Home Safety Checklist For Kennewick

Being safe in your house should be your number one concern. But are you missing a few big safety items? Use this home safety checklist for Kennewick and find out where your home can use an update.

This guide begins with five whole-home safety ideas, and then we whittle it down on a room level. Then, contact (509) 240-8704 or fill out the form below to get your home set up.

Basic Home Safety Checklist for Kennewick

While you will want to use a room-by-room method for home safety in Kennewick, there are some methods that are useful for the whole home. These items can talk to each other through a wireless hub, and can even react to other things. You might also control each of your home safety equipment through a smartphone app, like ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: All your windows and doors should use a sensor that alerts you and your family to forced entry. After an alarm trips, your monitoring team answers the call and sends the police or fire department.

Smart Lighting For Most Rooms: Of course, you can program your smart lighting so your house is more eco-conscience. But smart lights can also allow you to stay safe during an emergency. Make your smart bulbs flash on when a sensor triggers to shoo off robbers or light your way to a outside location.

Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in Kennewick should save you between 10%-15% in gas and electric costs. Also, it can flip on the exhaust fan when your alarms senses a fire.

Monitored Fire Alarms: At the very least, you should have a fire detector on every level. You can increase your fire readiness by hanging a monitored fire alarm that senses both smoke and heat, and pings your round-the-clock monitoring team when it senses a fire.

Smart Locks: Every door that needs a keyed lock can use a smart lock. Now you can program key codes to friends and family and get alerts to your mobile device when they are used. Your smart lock can even automatically unlock, allowing you to quickly flee the house during a fire or dangerous situation.

Living Room/Family Room Safety Checklist For Kennewick

You’ll spend a lot of time in your family room, so it may be the most reasonable area to start making your home a safer place. Electronics, like your TV or video game console, usually sit in your family room, making it a popular room for thieves. Start with hanging a motion sensor or security camera in there, then take a look at the following suggestions:

Motion Detectors: By putting in motion detectors, you’ll hear a loud alarm anytime they sense suspicious movement in your family room. The best devices are motion sensors that aren’t set off by pet movements or you’ll see your sirens go off each time your cat passes through for a bite of food.
Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera puts a constant watch on your living room. Watch live feeds of your room so you can see what’s going on without leaving your bed. Or speak with your family in the living room by using the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Safeguard those electronics and stop overtaxing your circuits with a surge protector. For additional convenience, install a smart plug with anti-surge functionality in the unit.
Entertainment Center Attached To The Wall: If you have any small children, you’ll want to secure your bookshelves and entertainment center to a wall. This is especially crucial if your living room uses carpeting that might make objects extra wobbly.
Enhanced Locks For Glass Doors: If your family room has a sliding glass door that opens to a deck, patio, or screened-in porch, you already know that the door lock is pretty thin. Put in an enhanced lock, like a cross bar or small locks that bolt to the top and bottom of the opening.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Kennewick

The kitchen has plenty of items that can bring safety to your house. Some of these items should be simple to add and can be purchased from the grocery store:

Fire Extinguisher: A fire can happen from an unwatched skillet or a towel that’s too close to a burner. Always store a fire extinguisher at the ready for any cooking emergencies.
Circuit Interrupter Box On Every Outlet: A circuit interrupter outlet should be installed anywhere they’re by water to ward off electrocution. That includes the plug outlets close to your sink and kitchen counter. Since the late ‘80s, it’s been code to have one GFCI per dedicated circuit. But for simplicity’s sake, you’ll want to have a single GFCI for every outlet.

Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A CO detector is handy in spaces that employ gas for the stove and oven. If your gas burners leak, the carbon monoxide detector will emit a loud sound and contact your monitoring agent.
Clorox Wipes Or Spray: The largest safety issue in the kitchen is the invisible bacteria and contamination from blood from meat and dairy. Always store cleaning wipes or an antibacterial spray to clean your area before and after preparing food.
Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The food items in the refrigerator need to stay at a constant temperature to be ready to use. If you accidently leave the fridge or freezer door open too long, then a constant beep will remind you to close the door. Some fridges already have an alarm, others won’t, and you’ll have to get an external alarm from the hardware store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Kennewick

Just because there’s not a bunch of space in your bathroom, you will still have safety hazards. From flood prevention to electric safety, here are five safety improvements for your bathroom:

Flood Detectors: A leaking sink or bathtub can cause an expensive amount of destruction. Get alerted early about pooling water with a flood detector and save a bunch of money from damage.
Non-slip Shower Mats: A fall in the bathroom can be painful, causing bumps, bruises, or sprained ankles. Or prevent these issues with a no-slip bathroom mat for while you towel off.

No-slip Bathtub Strips: Another water hazard, a bathtub can be a slippery surface to be on. It’s a good idea that each bathtub has some non-slip strips so your feet have a rough patch to gain traction.

Medicine Door Lock: If you have little kids or someone with memory lapses, you need to take extra attention regarding prescription medicine. Safeguard your prescriptions by installing a medicine cabinet with a latch that locks.

GFCI Circuits: Similarly to the kitchen, you need to also put in a safer GFCI outlet on each bathroom circuit. These will cut the current if they ever get wet or you have a harmful spike from an electric razor or hair dryer.

