Home Safety Checklist For Joliet

Keeping safe in your home should be your topmost concern. But are you overlooking a few big safety items? Use this home safety checklist for Joliet and find out where your house needs some work.

This guide begins with a few whole-house safety ideas, and then we whittle it down to specific room ideas. Then, you can call (815) 242-2890 or fill out the form below for more information.

Whole Home Safety Checklist for Joliet

While you should use a room-by-room process for home safety, there are a few things that work for the whole-house approach. These devices can sync with one another through a wireless hub, and often can react to other things. You can also manage all your home safety components through a mobile app, like ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: Each one of your windows and doors should employ a sensor that warns you to forced entry. When an alarm trips, your monitoring expert answers the call and quickly sends the police or fire department.

Smart Lighting For Each Room: Of course, you can program your smart lights to become more efficient. But smart lights can also allow you to remain safe in an emergency. Make your smart bulbs come on when a sensor goes off to frighten off robbers or light your way to a secure location.

Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in Joliet should save you 10%-15% in utility spending. But it also can start your exhaust fan when your alarms senses a fire.

Monitored Fire Detectors: It’s code that you have a fire alarm on every level of your house. You can increase your fire readiness by utilizing a monitored fire alarm that looks for excessive heat and smoke, and alerts your 24/7 monitoring team when it detects a fire.

Smart Locks: Every doorway that needs a keyed lock can upgrade to a smart lock. Now you can assign numbered codes to each family member and receive alerts to your smartphone when they are used. Your doors can even automatically open, letting you quickly leave during a fire or dangerous situation.

Family Room Safety Checklist For Joliet

You’ll hang out most in the living room, so it’s the perfect place to start making your house a safer place. Popular items, like a big screen or video game console, probably are located in your family room, making it a tempting room for burglars. Begin with installing a motion sensor or security camera in there, then try the following suggestions:

Motion Sensors: By installing motion sensors, you’ll get a loud siren whenever they sense suspicious motion within your family room. You’ll want motion sensors that filter out pets or you’ll see an alert each time your dog comes in for a drink of water.
Indoor Camera: An indoor security camera gives you a visual on your living room. View live feeds of everything so you can know what’s downstairs without leaving your bed. Or talk with your family in the family room using the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Safeguard expensive electronics and quit overtaxing your outlets with a surge protector. For extra convenience, install a smart plug with a surge protector included.
Furniture Secured To The Wall: If you have any small children, you’ll need to attach your heavy furniture and entertainment center to a wall. This is extra important if your living room has rugs or carpet that can make furniture extra unstable.
Special Locks For Sliding Doors: If your family room has a sliding glass door that leads to a backyard, deck, or outside porch, you probably get that the door lock is fairly worthless. Use a special lock, like a bottom bar or small locks that bolt to the bottom and top of the frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Joliet

Your kitchen has plenty of items that can provide safety and security to your house. Many of these items are also a snap to add and can be bought from the Target or Walmart:

Fire Extinguisher: Fire can spring up from a neglected skillet or a faulty burner. Always have a fire extinguisher in close reach for any cooking emergencies.
GFCI Box On Each Outlet: A circuit interrupter outlet should be standard anywhere they’re close to water to prevent electrocution. That means the plug outlets around your kitchen counter and sink. Since the late ‘80s, it’s been required to have one GFCI per dedicated circuit. But if you don’t want every outlet to go dead when one outlet trips, you’re going to want to have a separate GFCI on each outlet.

Monitored CO Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is advised for the kitchen if you employ a gas oven and stove. If your gas lines spring a leak, the carbon monoxide detector will emit a loud, buzzing sound and ping your monitoring center.
Disinfectant Wipes Or Spray: The biggest safety hazard in the kitchen is the invisible bacteria and contamination that comes with uncooked meat and vegetables. Always keep disinfectant wipes or an antibacterial spray to clean your counters before and after preparing food.
Refrigerator Alarm: The food items in your fridge have to stay at a cold temperature to stay safe to eat. If you accidently leave the fridge or freezer door open, then a constant beep will let you know so you can check the seal. Some refrigerators come with an alarm, older models do not, and you’ll have to get a refrigerator alarm from the store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Joliet

Just because you don’t a bunch of space in your bathroom doesn’t mean that there aren’t safety hazards. From flood detectors to medicine care, here are some safety tips for your bathroom:

Flood Sensors: A leaking sink or shower can create an expensive amount of damage. Get alerted early about water problems with a flood detector and save the time and money from damage.
Non-slip Shower Mats: A slip and fall in the bathroom can be devastating, causing bumps, bruises, or trips to the hospital. Make sure you steer clear from these problems with a no-slip bathroom mat for your wet feet.

No-slip Bathtub Stickies: Another water hazard, a tub can be a slick surface to stand in. Make sure each bathtub has some no-slip strips so your feet and toes have a textured patch for stability.

Medicine Door Lock: If you have curious children or anyone with memory lapses, you should take additional precautions regarding medicine. Secure your pills and syrups by installing a medicine cabinet with a latch that locks.

GFCI Circuits: Similarly to the kitchen, you should also put in a safer circuit interrupter outlet on each bathroom outlet. These will shut off the electric current if water splashes on them or you have an unusual surge from a hair dryer or curling iron.

