Home Safety Checklist For Rockford

Being safe and secure in your residence should be your number one concern. But are you missing some big safety components? Take this home safety checklist for Rockford and see where your living space can use greater attention.

This guide begins with five whole-house safety items, and then we whittle it down to specific room ideas. Then, contact (815) 242-2899 or send in the form below to get your house set up.

General Home Safety Checklist for Rockford

While you may want to take a individual room process for home safety in Rockford, there are some items that work for the entire house approach. These components can link together through a touchscreen hub, and can even work off other things. You can also control all your home safety equipment through a mobile app, like ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: Each one of your doors and windows should have a sensor that warns your family to intrusion. When your alarm triggers, your monitoring expert answers the call and immediately contacts a first responder.

Smart Lighting For Every Major Room: Sure, you can set your smart lights to become more energy-efficient. But they can also help you remain safe throughout an emergency. Have your downstairs lights come on when an alarm trips to scare off robbers or brighten your way to a outside area.

Smart Thermostat: Like your smart lights, a smart thermostat in Rockford should save you up to 15% in energy spending. But it also can turn on your exhaust fan when your alarms senses a fire.

Monitored Smoke Detectors: At the very least, you need to have a fire detector on every level of your house. You can improve your fire game by utilizing a monitored fire detector that looks for both smoke and heat, and alerts your 24/7 monitoring agents when it senses a fire.

Smart Lock For Every Door: Every doorway that utilizes a deadbolt can upgrade to a smart door lock. Now you may program numbered codes to friends and family and get alerts to your mobile device when they are unlocked. Your smart lock can even automatically open, helping you to quickly leave during a fire or other emergency.

Family Room/Living Room Safety Checklist For Rockford

You’ll hang out most in your living room, so it can be the best area to start your home safety makeover. Electronics, like a TV or video game console, probably sit in your living room, making it a popular space for robbers. Begin with installing a motion sensor or indoor camera by the doorway, then take a look at all these ideas:

Motion Sensors: By putting in motion sensors, you’ll hear a high-decibel noise if they sense suspicious movement within your living room. The best devices are motion sensors that ignore pet movements or you’ll see your sirens go off every time your cat roams by for a bite of food.
Security Camera: An indoor security camera offers an eye on your family room. View constant feeds of everything so you can find out what’s downstairs without leaving your bed. Or speak with your family in the family room with the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Make sure you protect all your electronics and quit overloading your electric system with a surge protector. For added comfort, use a smart plug with surge protection built-in.
Heavy Furniture Attached To The Wall: If you have curious kids, you’ll need to attach your bookshelves and entertainment center to your wall. This is especially crucial if your living room has carpet that might make furniture extra unstable.
Special Locks For Sliding Glass Doors: If your living room has a sliding door that leads to a deck, patio, or outside porch, you probably get that the door lock is pretty thin. Use an enhanced lock, like a cross bar or small locks that are located on the bottom and top of the opening.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Rockford

The kitchen has plenty of items that can add safety and security to your home. Some of these items should be simple to add and should be bought from the a retail store:

Fire Extinguisher: A fire can happen from a neglected skillet or an errant grease splatter. Always store a fire extinguisher at the ready for any kitchen emergencies.
Circuit Interrupter Box On Every Outlet: A GFCI outlet should be installed anywhere they’re by running water to ward off a deadly shock. That includes the plug outlets around your sink and kitchen counter. Since the late ‘80s, it’s been standard to have one GFCI per dedicated circuit. But for simplicity’s sake, try to have an unchained 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 cause a loud, buzzing siren and call your monitoring center.
Clorox Wipes Or Spray: The biggest safety problem in the kitchen is the invisible bacteria and protein that comes with blood from meat and vegetables. Always keep antiviral wipes or a bleach spray to scrub off your surfaces when cooking.
Freezer and Refrigerator Alarm: The items in the refrigerator need to remain at a constant temperature to stay ready to eat. If you leave the freezer or refrigerator door open, then an alarm beep will let you know so you can shut it securely. Some refrigerators already have an alarm, older models don’t, and you’ll have to get a refrigerator alarm from the store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Rockford

Just because you may not have a lot of square footage in your bathroom, you will still have safety issues. From water problems to medicine care, here are some safety ideas for your bathroom:

Flood Detectors: A leaking sink or tub can lead to extensive destruction. Get alerted early about leaks with a flood detector before they cause hundreds of dollars in ruined floors, walls, and fixtures.
Non-slip Bath Mats: A slip and fall in the bathroom can be a painful occurrence, causing pulled muscles, bruises, or sprained ankles. Make sure you steer clear from these hazards with a textured bath mat for after your bath or shower.

No-slip Bathtub Strips: Another water hazard, a tub basin can be a slick area to stand in. It’s a good idea that each bathtub has some non-slip stickies so your feet have a textured patch to grip.

Medicine Door Lock: If you have little children or anyone with memory lapses, you have to take extra attention regarding prescription medicine. Hide away your bottles by installing a medicine cabinet with a child-proof lock.

GFCI Circuits: Similarly to the kitchen, you need to also install a surge protecting GFCI outlet on every bathroom circuit. These will shut off the current if they ever get wet or there’s a sudden spike from an electric razor or hair dryer.

