Home Safety Checklist For West Palm Beach
Being safe and secure in your residence should be your topmost priority. But are you overlooking one or two useful safety components? Use this home safety checklist for West Palm Beach and see where your living space requires some work.
This guide begins with some whole-house safety techniques, and then we delve down room-by-room. Then, call (561) 291-7769 or complete the form below to get your house safe and secure.
General Home Safety Checklist for West Palm Beach
While you will want to take a room-by-room method for home safety in West Palm Beach, there are some items that are useful for each part of your home. These components can talk with one another through a smart hub, and can even respond to one another. You might also manage each of your home safety equipment with a smartphone app, like ADT Control:
-
Monitored Security System: All your entryways should use a sensor that warns you to forced entry. As the alarm goes off, your monitoring expert responds to the alert and quickly calls a first responder.
-
Smart Bulbs For Every Major Room: Sure, you can schedule your smart lights so your home is more energy-efficient. But smart lights can also allow you to keep safe throughout an emergency. Have your smart bulbs flip on when a security alarm goes off to frighten off intruders or light a path to a safe area.
-
Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in West Palm Beach should save you up to 15% in energy spending. It also can flip on your exhaust fan if you have a fire.
-
Monitored Fire Alarms: At the very least, you should have a fire detector on each floor. You can increase your fire game by hanging a monitored fire detector that detects unusual smoke and heat, and pings your 24-hour monitoring experts when it senses a fire.
-
Smart Door Locks: Every entryway that utilizes a deadbolt can be made safer with a smart lock. Now you may preset key codes to each family member and receive alerts to your phone when they are used. Your doors can even automatically unlock, allowing you to quickly flee the house if you have a fire or other emergency.
Family Room Safety Checklist For West Palm Beach
You’ll spend most of your time in the living room, so it’s the perfect room to improve your home safety. Popular items, like your TV or video games, probably reside in your family room, making it a popular space for robbers. Begin with installing a motion sensor or indoor security camera by the doorway, then take a look at some of these ideas:
-
Motion Detectors: By installing motion sensors, you’ll have a shrieking siren whenever they detect suspicious motion in your living room. You’ll want motion sensors that filter out pet movements or you’ll have an alert every time your dog passes through for a midnight stroll.
-
Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera offers a constant watch on your living room. View live feeds of your room so you can find out what’s happening through the mobile app. Or talk with family members in the room with the two-way talk feature.
-
Surge Protector/Outlet Maintenance: Protect expensive electronics and stop overburdening your circuits with a surge protector. For extra comfort, install a smart plug with a surge protector included.
-
Entertainment Center Bolted To The Wall: If you have any small children, you’ll want to attach your heavy furniture and entertainment center to your wall. This is especially crucial if your family room uses rugs or carpet that might make furniture extra unbalanced.
-
Enhanced Locks For Sliding Doors: If your family room has a glass door that leads to a backyard, deck, or screened-in porch, you already can see that the lock is usually thin. Put in a custom lock, like a metal bar or locks that secures the door to the top and bottom of the opening.
Kitchen Safety Checklist For West Palm Beach
The kitchen has many items that should add safety and security to your house. Some of these objects are also simple to add and can be found in the a retail store:
-
Fire Extinguisher: A fire can happen from an overfilled frying pan or a towel that’s too close to a burner. Always have a fire extinguisher at the ready for any cooking mishaps.
-
GFCI Box On Every Outlet: A GFCI outlet should be used everywhere they’re close to running water to lessen the chance of an electric shock. That means the plug outlets close to your kitchen counter and sink. For 30 years, it’s been standard to have one circuit interrupter outlet per dedicated circuit. But all your plugs will go if any outlet senses a surge, so you’ll want to install a separate GFCI on each outlet.
-
Monitored CO Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is advised for spaces that use a gas oven and range. If your gas appliances malfunction, the carbon monoxide detector will emit a high-decibel noise and ping your monitoring expert.
-
Cleaning Wipes Or Spray: The biggest safety issue in the kitchen is the invisible bacteria and protein from uncooked meat and vegetables. Always have antiviral wipes or spray to scrub off your area when cooking.
-
Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The milk, meat, and perishables in your fridge have to remain at a constant temperature to stay ready to eat. If you accidently leave the fridge or freezer door open too long, then a small beep will remind you to shut it securely. Some fridges already have a pre-installed alarm, some don’t, and you’ll have to get a refrigerator alarm from online.
Bathroom Safety Checklist For West Palm Beach
Just because you don’t a bunch of space in your bathroom there’s still safety hazards. From water problems to medicine care, here are some safety tips for your bathroom:
-
Flood Detectors: A leaking sink or bathtub can lead to extensive destruction. Get alerted early about leaks with a flood detector and save hundreds to thousands of dollars from damage.
-
Non-slip Bathroom Mats: A fall in the bathroom can be a painful occurrence, causing pulled muscles, gashed heads, or sprained ankles. Make sure you steer clear from these hazards with a no-slip bathroom mat for after your bath or shower.
-
Non-slip Bathtub Strips: Like a tiled floor, a tub can be a slick place to be on. It’s a good idea that every tub has some non-slip stickers so your toes have a rough patch for stability.
-
Medicine Door Latch: If you have young kids or anyone with memory complications, you should take additional precautions regarding medicine. Hide away your pills and syrups by getting a medicine cabinet with a latch that locks.
-
GFCI Circuits: Similarly to the kitchen, you need to also install a safer circuit interrupter outlet on every bathroom circuit. This will cut the electric current if water enters the outlet or you have a sudden spike from a hair dryer or curling iron.
