Home Safety Checklist For Rochester

Being safe and secure in your residence should be your topmost responsibility. But are you forgetting a few useful safety items? Use this home safety checklist for Rochester and find out where your house needs some work.

This guide starts with a few whole-house safety ideas, and then we delve down to specific room ideas. Then, call (585) 310-4555 or complete the form below for additional information.

General Home Safety Checklist for Rochester

While you will want to take a room-by-room process for home safety in Rochester, there are some things that are useful for your entire house. These devices can sync together through a touchscreen hub, and can even respond to other things. You might also control every one of your home safety equipment using a smartphone app, such as ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: All your windows and doors should have a sensor that alerts your family to intrusion. As the alarm goes off, your monitoring center responds to the call and quickly calls emergency personnel.

Smart Lighting For Every Major Room: Sure, you can schedule your smart lighting so your home is more energy-efficient. But smart lights can also help you remain safe in an emergency. Have your lights flash on when a security alarm trips to shoo off intruders or light a path to a outside place.

Smart Thermostat: Like your smart lights, a smart thermostat in Rochester could save you between 10%-15% in energy costs. Also, it can flip on the exhaust fan when your alarms senses a fire.

Monitored Fire Alarms: It’s code that you have a fire detector on each level of your house. You can increase your fire readiness by installing a monitored fire alarm that looks for both heat and smoke, and notifies your 24/7 monitoring team when it thinks that there’s a fire.

Smart Door Locks: Every entryway that uses a deadbolt can use a smart lock. Now you can preset key codes to each family member and get notifications to your smartphone when they are unlocked. Your doors can even automatically unlock, letting you quickly flee the house when you have a fire or dangerous situation.

Living Room/Family Room Safety Checklist For Rochester

You’ll spend a lot of time in your living room, so it can be the most reasonable room to kick off your home safety renovation. Electronics, like your TV or video game console, probably are located in your living room, making it a tempting room for robbers. Begin with hanging a motion detector or indoor camera in there, then continue on with the following suggestions:

Motion Sensors: By installing motion detectors, you’ll have a loud siren anytime they detect suspicious motion in your living room. The best devices are motion sensors that ignore pet movements or you’ll have an alert each time your pet roams by for a midnight stroll.
Indoor Camera: An indoor security camera gives you a constant watch on your living room. Get live streams of everything so you can see what’s going on through the mobile app. Or talk with your family in the family room using the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Safeguard those electronics and stop overburdening your electric system with a surge protector. For extra convenience, use a smart plug with a surge protector built-in.
Furniture Bolted 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 family room uses carpet that might make furniture extra wobbly.
Enhanced Locks For Sliding Doors: If your family room uses a sliding door that leads to a deck, patio, or porch, you already know that the lock is pretty flimsy. Put in an enhanced lock, like a cross bar or small locks that are located on the top and bottom of the frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Rochester

Your kitchen has plenty of items that can provide safety to your house. Many of these things should be easy to add and should be bought from the grocery store:

Fire Extinguisher: A fire can come from from an unwatched frying pan or a towel that’s too close to a burner. Always store a fire extinguisher at hand for any kitchen mishaps.
Circuit Interrupter Box On Each Outlet: A GFCI outlet should be standard on outlets where they’re by running water to prevent an electric shock. That means the outlets around your kitchen counter and sink. For 30 years, it’s been standard to have one circuit interrupter outlet per circuit. But each one of your outlets will go dead if one outlet detects a surge, so try to install a separate GFCI on each outlet.

Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is recommended for spaces that have natural gas for the stove and oven. If your gas lines spring a leak, the carbon monoxide detector will emit a loud, buzzing sound and call your monitoring agent.
Disinfectant Wipes Or Spray: The most overlooked safety hazard in the kitchen is the invisible bacteria and contamination that comes with raw meat and other foods. Always store cleaning wipes or spray to clean your surfaces after cooking.
Freezer and Refrigerator Alarm: The items in the fridge should stay at a cold temperature to be healthy to eat. If you leave the refrigerator door open, then a small beep will remind you to check the seal. Some fridges already have this installed, others won’t, and you’ll have to buy a refrigerator alarm from the hardware store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Rochester

Just because you don’t a bunch of room in your bathroom, you will still have safety concerns. From water problems to electric safety, here are a few safety ideas for your bathroom:

Flood Sensors: A leaking toilet or shower can lead to extensive damage. Get alerted early about water problems with a flood detector and save hundreds to thousands of dollars from damage.
Non-slip Bathroom Mats: A slip in the bathroom can be painful, causing bumps, bruises, or sprained ankles. Make sure you avoid these hazards with a no-slip bath mat for your wet feet.

Non-slip Bathtub Strips: Like a tiled floor, a tub can be a slippery place to move in. It’s a good idea that every has some no-slip strips so your toes have a rough patch to gain traction.

Medicine Door Lock: If you have little children or a family member with memory lapses, you need to take additional attention regarding prescription medicine. Secure your pills and syrups by installing a medicine cabinet with a child-proof lock.

Circuit Interrupter Outlet: While installing better outlets in the kitchen, you will have to also install a safer circuit interrupter outlet on every bathroom outlet. These will stop the flow of the current if water splashes on them or you have a sudden jolt from a curling iron or hair dryer.

