Home Safety Checklist For Bellingham

Keeping safe in your house should be your number one priority. But are you overlooking one or two big safety components? Take this home safety checklist for Bellingham and find out where your home requires greater attention.

We give you five whole-home safety techniques, and then we delve down on a room level. Then, contact (360) 205-2750 or fill out the form below for additional information.

Whole Home Safety Checklist for Bellingham

While you should employ a individual room process for home safety, there are a few methods that work for the entire house approach. These devices can talk with one another through a wireless hub, and can even work off other things. You can also manage all your home safety components with a mobile app, like ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: All your doors and windows should employ a sensor that notifies you to a break-in. When the alarm trips, your monitoring team responds to the call and quickly calls a first responder.

Smart Lights For Every Major Room: Sure, you can schedule your smart lighting to become more efficient. But smart lights can also allow you to stay safe throughout an emergency. Make your smart bulbs come on when an alarm triggers to shoo off burglars or brighten a path to a outside area.

Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in Bellingham could save you 10%-15% in energy costs. It also can start the exhaust fan if you have a fire.

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

Smart Locks: Every doorway that needs a deadbolt can upgrade to a smart door lock. Now you can program key codes to family and friends and receive texts to your phone when the locks are activated. Your doors can even automatically unlock, allowing you to quickly flee the house during an emergency.

Family Room Safety Checklist For Bellingham

You’ll hang out most in your living room, so it may be the best place to improve your home safety. Highly sought after items, like your TV or video games, typically reside in your family room, making it an alluring space for robbers. Start with placing a motion sensor or security camera in your room, then take a look at some of these ideas:

Motion Detectors: By hanging motion detectors, you’ll hear a shrieking alarm if they sense unexpected motion within your living room. Look for motion detectors that filter out pet movements or you’ll have a tripped alarm every time your pet passes through for a bite of food.
Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera offers a visual on your living room. Get real-time feeds of your room so you can know what’s downstairs through the mobile app. Or talk with your family when they come back from playing with the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Outlet Maintenance: Make sure you protect expensive electronics and quit overburdening your circuits with a surge protector. For extra comfort, use a smart plug with surge protection built-in.
Heavy Furniture Attached To The Wall: If you have any small children, you’ll want to attach your bookshelves and entertainment center to a wall. This is especially crucial if your living room uses carpet that could make furniture extra unbalanced.
Enhanced Locks For Glass Doors: If your family room uses a sliding glass door that slides out to a patio, deck, or outside porch, you can see that the lock is fairly flimsy. Put in a special lock, like a bottom bar or locks that bolt to the top and bottom of the opening.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Bellingham

Your kitchen has many items that should add safety to your home. Many of these things should be simple to add and can be found in the grocery store:

Fire Extinguisher: Fire can happen from an overfilled frying pan 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 Each Outlet: A circuit interrupter outlet should be used everywhere they’re close to water to prevent a deadly shock. That means the outlets close to your sink and kitchen counter. Since 1987, it’s been code to have one circuit interrupter outlet per dedicated circuit. But for simplicity’s sake, you’re going to want to install a separate GFCI on each outlet.

Monitored CO Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is recommended for spaces that use gas for the stove and oven. If your gas appliances malfunction, the CO detector will emit a loud sound and ping your monitoring agent.
Clorox Wipes Or Spray: The biggest safety problem in the kitchen is the invisible bacteria and contamination that comes with blood from meat and dairy. Always keep disinfectant wipes or a bleach spray to clean your counters before and after preparing food.
Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The items in the fridge need to remain at a constant temperature to be healthy to eat. If you accidently leave the refrigerator door open, then a constant beep will tell you to check the seal. Some fridges come with this installed, others won’t, and you’ll have to get an external alarm from the store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Bellingham

Just because you don’t a bunch of square footage in your bathroom, you will still have safety issues. From flood detectors to electric safety, here are five safety ideas for your bathroom:

Flood Sensors: A leaking sink or bathtub can lead to a whole lot of destruction. Find out early about pooling water with a flood detector before they cause hundreds to thousands of dollars in ruined floors, walls, and fixtures.
Non-slip Shower Mats: A fall in the bathroom can be painful, causing pulled muscles, gashed heads, or broken bones. Or steer clear from these hazards with a no-slip bath mat for your wet feet.

No-slip Bathtub Stickies: Likewise, a tub can be a slick place to move in. Make sure each tub has some textured stickies so your feet and toes have a textured patch to grip.

Medicine Door Latch: If you have little kids or anyone with memory lapses, you should take extra attention regarding medicine. Secure your prescriptions by getting a medicine cabinet with a latch that locks.

GFCI Circuits: Similarly to the kitchen, you need to also use a grounded circuit interrupter outlet on every bathroom circuit. This will cut the electricity if water enters the outlet or they experience a harmful surge from an electric razor or hair dryer.

