Home Safety Checklist For Scranton

Being safe and secure in your house should be your topmost concern. But are you missing some useful safety components? Take this home safety checklist for Scranton and find out where your living space can use greater attention.

This guide starts with five whole-home safety items, and then we break it down on a room level. Then, phone (570) 217-8895 or send in the form below for more information.

General Home Safety Checklist for Scranton

While you may want to employ a room-by-room process for home safety, there are some things that work for all of your rooms. These items can link with one another through a smart hub, and can even react to other components. You can also manage every one of your home safety equipment through a mobile security app, such as ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: Each one of your windows and doors should have a sensor that alerts you and your family to intrusion. When an alarm triggers, your monitoring agent responds to the call and quickly calls emergency personnel.

Smart Lighting For Most Rooms: Of course, you can program your smart lighting to become more energy-efficient. But they can also allow you to remain safe throughout an emergency. Make your downstairs lights flash on when an alarm goes off to frighten off intruders or illuminate your way to a outside location.

Smart Thermostat: Like your smart lights, a smart thermostat in Scranton can save you between 10%-15% in energy spending. But it also can flip on your exhaust fan during a fire.

Monitored Fire Detectors: It’s code that you will have a smoke detector on every floor. You can improve your fire readiness by installing a monitored fire detector that detects excessive heat and smoke, and pings your round-the-clock monitoring agents when it senses a fire.

Smart Lock For Every Door: Every doorway that needs a deadbolt can use a smart lock. Now you can program codes to family and friends and receive texts to your phone when your locks are unlocked. Your doors can even automatically open, letting you quickly flee the house if you have an emergency.

Family Room/Living Room Safety Checklist For Scranton

You’ll spend most of your time in the living room, so it may be the best area to start making your house safer. Highly sought after items, like a TV or video games, probably are located in your living room, making it a popular space for robbers. Begin with hanging a motion detector or indoor camera in there, then take a look at the following suggestions:

Motion Sensors: By hanging motion sensors, you’ll get a loud alarm whenever they detect unexpected motion within your family room. Look for motion sensors that ignore a dog or cat or you’ll see your sirens go off each time your cat roams by for a drink of water.
Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera gives you an eye on your living room. Watch real-time feeds of your room so you can find out what’s downstairs from the mobile app. Or chat with your kids in the room with the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Make sure you protect expensive electronics and stop overtaxing your electric system with a surge protector. For added energy-efficiency, use a smart plug with a surge protector built-in.
Furniture Secured To The Wall: If you have babies or toddlers, you’ll want to attach your bookshelves and entertainment center to a wall. This is extra important if your family room uses rugs or carpet that could make objects extra wobbly.
Enhanced Locks For Sliding Doors: If your living room uses a glass door that leads to a patio, deck, or porch, you know that the door lock is usually worthless. Install a special lock, like a cross bar or small locks that bolt to the top and bottom of the door frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Scranton

Your kitchen has plenty of items that should bring comfort and safety to your home. Many of these things are also easy to add and can be bought from the Target or Walmart:

Fire Extinguisher: A fire can happen from a neglected frying pan or a faulty burner. Always have a fire extinguisher at hand for any cooking mishaps.
GFCI Box On Each Outlet: A circuit interrupter outlet should be installed on outlets where they’re by water to ward off an electric shock. That means the plugs by your sink and kitchen counter. Since the late ‘80s, it’s been required to have one GFCI per circuit. But all your plugs will go dead if one outlet sees a surge, so you’ll want to install a separate GFCI for every outlet.

Monitored CO Detector: A CO detector is needed in the kitchen if you have natural gas for the oven and stove. If your gas lines spring a leak, the CO detector will emit a high-decibel sound and ping your monitoring center.
Disinfectant Wipes Or Spray: The largest safety problem in the kitchen is the viruses, bacteria, and cross-contamination from raw meat and vegetables. Always store cleaning wipes or spray to sanitize your counters before and after cooking.
Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The food items in the refrigerator need to remain at a chilly temperature to stay healthy to eat. If you leave the freezer or refrigerator door open, then an alarm beep will tell you to check the seal. Some appliances already have an alarm, others won’t, and you’ll have to get a refrigerator alarm from the store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Scranton

Just because you don’t a lot of space in your bathroom, you will still have safety concerns. From water problems to anti-surge outlets, here are some safety tips for your bathroom:

Flood Sensors: A leaking toilet or shower can lead to a whole lot of water damage. Deal with pooling water early with a flood detector before they cause hundreds to thousands of dollars in renovations.
Non-slip Shower Mats: A slip and fall in the bathroom can be a painful occurrence, causing bumps, sore joints, or sprained ankles. You can avoid these hazards with a no-slip bath mat for your wet feet.

Textured Bathtub Stickies: Likewise, a tub can be a slick area to stand in. It’s a good idea that every has some no-slip stickies so your feet have a bumpy patch to grip.

Medicine Door Latch: If you have little toddlers or someone with memory complications, you need to take extra attention regarding prescribed medicine. Safeguard your bottles by installing a medicine cabinet with a child-proof lock.

