Home Safety Checklist For Columbia

Keeping safe and secure in your house should be your largest priority. But are you overlooking one or two useful safety components? Use this home safety checklist for Columbia and find out where your house needs greater attention.

This guide starts with five whole-home safety ideas, and then we delve down to specific room ideas. Then, you can call (573) 203-3048 or fill out the form below to speak to a security professional.

Whole Home Safety Checklist for Columbia

While you should use a individual room method for home safety in Columbia, there are a few items that are useful for each part of your home. These devices can talk to each other through a smart hub, and can even work off one another. You might also manage every one of your home safety components through a mobile security app, such as ADT Control:

Monitored Security System: Each one of your windows and doors should use a sensor that notifies you and your family to intrusion. When your alarm triggers, your monitoring agent answers the call and quickly contacts the police or fire department.

Smart Lights For Each Room: Sure, you can set your smart lighting so your home is more eco-conscience. But they can also allow you to keep safe throughout an emergency. Have your smart bulbs come on when a security alarm goes off to shoo off robbers or illuminate the way out to a outside area.

Smart Thermostat: Like your smart lights, a smart thermostat in Columbia could save you 10%-15% in utility spending. Also, it can turn on the exhaust fan if you have a fire.

Monitored Smoke Detectors: It’s code that you will have a fire alarm on each level of your house. You can improve your fire readiness by hanging a monitored fire detector that detects both smoke and heat, and pings your round-the-clock monitoring team when it thinks that there’s a fire.

Smart Lock For Every Door: Every doorway that utilizes a deadbolt can use a smart door lock. Now you can assign key codes to family and friends and receive texts to your mobile device when they are activated. Your locks can even automatically turn off, helping you to quickly leave when you have an emergency.

Family Room Safety Checklist For Columbia

You’ll spend most of your time in your living room, so it may be the perfect area to start making your house more secure. Highly sought after items, like a TV or video game console, typically are located in your family room, making it a tempting space for thieves. Begin with placing a motion detector or indoor security camera by the doorway, then take a look at all these suggestions:

Motion Detectors: By putting in motion detectors, you’ll hear a high-decibel siren anytime they sense unexpected motion in your family room. You’ll want motion sensors that aren’t set off by a dog or cat or you’ll see a tripped alarm every time your cat passes through for a midnight stroll.
Security Camera: An indoor security camera puts a visual on your living room. Get live feeds of your room so you can know what’s going on through the mobile app. Or talk with family members in the family room using the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Outlet Maintenance: Protect expensive electronics and stop overtaxing your electric system with a surge protector. For added convenience, set up a smart plug with anti-surge functionality built-in.
Entertainment Center Attached To The Wall: If you have babies or toddlers, you’ll need to attach your entertainment center or other heavy furniture to a wall. This is extra important if your living room has rugs or carpet that can make furniture extra wobbly.
Enhanced Locks For Glass Doors: If your living room has a sliding glass door that opens to a backyard, deck, or screened-in porch, you already know that the lock is fairly worthless. Install an enhanced lock, like a metal bar or locks that are located on the bottom and top of the opening.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Columbia

The kitchen has room for items that can add comfort and safety to your home. Most of these items are also easy to add and should be bought from the grocery store:

Fire Extinguisher: Fire can spring up from an unwatched skillet or a towel that’s too close to a burner. Always have a fire extinguisher in close reach for any stove or oven emergencies.
GFCI Box On Each Outlet: A circuit interrupter outlet should be installed on outlets where they’re close to water to ward off an electric shock. That includes the plugs close to your kitchen counter and sink. Since the late ‘80s, it’s been standard to have one GFCI per circuit. But each one of your plugs will flip off if any outlet detects a surge, so you’re going to want to use a single GFCI per outlet.

Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A CO detector is needed in the kitchen if you use a gas oven and stove. If your gas appliances malfunction, the carbon monoxide detector will cause a high-decibel noise and ping your monitoring professional.
Clorox Wipes Or Spray: The most overlooked safety problem in the kitchen is the viruses, bacteria, and cross-contamination that comes with blood from meat and vegetables. Always store cleaning wipes or spray to sanitize your surfaces when making a meal.
Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The items in the fridge should remain at a constant temperature to be ready to eat. If you leave the refrigerator door ajar, then an alarm beep will tell you to close the door. Some fridges already have this installed, older models won’t, and you’ll have to buy a refrigerator alarm from online.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Columbia

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

Flood Detectors: A leaking sink or bathtub can cause extensive water damage. Get alerted early about leaks with a flood detector and save yourself from redoing the whole bathroom.
Textured Bathroom Mats: A slip in the bathroom can be devastating, causing pulled muscles, gashed heads, or broken bones. Or avoid these problems with a textured bathroom mat for your wet feet.

No-slip Bathtub Stickies: Like a tiled floor, a bathtub can be a slick place to move in. It’s a good idea that each tub has some no-slip stickies so your feet and toes have a rough patch for stability.

Medicine Door Lock: If you have young toddlers or anyone with memory lapses, you have to take additional attention regarding prescribed medicine. Hide away your prescriptions by installing a medicine cabinet with a locking latch.

GFCI Circuits: Just like the kitchen, you need to also install a safer circuit interrupter outlet on every bathroom outlet. These will shut off the current if water splashes on them or they experience a harmful surge from a hair dryer or curling iron.