Kid’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Joliet

Your kid’s bedroom should balance safety with manageability. If their window treatments or other things are safe but hard to operate, then your kids may perform risky methods -- like climb a bookshelf -- to open them. Here are 5 simple, and safe, ideas:

No Cord Window Treatments: Safety professionals have designated window treatment cords a hidden hazard for children and animals. Use motorized blinds or shades that kids can easily manage via remote control. Or go state-of-the-art and connect your shades to your ADT security system so they open automatically when the sun comes up, and lower at bedtime for extra privacy.

Indoor Security Camera: A security camera sitting on your toddler’s desk can act like a high tech baby monitor that you can view with a smartphone. And when they need something, they can push the intercom talk feature that comes with the camera.

Outlet Plug Covers: While every outlet should have outlet safety caps on them for your young children, this is doubly needed in their bedroom. It’s the one place in your home where your child will most likely be alone without constant parental supervision.

Window Safety Ladder: If you use bedrooms on the second story, then you will want to have a window safety ladder. These can help a young one escape even if the stairway or ground floor are engulfed in smoke and fire. Remember to rehearse how to employ them a few times a year.

Toy Box Or Low Shelves: It’s interesting to view a toy chest as a safety component, but you’ll understand if you’ve ever tramped on an action figure in your bare feet. A uncluttered floor gives your child a quick way out if there’s a safety or security event.

Main Bedroom Safety Checklist For Joliet

Your master bedroom should be your calm space, so let your safety components make you more responsive when there's an emergency event. After all, being startled awake by a loud buzzer can be quite a shock.

Security System Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your dresser lets you see what’s what that noise was without leaving your bed. You could alternatively log into your ADT smartphone app. However, the HD touchscreen is often faster to use when you’re coming out of sleep and disoriented.

Phone Charging Stand: We use our cell phones for almost everything now GPS, news readers, games, and sometimes even phones. But, an uncharged phone can cut us off from reaching help if something goes wrong. To make sure your phone always works, a charging cord or station is an important part of your nightstand.

Nightlights Or Voice Activated Smart Lights: A small light helps ground you when you’re startled awake from a fire alarm or other loud sounds. If you won’t drift off to sleep with a nightlight, use smart lights in your bedroom. Then you can get light on-demand with a mobile device or voice command.
Fireproof Safe: Keep your vital papers like insurance cards, medical information, or a spare checkbook in a fireproof lockbox. Your lockbox can be a large one that sits out of the way or a smaller portable lockbox that you can grab on your way out during a fire or break-in.

Heat Sensor: The issue with most bedrooms is that they might be too hot or be chilly since they are located far away from the thermostat. A temperature sensor will talk to your smart thermostat so you will have a nice, relaxing sleep at the perfect climate.

Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For Joliet

Most safety needs in the basement or garage are with your water or heating system. Finding problems before they start can stave away more devastating disasters in the future. So, as you take a look around your basement or garage, take note of these crucial items:

Water Detector Or Sump Pump Alarm: Installing a flood sensor by your water heater or sump pump can stop you from wading into a lake when you step into your garage or basement. The last you need is to spend the weekend drying your floor and salvaging all those ruined boxes.

Carbon Monoxide Alarm: It’s beneficial to have a carbon monoxide detector in areas where a natural gas leak can spring up. If you employ gas heat, you should install an alarm in the same place as your inbound pipes.
WiFi Water Shutoff Valve: If your water detector detects a hot water heater leak or a broken pipe, then you will want to cut off the main water line at once. With a wireless shutoff valve, you can turn off your water flow from anywhere in the world. That’s perfect when you’re out of town and get an emergency leak text on your mobile device.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage door up brings about all types of headaches. You can waste heat or air through that large opening, and critters or intruders can just saunder in. A sensor will text you about a neglected garage door and allow you to close it with your phone.
Temperature Sensor: A heat alarm in your basement or garage is a definite if you fret about your pipes freezing. The temperature in these areas can be surprisingly different than the main part of the house, so you will need to have a constant look on them through the ADT mobile app.

Outside Perimeter Safety Checklist for Joliet

Your front yard, driveway, and front walk are just as crucial to defend as the inside of your home. Try this checklist to make your outside safe:

Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s arrived at the door before you open it and welcome visitors. Get a visual on deliveries and review video clips if they disappear.

Outdoor Security Camera: You can place outdoor security cameras to guard against late night movement in your back yard. These devices come in handy in areas where you might not have a window -- like a side yard or by the garage door.

Window Height Shrubs: High bushes can create some privacy, but they also hinder your view of the yard. Don’t give potential intruders a dark shadow to hide. Plus, large bushes, shrubs or foliage against your home can obstruct gutters and invite bugs.
ADT Yard Signs: One of the biggest deterrents for a thief is telling would-be burglars that you use a state-of-the-art ADT security system. An ADT sign by the front door and a window sticker will show lurkers that they should move on to an less prepared house.

Motion Activated Flood Lighting: Light is the largest deterrent to those who sneak around in the unlit places. Motion-triggered lights on your deck, patio, or garage can help scare lurkers away. Lights also help you get inside when you come back home late after work.

Call Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You With Your Home Safety Checklist for Joliet

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t help you with each household item on your Joliet home safety checklist, we can bring you a state-of-the-art home security system. With everything from alarms to thermostats, we can personalize the best system for your family’s needs. Simply phone (815) 242-2890 and talk to a professional or fill out the form below. Or customize your own ADT system with our Security System Designer.