Home Safety Checklist For Toledo

Keeping safe in your home should be your largest responsibility. But are you missing one or two big safety components? Take this home safety checklist for Toledo and discover where your living space needs an update.

This guide begins with some whole-home safety items, and then we break it down on a room level. Then, phone (419) 359-8479 or complete the form below to talk to a security expert.

Basic Home Safety Checklist for Toledo

While you should employ a room-to-room process for home safety in Toledo, there are some methods that work for a lot of your rooms. These devices can talk with one another through a smart hub, and can even respond to other components. You might also control all your home safety equipment through a mobile security app, like ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: Each one of your entryways should have a sensor that warns your family to intrusion. After the alarm goes off, your monitoring agent answers the alert and quickly calls the police or fire department.

Smart Lights For Each Room: Sure, you can program your smart lighting to make your home more eco-conscience. But smart lights can also allow you to keep safe during an emergency. Have your lights come on when an alarm goes off to scare off robbers or illuminate a path to a secure place.

Smart Thermostat: Like your smart lights, a smart thermostat in Toledo should save you between 10%-15% in utility spending. It also can turn on your exhaust fan during a fire.

Monitored Fire Detectors: It’s code that you will have a smoke detector on each level of your house. You can increase your fire game by installing a monitored fire detector that senses both heat and smoke, and notifies your 24-hour monitoring team when it thinks that there’s a fire.

Smart Locks: Every doorway that uses a deadbolt can upgrade to a smart door lock. Now you can assign codes to family and friends and receive alerts to your mobile device when your locks are activated. Your smart lock can even automatically open, allowing you to quickly get out when you have a fire or dangerous situation.

Family Room/Living Room Safety Checklist For Toledo

You’ll hang out most in the living room, so it may be the most reasonable room to kick off your home safety renovation. Popular items, like a big screen or video games, probably reside in your family room, making it a popular room for robbers. Start with hanging a motion sensor or security camera in there, then try some of these suggestions:

Motion Sensors: By hanging motion detectors, you’ll get a shrieking siren if they sense suspicious motion in your family room. The best devices are motion detectors that ignore a dog or cat or you’ll get an alert every time your cat comes in for a bite of food.
Security Camera: An indoor security camera offers an eye on your living room. Watch constant feeds of everything so you can find out what’s going on through the mobile app. Or talk with your family in the room with the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Outlet Maintenance: Safeguard expensive electronics and stop overloading your outlets with a surge protector. For additional comfort, use a smart plug with anti-surge functionality built-in.
Entertainment Center Secured To The Wall: If you have babies or toddlers, you’ll want to secure your bookshelves and entertainment center to the wall. This is extra crucial if your family room uses carpeting that could make heavy objects extra unstable.
Enhanced Locks For Sliding Doors: If your family room has a sliding door that leads to a deck, patio, or outside porch, you probably know that the latch is pretty flimsy. Use an enhanced lock, like a cross bar or locks that secures the door to the top and bottom of the frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Toledo

Your kitchen has room for items that can bring comfort and safety to your home. Some of these objects are also a snap to add and can be found in the Target or Walmart:

Fire Extinguisher: A fire can come from from an unwatched frying pan or an errant grease splatter. Always store a fire extinguisher at hand for any stove or oven emergencies.
Circuit Interrupter Box On Each Outlet: A GFCI outlet should be standard anywhere they’re by running water to lessen the chance of a deadly shock. That includes the plug outlets close to your kitchen counter and sink. Since 1987, it’s been code to have one GFCI per dedicated circuit. But if you don’t want your whole kitchen to turn off when one outlet surges, you’re going to want to have a separate GFCI for every outlet.

Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is handy in the kitchen if you have a gas oven and range. If your gas lines malfunction, the carbon monoxide detector will emit a high-decibel sound and call your monitoring professional.
Clorox Wipes Or Spray: The most overlooked safety problem in the kitchen is the invisible bacteria and cross-contamination from raw meat and other foods. Always store cleaning wipes or a bleach spray to clean your area when making a meal.
Freezer and Refrigerator Alarm: The milk, meat, and perishables in the fridge have to remain at a cold temperature to stay safe to consume. If you leave the freezer or refrigerator door open too long, then an alarm beep will tell you to check the seal. Some fridges come with a pre-installed alarm, some don’t, and you’ll have to get a fridge alarm from the store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Toledo

Just because there’s not a bunch of room in your bathroom there’s still safety hazards. From flood detectors to medicine care, here are some safety tips for your bathroom:

Flood Sensors: A leaking toilet or bathtub can lead to extensive damage. Get alerted early about leaks with a flood detector before they bring about hundreds of dollars in renovations.
No-slip Shower Mats: A fall in the bathroom can be a painful occurrence, causing cuts, bruises, or trips to the hospital. Make sure you steer clear from these hazards with a textured bathroom mat for while you towel off.

Non-slip Bathtub Strips: Like a tiled floor, a tub basin can be a slick place to move in. It’s a good idea that each has some no-slip strips so your feet have a rough patch for stability.

Medicine Door Latch: If you have little toddlers or a family member with memory lapses, you should take additional attention regarding prescribed medicine. Secure your bottles by using a medicine cabinet with a child-proof lock.