Child’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Columbia

A child’s bedroom should counterbalance safety with manageability. If their window coverings or other things are safe but difficult to manage, then your child may try risky methods -- like climb a chest of drawers -- to touch them. Here are some simple, yet safe, ideas:

No Cord Window Coverings: Safety agencies have long called cords from shades and blinds a secret hazard for kids and pets. Use motorized blinds or shades that your child can easily control through a remote. Or better yet, connect your motorized coverings to your security system so they rise on a schedule when the sun comes up, and go down at night for added darkness.

Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera sitting on your toddler’s desk can double as a high tech baby monitor that you can watch from a mobile device. And if they need something, they can use the intercom talk button included on the camera.

Plug Covers: While each outlet should have outlet safety caps on them when you have small children, this is doubly urgent in a child’s bedroom. It’s the one place in your house where your child will most likely hang out alone without parental supervision.

Window Safety Ladder: If you have bedrooms on above the first level, then you will want to put in a window escape ladder. These should help your children leave the house when the stairway or downstairs are blocked off with fire. Make sure to go over how to employ them at least twice a year.

Toy Box Or Low Bookshelves: It’s interesting to think about a toy box as a safety component, but you’ll see the light if you’ve ever tramped on a building block in your bare feet. A uncluttered floor means a quick retreat if there’s an emergency.

Master Bedroom Safety Checklist For Columbia

Your bedroom should be a refuge, so let your safety items make you more responsive when you experience an emergency event. After all, being jerked awake by a wailing siren can be disorienting.

Smart Hub Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your dresser gives you a sense of what’s what that noise was without leaving your bed. You could always use your ADT smartphone app. However, the touchscreen is often easier to manage to use when you’re coming out of sleep and finding your bearings.

Personal Charging Area: We depend on our smartphones for so much now alarm clocks, internet searches, social media, and sometimes even phones. The only problem is that an uncharged cell can cut us off from reaching help if something goes wrong. To keep it nice and ready, a charging cord or station is an important part of your nightstand.

Nightlight/Smart Lights: A small light can be a beacon when you’re startled awake from a fire alarm or other loud noises. If you can’t fall asleep with an outlet light, install smart lights in your bedroom and hall. Then you can get light simply with a button push or vocal command.
Fireproof Lockbox: Keep your important paperwork like birth certificates, stock certificates, or banking information in a fireproof lockbox. This can be a large one that sits out of the way or a small portable safe that you can carry as you escape during a fire or break-in.

Temperature Sensor: The problem with bedrooms is that they can feel too stuffy or be chilly since they sit across the house from the thermostat. A heat sensor can communicate to your smart thermostat so you can have a comfortable, restful sleep at a wonderful climate.

Garage/Basement Safety Checklist For Columbia

Most safety needs in the basement or garage deal with your water heater or HVAC system. Finding issues at the source can stop more devastating problems in the future. So, as you take a look around your basement or garage, pay attention to these critical items:

Flood Sensor Or Sump Pump Alarm: Placing a flood sensor by your water heater or sump pump drain can stop you from finding a mess when you step into your garage or basement. The last you need is to lose the weekend drying your floor and sorting through all those ruined boxes.

Carbon Monoxide Alarm: It’s beneficial to install a CO alarm in a place where a natural gas leak can happen. If you use a gas furnace, try to put an alarm in the same room as your unit.
Wireless Water Shutoff Valve: If your water alarm senses a plumbing leak or a busted pipe, then you will want to shut off the main water valve immediately. With a WiFi shutoff valve, you can block water flow from any mobile device. That’s nice when you’re on vacation and get an emergency leak notification on your phone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage up leads to all types of headaches. You can lose HVAC energy through that large opening, and rodents or intruders can just walk in. A remote sensor will notify you about a forgotten garage door and allow you to close it with your phone.
Heat Sensor: A temperature sensor in your garage or basement is essential if you wonder about freezing pipes. The heat in these areas can be drastically different than the main part of the home, so you may want to have a constant look on them by using your security mobile app.

Outside Perimeter Safety Checklist for Columbia

Your front yard, drive, and front porch are just as important to defend as the rest of your home. Try this checklist to create a safe outside:

Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s at the front door before you open it and welcome visitors. See deliveries and look at video clips if they disappear.

Outdoor Camera: You can place outdoor cameras to notify you about suspicious activity in your yard. These security cameras are nice in areas where you might not have a window installed -- like around a cellar or by the driveway.

Low Shrubbery: Overgrown shrubs can offer some serenity, but they also obscure you seeing into the outside. Don’t give potential burglars a place to hide. Plus, high bushes or trees too close to your house can obstruct gutters and invite ants and termites.
ADT Signs And Decals: One of the largest disincentives for a thief is telling aspiring burglars that you have a state-of-the-art ADT security system. An ADT yard sign by the stoop and a window cling will alert lurkers that they ought to move on to an unprotected score.

Motion Triggered Flood Light Fixtures: Light is the greatest deterrent to those who lurk in the shadows. Motion-activated flood lights on your porch, garage, or deck can frighten possible intruders away. Flood lights also help you work the locks when you get home late after work.

Contact Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You With Your Home Safety Checklist for Columbia

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t install non-security devices on your Columbia home safety checklist, we can bring you a powerful security system. With everything from alarms to thermostats, we can customize the perfect system for your family’s needs. Simply phone (573) 203-3048 and talk to a professional or fill out the form below. Or customize your own system with our Security System Designer.