Kid’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Rochester

Your child’s bedroom should counterbalance safety with simplicity. If their window shades or other items are safe but hard to manage, then your child may perform unsafe activities -- like shimmying up a dresser -- to use them. Here are some simple, and safe, ideas:

Cordless Window Coverings: Safety professionals have long called corded window treatments a secret danger for kids and pets. Use motorized blinds or shades that kids can easily control via remote control. Or even better, link your motorized coverings to your security system so they rise automatically at dawn, and close at bedtime for added darkness.

Tableside Security Camera: A camera placed on your toddler’s desk can behave as an HD baby monitor that you can watch from your phone. And if they need you, they can hit the 2-way talk feature on the camera.

Outlet Covers: While each outlet should have covers on them when you have little children, this is especially urgent in a child’s bedroom. It’s the one room in your house where your child will most likely play solo without adult supervision.

Window Escape Ladder: If you have bedrooms on an upper floor, then you will want to install a window escape ladder. These can help your children leave the house in case the stairs or downstairs are on fire. Just remember to practice how to employ the ladder a few times a year.

Toy Chest Or Low Bookshelves: It’s strange to look at a toy chest as a safety item, but you’ll understand if you’ve ever stepped on an action figure in your stocking feet. A clutter-free floor means a quick escape if there’s an emergency.

Main Bedroom Safety Checklist For Rochester

The main bedroom should be your calm space, so let your safety components give you peace of mind when you have an emergency event. After all, being wrenched awake by a high-decibel siren can be quite a shock.

Security System Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your nightstand lets you see what’s what that noise was without leaving your bed. You could alternatively use your ADT smartphone app. However, the HD touchscreen may be faster to use when you’re yawning and disoriented.

Phone Charging Area: We use our cell phones for so much now alarms, internet searches, social media, and --legend has it-- even phones. The only problem is that a depleted device in the middle of the night cuts us off from the outside world if during an emergency. So, a charging station or cord becomes an important part of your nightstand.

Smart Lights Or Nightlights: A small light can calm you when you’re startled awake from a fire alarm or other noises. If you have trouble falling asleep with a nightlight, install a smart bulb in your bedroom and hall. Then you can control light simply with a push of a button or voice command.
Fireproof Lockbox: Stash your important documents like birth certificates, passports, or a bankbook in a fireproof lockbox. Your lockbox can be a bigger one that camps out in your closet or a smaller portable safe that you can snatch on your way out during a fire or other emergency.

Heat Sensor: The drawback with most bedrooms is that they might be too warm or be frigid because they are located across the house from the thermostat. A temperature sensor can communicate to your smart thermostat so you will have a pleasant, peaceful sleep at just the right temperature.

Garage/Basement Safety Checklist For Rochester

Most safety problems in the basement or garage deal with your pipes or HVAC system. Seeing hazards at the source can stop larger problems in the future. So, as you look around your storage areas, check over these safety items:

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

Carbon Monoxide Detector: It’s nice to have a carbon monoxide alarm in areas where a gas leak can happen. If you have gas heating, try to put an alarm in the same area as your HVAC unit.
Wireless Water Shutoff Valve: If your flood alarm finds a hot water leak or a busted pipe, then you need to cap the primary water pipe quickly. With a remote shutoff valve, you can block water flow from anywhere in the world. That’s helpful when you’re visiting relatives and get a water leak text on your smartphone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage open brings about all types of issues. You can lose a bunch of heat or air through that gaping hole, and all sorts of animals or intruders can just walk in. A remote sensor will notify you about a neglected garage door and lets you close it with your phone.
Heat Sensor: A heat alarm in your basement or garage is essential if you wonder about freezing pipes. The temperature in these areas can be surprisingly different than your main rooms of the home, so you will want to keep a close look on the temperature with your mobile app.

Outside Safety Checklist for Rochester

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

Doorbell Camera: See who’s arrived at the door before you answer it and talk to guests. See package deliveries and look at video clips if they are stolen.

Outdoor Camera: You can hang outdoor cameras to alert you to unusual lurkers in your yard. These cameras come in handy in areas where you may not have a window installed -- like a side yard or by the garage.

Window Height Shrubs: Tall foliage can offer some serenity, but they also block you seeing into the yard. Don’t offer potential burglars an area to hide. Plus, tall shrubs or greenery too close to your home can clog gutters and summon bugs.
ADT Signs And Decals: One of the most popular deterrents for a break-in is advertising to potential intruders that you use a state-of-the-art home security system. An ADT sign by the stoop and a window sticker will show people that they might want to move on to an unprotected house.

Motion Triggered Flood Lighting: Light is the largest enemy to those who lurk in the unlit places. Motion-controlled lights on your deck, patio, or garage can help scare possible intruders away. Flood lights also help you see the walk when you come to the house late after work.

Call Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You Finish Your Home Safety Checklist for Rochester

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t install non-security devices on your Rochester home safety checklist, we can discuss a state-of-the-art home security system. With alarms, security cameras, and home automation, we can personalize the perfect system for your house’s needs. Just phone (585) 310-4555 to get started or send in the form below. Or personalize your own system with our Security System Designer.