Controlled Flood Lighting: Light is the greatest deterrent to those who skulk in the shadows. Motion-activated lights on your deck, porch, or garage can shoo lurkers away. They also help you see the walk when you get home on those dark, winter nights.
Call Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help Complete Your Home Safety Checklist for Allentown
While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t deliver non-security devices on your Allentown home safety checklist, we can discuss a state-of-the-art security system. With everything from alarms to thermostats, we can install the ideal system for your house’s needs. Simply call (601) 298-3167 for more information or complete the form below. Or personalize your own ADT system with our Security System Designer.