Children’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For West Palm Beach
A child’s bedroom should balance safety with accessibility. If their window treatments or other things are safe but hard to operate, then your child may try dangerous methods -- like scale a chest of drawers -- to open them. Here are 5 straightforward, yet safe, ideas:
-
Cordless Window Coverings: Safety experts have long called window treatment cords an unsuspecting hazard for kids and pets. Install motorized blinds or shades that your child can easily control through a remote. Or better yet, link your motorized coverings to your ADT security system so they can raise on a schedule when it’s time to get up, and close at bedtime for an easier sleep.
-
Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera perched on your toddler’s desk or dresser can act as a high tech baby monitor that you can see from your phone. And when they want your help, they can hit the two-way talk feature that comes with the camera.
-
Outlet Covers: While each outlet should have protective covers on them for your small children, this is especially urgent in a child’s bedroom. It’s the one place in your home where your child will most likely hang out alone without additional supervision.
-
Window Safety Ladder: If you use bedrooms on the second floor, then you will want to have a window safety ladder. These will help your children get out of their room in case the stairs or downstairs are engulfed in smoke and fire. Make sure to rehearse how to unfurl the ladder at least twice a year.
-
Toy Chest Or Low Shelves: It’s weird to look at a toy chest as a safety component, but you’ll get it if you’ve ever tramped on an action figure in your stocking feet. A clutter-free floor gives your child a quick retreat during an emergency.
Master Bedroom Safety Checklist For West Palm Beach
The main bedroom should be a refuge, so let your safety items make life easier if there's an emergency event. After all, being jerked awake by a wailing alarm can be quite a shock.
-
Security System Touchscreen: Having a smart hub on your dresser gives you a sense of what’s what that noise was without getting out of bed. You could also log into your ADT phone app but, the large touchscreen can be faster to use when you’re coming out of sleep and finding your bearings.
-
Personal Charging Area: We depend on our smartphones for almost everything now GPS, internet searches, social media, and --legend has it-- even phones. But, a depleted phone can cut us off from the outside world if during an emergency. To keep it nice and ready, a charging cord or station is should be used nightly.
-
Nightlights Or Voice Activated Smart Lights: A small light helps ground you when you’re startled awake from a fire alarm or unexpected sounds. If you won’t drift off to sleep with a nightlight, use a smart bulb in your fixtures. Then you can have light simply with a push of a button or voice command.
-
Fireproof Safe: Stash your essential papers like social security cards, passports, or banking information in a fireproof lockbox. Your lockbox can be a big one that camps out in a corner or a small handheld lockbox that you can snatch when you leave during a fire or other emergency.
-
Heat Sensor: The issue with a master bedroom is that they can run too stuffy or be cold since they are across the house from the thermostat. A temperature sensor can communicate to your smart thermostat so you should have a comfortable, relaxing sleep at just the right temperature.
Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For West Palm Beach
Most safety problems in the basement or garage are with your water heater or furnace. Discovering issues before they start can stop larger emergencies in the future. So, as you walk around your garage or basement, check over these safety items:
-
Flood Detector Or Sump Pump Alarm: Placing a flood alarm in back of your water heater and sump pump drain can save you from wading into a lake when you go into your garage or basement. It’s definitely better than rummaging through a bunch of destroyed storage boxes.
-
Carbon Monoxide Alarm: It’s nice to hang a CO detector in a place where a natural gas leak can happen. If you employ a gas furnace, you should put a detector in the same place as your unit.
-
Remote Water Shutoff Valve: If your flood detector detects a plumbing leak or a broken pipe, then you need to shut off the main water valve at once. With a wireless shutoff valve, you can turn off your water flow from any mobile device. That’s helpful when you’re visiting relatives and receive a flood sensor notification on your phone.
-
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage open causes all types of headaches. You can waste heat through that gaping hole, and critters or lurkers can just wander in. A remote sensor will text you about an open garage door and lets you close it through the app.
-
Heat Sensor: A temperature alarm in your garage or basement is essential if you fret about frozen pipes. The temperature in these areas can be drastically different than your main rooms of the home, so you may need to have a constant look on them with your security mobile app.
Outside Perimeter Safety Checklist for West Palm Beach
Your yard, drive, and front walk are just as imperative to secure as the interior of your home. Try this checklist to defend your perimeter:
-
Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s arrived at the door before you open it and chat with visitors. View packages and look at video clips if they are stolen.
-
Outdoor Camera: You can place outdoor cameras to guard against late night movement in your back yard. These cameras come in handy in places where you might not have a window -- like a side yard or by the garage door.
-
Window Height Shrubbery: Tall bushes can offer some solitude, but they also block your view of the yard. Don’t give potential thieves an area to hide. Plus, high bushes or trees against your structure can obstruct gutters and summon pests.
-
ADT Signage: One of the biggest discouragements for a thief is telling aspiring intruders that you own an updated ADT security system. An ADT yard stick by the front door and a window sticker will alert lurkers that they should shove off to an easier house.
-
Motion Controlled Outside Light Fixtures: Light is the largest enemy to those who skulk in the unlit places. Motion-controlled flood lights on your deck, porch, or garage can shoo possible intruders away. They also help you work the locks when you come back home on those dark, winter nights.
Call Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help Complete Your Home Safety Checklist for West Palm Beach
While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t help you with every item on your West Palm Beach home safety checklist, we can offer a state-of-the-art home security. With alarms, security cameras, and home automation, we can customize the perfect system for your house’s needs. Simply phone (561) 291-7769 and talk to a professional or complete the form below. Or personalize your own solution with our Security System Designer.