GFCI Circuits: Just like the kitchen, you will have to also use a grounded circuit interrupter outlet on every bathroom outlet. These will shut off the electric current if they ever get wet or there’s a sudden jolt from a hair dryer or curling iron.

Child’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Toledo

A child’s bedroom should balance safety with accessibility. If their window shades or other items are safe but difficult to use, then your kids may perform unsafe activities -- like shimmying up a bookshelf -- to use them. Here are 5 simple, and safe, ideas:

Cord-Free Window Coverings: Safety agencies have designated corded window treatments a hidden danger for kids and pets. Put in motorized treatments that your child can easily control via remote. Or better yet, pair your motorized treatments to your security system so they open on a schedule at dawn, and close at night for added darkness.

Tableside Security Camera: A security camera placed on your child’s desk or dresser can double as a baby monitor that you can see with a smartphone. And if they need something, they can hit the two-way talk feature that comes with the camera.

Plug Covers: While every outlet should use covers on them to protect your 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 constant additional supervision.

Window Escape Ladder: If you use bedrooms on the second level, then you will want to put in a window fire ladder. These can help a young one get out of their room even if the stairway or lower levels are on fire. Just remember to rehearse how to employ the ladder one or two times a year.

Toy Chest Or Low Bookshelves: It’s strange to think about a toy chest as a safety item, but you’ll understand if you’ve ever tramped on a building block in your bare feet. A clutter-free floor let your child have a quick escape when there’s an emergency.

Main Bedroom Safety Checklist For Toledo

The master bedroom should be your calm space, so let your safety devices make life easier when you have an emergency event. After all, being wrenched awake by a loud alarm can be disorienting.

Home Security Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your bedside table lets you see what’s going on without getting out of bed. You could always use your ADT mobile app but, the large touchscreen can be easier to manage to use when you’re bleary-eyed and finding your bearings.

Phone Charging Area: We rely on our phones for so many things now alarm clocks, internet searches, games, and sometimes even phones. The only problem is that a dead phone in the middle of the night cuts us off from communications if during an emergency. To make sure your phone always works, a charging cord or station is should be used nightly.

Smart Lights Or Nightlights: A plug-in light can calm you when you’re startled awake from an alarm or other loud noises. If you can’t fall asleep with a small nightlight, put in smart lights in your bedroom. Then you can control light on-demand with a push of a button or voice command.
Fireproof Safe: Keep your vital papers like birth certificates, passports, or a spare checkbook in a fireproof safe. This can be a large one that is located in a corner or a slender portable safe that you can grab when you leave during an emergency event.

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

Garage/Basement Safety Checklist For Toledo

Most safety needs in the garage or basement are with your water heater or heating system. Seeing hazards early can stave away larger emergencies in the future. So, as you take a look around your garage or basement, pay attention to these safety items:

Water Detector Or Sump Pump Alarm: Putting a flood alarm next to your water heater and sump pump drain can prevent you from finding a mess when you step into your garage or basement. Do you really want to lose your day getting rid of standing water?

CO Alarm: It’s beneficial to have a carbon monoxide detector in an area where a CO leak can happen. If you use gas heat, you’ll want to hang a detector in the same room as your HVAC unit.
Wireless Water Shutoff Valve: If your flood detector senses a plumbing leak or a busted pipe, then you will have to cap the main water valve immediately. With a wireless shutoff valve, you can stop water flow from your phone. That’s perfect when you’re on vacation and see a flood sensor text on your smartphone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage door open leads to all types of headaches. You can lose heat or air through that gaping hole, and all sorts of animals or lurkers can just saunder in. A sensor will text you about a forgotten garage door and lets you lower it through the app.
Heat Sensor: A heat sensor in your basement or garage is handy 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 need to have a closer eye on the temp through the ADT mobile app.

Home Perimeter Safety Checklist for Toledo

Your yard, drive, and front step are just as important to make safe as the inside of your home. Try this checklist to defend your perimeter:

Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s knocking on the door before you answer it and talk to guests. See package deliveries and record video clips if they are taken.

Outdoor Security Camera: You can install outdoor cameras to notify you about unusual lurkers in your back yard. These cameras are especially useful in places where you may not have a window -- like around a cellar or by the garage door.

Window Height Shrubs: High bushes can offer some solitude, but they also hinder you seeing into the yard and curb. Don’t provide potential thieves a place to hide. Plus, high bushes or foliage around your home can clog gutters and bring in pests.
ADT Signage: One of the largest deterrents for a thief is telling potential rogues that you have a monitored home security system. An ADT sign by the front door and a window cling will tell people that they ought to keep walking to an easier score.

Motion Activated Outside Lighting: Light is the largest deterrent to those who sneak around in the unlit places. Motion-triggered lighting on your deck, porch, or garage can shoo possible intruders away. Flood lights also help you work the locks when you come to the house late at night.

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

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t deliver non-security devices on your Toledo home safety checklist, we can discuss a customized home security. With easy-to-use devices and ADT monitoring, we can install the best system for your family’s needs. Simply call (419) 359-8479 to get started or fill out the form below. Or customize your own system with our Security System Designer.