Child’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Rockford

A child’s bedroom should pair safety with simplicity. If their window coverings or other items are safe but tricky to operate, then your children may try risky methods -- like scale a dresser -- to touch them. Here are 5 straightforward, yet safe, ideas:

Cord-Free Window Treatments: Safety experts have long called corded window treatments a hidden danger for children and animals. Put in motorized shades that your child can easily manage through a remote control. Or even better, link your motorized treatments to your security system so they open without anyone’s help at dawn, and lower in the evening for extra privacy.

Indoor Security Camera: A security camera sitting on your kid’s dresser can double as a high tech baby monitor that you can see with your phone. And when they want your help, they can push the intercom talk feature that comes with the camera.

Outlet Plug Covers: While each outlet should have outlet safety caps on them to protect your little children, this is doubly important in a child’s bedroom. It’s the one place in your house where your toddler will most likely hang out alone without constant additional supervision.

Window Escape Ladder: If you use bedrooms on the second story, then you need to install a window fire ladder. These will help your children get out of their room even if the stairs or downstairs are blocked off with fire. Just remember to practice how to use the ladder at least twice a year.

Toy Box Or Low Shelves: It’s weird to view a toy box as a safety device, but you’ll understand if you’ve ever tramped on a Lego in your stocking feet. A clean floor let your child have a quick escape during a fire or break-in.

Main Bedroom Safety Checklist For Rockford

Your master bedroom should be your calm space, so let your safety items give you peace of mind when you have an emergency. After all, being wrenched awake by a high-decibel buzzer can be confusing.

Home Security Touchscreen: Having a smart hub on your bedside table lets you see what’s going on without leaving your bed. You could always turn on your ADT phone app but, the touchscreen can be better to use when you’re yawning and disoriented.

Device Charging Stand: We use our smartphones for almost everything now GPS, news readers, time wasters, and sometimes even phones. But, an uncharged phone can cut us off from reaching help if something goes wrong. So, a an easy-to-use charging station is an essential.

Nightlight/Smart Lights: A plug-in light can calm you when you’re jolted awake from a siren or other noises. If you have trouble falling asleep with a small nightlight, put in a smart bulb in your bedroom. Then you can get light on-demand with a mobile device or vocal command.
Fireproof Safe: Keep your essential documents like social security cards, passports, or banking information in a fireproof safe. Your lockbox can be a big one that sits in your closet or a small handheld safe that you can grab on your way out during an emergency event.

Temperature Sensor: The problem with bedrooms is that they might feel too warm or be cold because they sit far away from the thermostat. A heat sensor can talk to your smart thermostat so you should have a comfortable, relaxing sleep at just the right climate.

Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For Rockford

Most safety needs in the garage or basement deal with your pipes or heating system. Seeing issues before they start can prevent bigger disasters later on. So, as you take a look around your garage or basement, check over these safety items:

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

Carbon Monoxide Alarm: It’s nice to install a CO alarm in areas where a CO leak can spring up. If you employ a gas furnace, try to put a detector in the same area as your inbound pipes.
WiFi Water Shutoff Valve: If your water sensor senses a hot water leak or a burst pipe, then you will have to cut off the main water valve quickly. With a wireless shutoff valve, you can stop water flow from anywhere in the world. That’s helpful when you’re on vacation and see a water leak alert on your mobile device.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage open causes all types of headaches. You can lose a bunch of HVAC energy through that large opening, and critters or lurkers can just saunder in. A sensor will notify you about a neglected garage door and allow you to close it remotely.
Temperature Sensor: A heat alarm in your garage or basement is handy if you wonder about freezing pipes. The heat in these rooms can be surprisingly different than the rest of the house, so you will want to maintain a close look on the temperature by using your security mobile app.

Outside Safety Checklist for Rockford

Your front yard, driveway, and front walk are just as imperative to make safe as the inside of your home. Use this checklist to defend your perimeter:

Doorbell Camera: See who’s arrived at the door before you answer it and talk to guests. Get a visual on package deliveries and look at video clips if they vanish off the step.

Outdoor Camera: You can hang outdoor cameras to notify you about late night activity in your yard. These devices are especially useful in areas where you might not have a view -- like a side yard or by the garage door.

Window Height Shrubs: Overgrown foliage can offer some serenity, but they also obscure your view of the outside. Don’t offer potential thieves a dark shadow to hide. Plus, high bushes or trees too close to your structure can clog gutters and invite pests.
ADT Yard Signs: One of the largest deterrents for a thief is telling aspiring rogues that you use an updated ADT security system. An ADT sign by the front door and a window decal will alert people that they might want to keep walking to an less prepared house.

Motion Activated Flood Light Fixtures: Light is the greatest obstacle to people who lurk in the shadows. Motion-controlled lighting on your deck, porch, or garage can shoo possible intruders away. Flood lights also help you get inside when you get back home late after work.

Use Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You Finish Your Home Safety Checklist for Rockford

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t install non-security devices on your Rockford home safety checklist, we can install a state-of-the-art home security. With everything from alarms to thermostats, we can customize the best system for your house’s needs. Simply phone (815) 242-2899 for more information or send in the form below. Or customize your own system with our Security System Designer.