Home Safety Checklist For Buffalo

Keeping safe and secure in your residence should be your number one responsibility. But are you missing one or two key safety items? Take this home safety checklist for Buffalo and find out where your living space requires an update.

This guide begins with some whole-home safety ideas, and then we delve down on a room level. Then, call (716) 219-8231 or fill out the form below to talk to a security professional.

Essential Home Safety Checklist for Buffalo

While you may want to take a individual room approach to home safety, there are a few things that are good for each part of your home. These components can sync together through a touchscreen hub, and can even work off other components. You can also control every one of your home safety components through a mobile security app, such as ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: All your windows and doors should use a sensor that notifies you to a break-in. After your alarm triggers, your monitoring expert picks up the call and contacts the police or fire department.

Smart Lighting For Every Major Room: Of course, you can set your smart lights to make your home more energy-efficient. But smart lights can also help you keep safe throughout an emergency. Make your downstairs lights come on when an alarm goes off to scare off intruders or light a path to a safe area.

Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in Buffalo can save you between 10%-15% in utility spending. Also, it can start the exhaust fan when your alarms senses a fire.

Monitored Fire Detectors: It’s code that you have a fire detector on every level. You can increase your fire game by utilizing a monitored fire alarm that detects excessive smoke and heat, and notifies your round-the-clock monitoring agents when it thinks that there’s a fire.

Smart Lock For Every Door: Every door that utilizes a deadbolt can be made safer with a smart door lock. Now you may assign key codes to family and friends and receive texts to your phone when they are used. Your smart lock can even automatically open, helping you to quickly leave if you have a fire or other emergency.

Living Room/Family Room Safety Checklist For Buffalo

You’ll hang out most in the living room, so it’s the best place to start making your home safer. Popular items, like your TV or video game console, typically reside in your living room, making it an alluring area for robbers. Begin with hanging a motion sensor or security camera in there, then try some of these safety protocols:

Motion Detectors: By putting in motion sensors, you’ll get a shrieking noise if they detect suspicious movement within your family room. You’ll want motion sensors that aren’t set off by a dog or cat or you’ll have an alert each time your dog roams by for a bite of food.
Security Camera: An indoor security camera offers a visual on your family room. Watch real-time feeds of your room so you can find out what’s going on without leaving your bed. Or speak with your kids in the room by using the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Safeguard all your electronics and quit overburdening your circuits with a surge protector. For added convenience, set up a smart plug with a surge protector built-in.
Heavy Furniture Bolted To The Wall: If you have any small children, you’ll need to attach your heavy furniture and entertainment center to the wall. This is especially crucial if your family room uses rugs or carpet that can make furniture extra unbalanced.
Enhanced Locks For Sliding Glass Doors: If your living room uses a sliding door that slides out to a backyard, deck, or outside porch, you get that the latch is pretty worthless. Install an enhanced lock, like a cross bar or small locks that bolt to the bottom and top of the frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Buffalo

Your kitchen has plenty of items that can bring safety to your home. Most of these objects should be easy to add and can be found in the Target or Walmart:

Fire Extinguisher: Fire can happen from an unwatched skillet or a towel that’s too close to a burner. Always store a fire extinguisher at hand for any cooking emergencies.
GFCI Box On Each Outlet: A GFCI outlet should be installed on outlets where there’s nearby running water to lessen the chance of an electric shock. That means the plug outlets by your sink and kitchen counter. Since 1987, it’s been required to have one GFCI per dedicated circuit. But each one of your plugs will go if any outlet detects a surge, so you’ll want to install a single GFCI per outlet.

Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is advised for the kitchen if you have a gas oven and range. If your gas appliances malfunction, the carbon monoxide detector will play a loud siren and call your monitoring agent.
Clorox Wipes Or Spray: The biggest safety problem in the kitchen is the viruses, bacteria, and protein from uncooked meat and dairy. Always keep disinfectant wipes or an antibacterial spray to sanitize your counters when preparing food.
Refrigerator Alarm: The milk, meat, and perishables in the fridge should remain at a chilly temperature to be ready to consume. If you accidently leave the refrigerator door open, then a small beep will remind you to close the door. 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 Buffalo

Just because there’s not a bunch of room in your bathroom there’s still safety concerns. From water problems to medicine care, here are a few safety improvements for your bathroom:

Flood Sensors: A leaking toilet or tub can cause a whole lot of damage. Find out early about leaks with a flood detector and save yourself from redoing the whole bathroom.
No-slip Shower Mats: A slip and fall in the bathroom can be a painful occurrence, causing bumps, bruises, or trips to the hospital. Or avoid these issues with a non-slip bath mat for after your bath or shower.

No-slip Bathtub Strips: Like a tiled floor, a tub can be a slippery surface to be on. Make sure each bathtub has some textured strips so your toes have a bumpy patch to gain traction.

Medicine Door Latch: If you have curious children or anyone with memory complications, you have to take additional precautions regarding prescription medicine. Secure your bottles by installing a medicine cabinet with a child-proof lock.

Circuit Interrupter Outlet: Just like 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 spike from a hair dryer or curling iron.