Kid’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Kennewick

A child’s bedroom should counterbalance safety with simplicity. If their window shades or other items are safe but hard to use, then your kids may try risky activities -- like climb a dresser -- to open them. Here are some easy, yet safe, ideas:

Cord-Free Window Coverings: Safety professionals have identified cords from shades and blinds an unsuspecting hazard for kids and pets. Use motorized treatments that your child can easily manage with a remote. Or even better, link your shades to your ADT security system so they rise without anyone’s help when it’s time to get up, and go down in the evening for extra privacy.

Indoor Security Camera: A camera perched on your kid’s desk can act just like a baby monitor that you can watch with a mobile device. And when they want your help, they can hit the intercom talk feature included 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 main place in your home where your children will most likely be by themselves without consistent adult supervision.

Window Safety Ladder: If you use bedrooms on above the first floor, then you will want to put in a window escape ladder. These can let a child get out of their room even if the stairway or downstairs are engulfed in smoke and fire. Remember to rehearse how to employ them one or two times a year.

Toy Chest Or Low Bookshelves: It’s interesting to view a toy box as a safety device, but you’ll get it if you’ve ever tramped on a building block in your socked feet. A uncluttered floor gives your child a quick retreat when there’s a fire or break-in.

Master Bedroom Safety Checklist For Kennewick

Your bedroom should be a refuge, so let your safety devices make life easier if you have an emergency. After all, being jerked awake by a high-decibel alarm can be quite a shock.

Smart Hub Touchscreen: Having a smart hub on your nightstand helps you know what’s what that noise was without jumping out of bed. You could also log into your ADT mobile app. However, the touchscreen may be easier to control to use when you’re bleary-eyed and disoriented.

Device Charging Stand: We rely on our phones for almost everything now GPS, news readers, time wasters, and --legend has it-- even phones. The only problem is that an uncharged phone can cut us off from the outside world if during an emergency. To make sure your phone always works, a an easy-to-use charging station becomes an essential.

Nightlights Or Voice Activated Smart Lights: A tiny light can be a beacon when you’re bolted awake from a siren or other sounds. If you have trouble falling asleep with an outlet light, install smart bulbs in your bedroom. Then you can control light on-demand with a mobile device or vocal command.
Fireproof Lockbox: Store your vital papers like insurance cards, passports, or a bankbook in a fireproof lockbox. Your lockbox can be a large one that camps out in your closet or a slender handheld safe that you can carry as you escape during an emergency event.

Heat Sensor: The problem with bedrooms is that they can feel too hot or be cold since they sit far away from the thermostat. A temperature sensor can talk to your smart thermostat so you will have a comfortable, restful sleep at just the right climate.

Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For Kennewick

Most safety needs in the basement or garage have to do with your water or furnace. Finding problems before they start can stave away bigger emergencies later on. So, as you take a look around your storage areas, pay attention to these critical items:

Water Detector Or Sump Pump Alarm: Installing a flood alarm by your water heater or sump pump can stop you from wading into a lake when you walk into your basement or garage. Do you really want to lose your day bailing out water?

Carbon Monoxide Detector: It’s nice to have a carbon monoxide alarm in a place where a gas leak can spring up. If you have gas heating, try to install an alarm in the same area as your inbound pipes.
WiFi Water Shutoff Valve: If your flood detector finds a hot water leak or a burst pipe, then you need to cap the main water line quickly. With a WiFi shutoff valve, you can block water flow from any mobile device. That’s nice when you’re out of town and see an emergency leak notification on your smartphone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage up leads to all sorts of headaches. You can lose a bunch of heat through that large opening, and critters or thieves can just wander in. A remote sensor will text you about a forgotten garage door and lets you close it with your phone.
Heat Sensor: A heat sensor in your basement or garage is handy if you worry about frozen pipes. The temperature in these areas can be wildly different than your main rooms of the home, so you will need to maintain a constant look on the temp by using your mobile app.

Home Perimeter Safety Checklist for Kennewick

Your front yard, drive, and front step are just as crucial to secure as the rest of your home. Try the items on this checklist to create a safe outside:

Doorbell Camera: See who’s at the door before you answer it and welcome guests. See deliveries and look at video clips if they disappear.

Outdoor Security Camera: You can hang outdoor security cameras to notify you about late night activity in your back yard. These security cameras are nice in places where you may not have a window -- like around a cellar or by the garage door.

Window Height Shrubs: High shrubs can offer some privacy, but they also block your line of sight of the yard and curb. Don’t offer potential thieves a place to hide. Plus, tall bushes or foliage too close to your home can clog gutters and invite pests.
ADT Signs And Decals: One of the biggest discouragements for home intrusion is telling would-be intruders that you have a monitored ADT security system. An ADT yard stick by the front door and a window cling will tell lurkers that they ought to keep walking to an less prepared score.

Motion Controlled Outside Light Fixtures: Light is the biggest obstacle to those who lurk in the shadows. Motion-controlled lights on your deck, porch, or garage can help scare lurkers away. They also help you see the walk when you come back home on those dark, winter nights.

Use Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You With Your Home Safety Checklist for Kennewick

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t deliver non-security devices on your Kennewick home safety checklist, we can bring you a customized home security system. With easy-to-use devices and ADT monitoring, we can personalize the best system for your house’s needs. Just phone (509) 240-8704 to get started or complete the form below. Or personalize your own solution with our Security System Designer.