GFCI Circuits: While installing better outlets in the kitchen, you need to also use a safer circuit interrupter outlet on each bathroom circuit. These will cut the electricity if they ever get wet or you have a harmful surge from a curling iron or hair dryer.

Kid’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Scranton

A child’s bedroom should pair safety with simplicity. If their window treatments or other items are safe but difficult to operate, then your children may perform dangerous activities -- like climb a dresser -- to use them. Try these simple, and safe, ideas:

No Cord Window Treatments: Safety professionals have identified cords from shades and blinds a secret danger for children and animals. Put in motorized shades that your child can easily control via remote control. Or go state-of-the-art and connect your motorized treatments to your ADT smart hub so they can raise on a schedule when the sun comes up, and go down at night for added darkness.

Indoor Security Camera: A camera sitting on your toddler’s desk or dresser can behave like a baby monitor that you can watch from your phone. And when they need something, they can use the 2-way talk feature included on the camera.

Outlet Plug Covers: While each outlet should use outlet safety caps on them when you have young children, this is especially needed in a child’s bedroom. It’s the one room in your house where your children will most likely hang out by themselves without additional supervision.

Window Escape Ladder: If you have bedrooms on the second level, then you will want to install a window safety ladder. These should help a young one get out of their room even if the hallway or lower levels are on fire. Just remember to rehearse how to use the ladder at least twice a year.

Toy Box Or Low Shelves: It’s interesting to look at a toy chest as a safety component, but you’ll see the light if you’ve ever tramped on a building block in your socked feet. A clutter-free floor let your child have a quick escape if there’s a fire or break-in.

Master Bedroom Safety Checklist For Scranton

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

Security System Touchscreen: Having a smart hub on your nightstand lets you see what’s happening without getting out of bed. You could always log into your ADT phone app. However, the touchscreen is often better to use when you’re yawning and disoriented.

Personal Charging Stand: We rely on our phones for so much now alarms, internet searches, time wasters, and --legend has it-- even phones. However, an uncharged device will cut us off from reaching help if something goes wrong. So, 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 jolted awake from a siren or unexpected noises. If you can’t fall asleep with a nightlight, put in a smart bulb in your bedroom and hall. Then you can have light simply with a push of a button or voice command.
Fireproof Lockbox: Keep your essential papers like insurance cards, medical information, or a spare checkbook in a fireproof safe. This can be a bigger one that is located in your closet or a smaller handheld lockbox that you can snatch on your way out during a fire or break-in.

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

Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For Scranton

Most safety issues in the garage or basement have to do with your pipes or HVAC system. Discovering hazards at the source can stave away bigger emergencies in the future. So, as you look around your basement or garage, check over these critical items:

Water Sensor Or Sump Pump Alarm: Putting a flood alarm next to your water heater or sump pump drain can stop you from wading into a lake when you go into your basement or garage. It’s definitely better than sifting through a heap of destroyed storage boxes.

CO Alarm: It’s nice to install a carbon monoxide alarm in areas where a gas leak can happen. If you employ a gas furnace, you’ll want to hang a detector in the same room as your inbound pipes.
Remote Water Shutoff Valve: If your flood sensor finds a hot water leak or a burst pipe, then you will have to cap the main water line immediately. With a remote shutoff valve, you can block water flow from any mobile device. That’s helpful when you’re visiting relatives and get an emergency leak notification on your mobile device.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage open leads to all sorts of headaches. You can waste HVAC energy through that gaping hole, and rodents or intruders can just saunder in. A sensor will notify you about a forgotten garage door and lets you lower it with your phone.
Temperature Sensor: A heat sensor in your garage or basement is essential if you wonder about frozen pipes. The heat in these areas can be drastically different than the main part of the home, so you will want to keep a constant look on them with the ADT mobile app.

Home Perimeter Safety Checklist for Scranton

Your landscaping, driveway, and front walk are just as imperative to secure as the rest of your home. Try this checklist to create a safe outside:

Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s knocking on the door before you answer it and chat with visitors. View deliveries and look at video clips if they are taken.

Outdoor Camera: You can install outdoor cameras to guard against unusual lurkers in your back yard. These cameras are especially useful in areas where you might not have a window -- like a side yard or by the driveway.

Window Height Bushes: High foliage can give you some privacy, but they also hinder you seeing into the yard. Don’t offer potential thieves an area to hide. Plus, high bushes or trees against your structure can clog gutters and invite ants and termites.
ADT Yard Signs: One of the largest disincentives for a break-in is telling would-be intruders that you own a state-of-the-art security system. An ADT yard stick by the main walk and a window decal will tell people that they should move on to an easier score.

Motion Activated Outside Lights: Light is the biggest deterrent to those who lurk in the unlit places. Motion-controlled flood lights on your porch, garage, or deck can shoo lurkers away. Lights also help you see the walk when you come back home on those dark, winter nights.

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

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t help you with non-security devices on your Scranton home safety checklist, we can bring you a powerful security system. With alarms, security cameras, and home automation, we can customize the ideal system for your home’s needs. Just contact (570) 217-8895 for more information or complete the form below. Or customize your own solution with our Security System Designer.