Child’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Buffalo

A child’s bedroom should balance safety with simplicity. If their window treatments or other things are safe but difficult to manage, then your children may try unsafe methods -- like scale a dresser -- to use them. Here are 5 simple, yet safe, ideas:

Cord-Free Window Coverings: Safety experts have designated corded window treatments a hidden danger for both children and pets. Put in motorized shades that kids can easily control via remote. Or go state-of-the-art and link your shades to your security system so they can raise on a schedule when the sun comes up, and lower in the evening for extra privacy.

Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera sitting on your kid’s desk or dresser can behave like an HD baby monitor that you can see from a mobile device. And when they need you, they can use the two-way talk button that comes with the camera.

Plug Covers: While each outlet should use outlet safety caps on them for your young children, this is doubly important in their bedroom. It’s the one room in your house where your toddler will most likely hang out solo without consistent parental supervision.

Window Escape Ladder: If you use bedrooms on the second floor, then you should have a window fire ladder. These can help your children leave the house when the stairway or downstairs are engulfed in smoke and fire. Make sure to practice how to employ them one or two times a year.

Toy Box Or Low Shelves: It’s interesting to look at a toy box as a safety component, but you’ll understand if you’ve ever stepped on an action figure in your stocking feet. A uncluttered floor gives your child a quick escape if there’s an emergency.

Master Bedroom Safety Checklist For Buffalo

Your bedroom should be your calm space, so let your safety devices give you peace of mind if you experience an emergency. After all, being startled awake by a loud siren can be disorienting.

Security System Touchscreen: Having a smart hub on your dresser lets you see what’s what that noise was without jumping out of bed. You could always turn on your ADT smartphone app. However, the HD touchscreen can be faster to use when you’re bleary-eyed and disoriented.

Phone Charging Station: We use our smartphones for so much now alarms, web browsers, game machines, and maybe even phones. But, an uncharged device can cut us off from communications 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 plug-in light can be a beacon when you’re bolted awake from a siren or other loud sounds. If you have trouble falling asleep with an outlet light, use smart lights in your bedroom. Then you can control light anytime with a push of a button or voice direction.
Fireproof Safe: Stash your essential papers like insurance cards, medical information, or banking information in a fireproof safe. Your safe can be a large one that is located in a corner or a small handheld lockbox that you can carry when you leave during an emergency event.

Heat Sensor: The issue with bedrooms is that they can be too stuffy or be cold since they sit far away from the thermostat. A temperature sensor will communicate to your smart thermostat so you should have a pleasant, restful sleep at the perfect temperature.

Garage/Basement Safety Checklist For Buffalo

Most safety needs in the basement or garage are with your water heater or HVAC system. Finding hazards at the source can prevent larger disasters later on. So, as you look around your basement or garage, take note of these critical items:

Flood Sensor Or Sump Pump Alarm: Putting a flood alarm in back of your water heater and sump pump can prevent you from finding a pond when you walk into your garage or basement. The last you need is to spend the weekend drying your floor and sorting through all those storage boxes.

CO Alarm: It’s smart to install a carbon monoxide alarm in areas where a CO leak can occur. If you use gas heat, you’ll want to install a detector in the same place as your HVAC unit.
WiFi Water Shutoff Valve: If your water alarm detects a plumbing leak or a broken pipe, then you will want to cap the primary water valve at once. With a WiFi shutoff valve, you can stop water flow from any mobile device. That’s helpful when you’re out of town and see a water leak text on your phone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage up leads to all sorts of issues. You can lose a bunch of heat or air through that gaping hole, and rodents or intruders can just saunder in. A sensor will alert you to a forgotten garage door and allow you to close it with your phone.
Temperature Sensor: A heat alarm in your basement or garage is handy if you fret about your pipes freezing. The temperature in these rooms can be wildly different than the main part of the house, so you will want to have a close look on the temp by using your security mobile app.

Home Perimeter Safety Checklist for Buffalo

Your landscaping, driveway, and front walk are just as crucial to make safe as the interior of your home. Use this checklist to create a safe outside:

Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s knocking on the the front step before you answer it and talk to guests. See packages and look at video clips if they are stolen.

Outdoor Security Camera: You can place outdoor cameras to alert you to suspicious movement in your back yard. These security cameras are nice in places where you might not have a view -- like a side yard or by the garage door.

Window Height Shrubbery: Overgrown foliage can give you some solitude, but they also hinder you seeing into the outside. Don’t offer potential burglars an area to hide. Plus, tall shrubs or foliage too close to your home can obstruct gutters and bring in bugs.
ADT Signage: One of the biggest discouragements for home intrusion is advertising to aspiring intruders that you use a state-of-the-art home security system. An ADT yard sign by the front door and a window sticker will tell people that they should shove off to an less prepared house.

Motion Activated Flood Lights: Light is the greatest enemy to people who skulk in the shadows. Motion-activated lighting on your porch, garage, or deck can frighten lurkers away. They also help you get inside when you get to the house late after work.

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

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t help you with each household item on your Buffalo home safety checklist, we can discuss a powerful security system. With everything from alarms to thermostats, we can customize the best system for your home’s needs. Simply phone (716) 219-8231 to get started or fill out the form below. Or personalize your own system with our Security System Designer.