Kid’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Bellingham

Your kid’s bedroom should pair safety with simplicity. If their window coverings or other things are safe but difficult to use, then your child may try risky methods -- like shimmying up a chest of drawers -- to use them. Try these simple, and safe, ideas:

Cord-Free Window Coverings: Safety professionals have designated cords from shades and blinds a hidden problem for children and animals. Put in motorized treatments that kids can easily open and close through a remote control. Or go state-of-the-art and pair your shades to your ADT security system so they can raise without anyone’s help when it’s time to get up, and go down at night for added darkness.

Indoor Security Camera: A camera placed on your child’s desk or dresser can double as a high tech baby monitor that you can watch from a mobile device. And when they need your help, they can hit the two-way talk button included on the camera.

Plug Covers: While each outlet should use protective covers on them for your small children, this is especially urgent in their bedroom. It’s the main place in your home where your toddler will most likely hang out by themselves without consistent additional supervision.

Window Safety Ladder: If you use bedrooms on an upper story, then you will want to have a window escape ladder. These can help your children escape even if the hallway or lower levels are on fire. Remember to go over how to use them one or two times a year.

Toy Chest Or Low Bookshelves: It’s strange to look at a toy box as a safety component, but you’ll see the light if you’ve ever walked on a Lego in your bare feet. A clutter-free floor gives your child a quick escape if there’s an emergency.

Main Bedroom Safety Checklist For Bellingham

Your master bedroom should be a refuge, so let your safety components give you peace of mind when you experience an emergency. After all, being wrenched awake by a wailing alarm can be confusing.

Security System Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your bedside table lets you see what’s what that noise was without leaving your bed. You could alternatively use your ADT mobile app. However, the touchscreen may be better to use when you’re coming out of sleep and disoriented.

Device Charging Area: We use our smartphones for so many things now alarms, internet searches, game machines, and sometimes even phones. But, an uncharged device will cut us off from the outside world if during an emergency. To keep it nice and ready, a charging station or cord becomes an important part of your nightstand.

Smart Lights Or Nightlights: A small light helps ground you when you’re startled awake from a siren or other loud noises. If you won’t drift off to sleep with a nightlight, put in smart lights in your bedroom. Then you can control light simply with a button push or voice command.
Fireproof Lockbox: Stash your important documents like birth certificates, medical information, or banking information in a fireproof lockbox. This can be a bigger one that camps out in a corner or a smaller handheld safe that you can snatch as you escape during a fire or other emergency.

Temperature Sensor: The problem with most bedrooms is that they tend to be too warm or be chilly since they sit across the house from the thermostat. A heat sensor will talk to your smart thermostat so you should have a nice, relaxing sleep at the perfect climate.

Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For Bellingham

Most safety issues in the garage or basement have to do with your water heater or heating system. Finding hazards early can stave away bigger disasters later on. So, as you look around your storage areas, pay attention to these safety items:

Water Sensor Or Sump Pump Alarm: Placing a flood sensor in back of your water heater or sump pump drain can stop you from discovering a mess when you step into your garage or basement. The last you need is to waste the weekend drying your floor and going through all those soggy boxes.

CO Alarm: It’s nice to install a carbon monoxide detector in a place where a natural gas leak can spring up. If you employ gas heat, you’ll want to put a detector in the same area as your unit.
Remote Water Shutoff Valve: If your water sensor detects a plumbing leak or a broken pipe, then you will want to cap the primary water valve immediately. With a WiFi shutoff valve, you can turn off your water flow from any mobile device. That’s nice when you’re visiting relatives and receive an emergency leak notification on your phone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage door open causes all types of problems. You can waste HVAC energy through that gaping hole, and critters or thieves can just saunder in. A sensor will text you about a neglected garage door and lets you lower it through the app.
Heat Sensor: A temperature sensor in your garage or basement is essential if you worry about your pipes freezing. The heat in these rooms can be surprisingly different than the rest of the home, so you will need to maintain a close look on them by using the ADT mobile app.

Outside Safety Checklist for Bellingham

Your landscaping, driveway, and front step are just as imperative to make safe as the inside of your house. Use this checklist to create a safe outside:

Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s arrived at the door before you open it and chat with guests. See package deliveries and record video clips if they are stolen.

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

Window Height Shrubs: Overgrown foliage can offer some solitude, but they also block you seeing into the outside. Don’t give potential thieves a place to hide. Plus, tall bushes, shrubs or trees against your home can obstruct gutters and invite pests.
ADT Signage: One of the most popular disincentives for a break-in is alerting would-be burglars that you own an updated security system. An ADT yard sign by the front door and a window sticker will show ne'er-do-wells that they ought to keep walking to an less prepared house.

Motion Controlled Flood Light Fixtures: Light is the best obstacle to those who lurk in the unlit places. Motion-controlled lights on your deck, patio, or garage can shoo possible intruders away. Flood lights also help you see the walk when you arrive home on those dark, winter nights.

Contact Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help Complete Your Home Safety Checklist for Bellingham

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t help you with every item on your Bellingham home safety checklist, we can install a state-of-the-art home security system. With alarms, security cameras, and home automation, we can customize the perfect system for your home’s needs. Simply phone (360) 205-2750 and talk to a professional or complete the form below. Or personalize your own ADT system with our Security System Designer.