Home Safety Checklist For Sioux City

Staying safe and secure in your home should be your number one priority. But are you overlooking some key safety items? Use this home safety checklist for Sioux City and find out where your living space requires greater attention.

We give you a few whole-home safety items, and then we break it down room-by-room. Then, phone (712) 796-2024 or fill out the form below to get your house set up.

Basic Home Safety Checklist for Sioux City

While you will want to employ a room-to-room method for home safety, there are some items that work for the whole-house approach. These components can talk together through a wireless hub, and often can react to other things. You can also control all your home safety equipment using a mobile app, such as ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: Each one of your doors and windows should employ a sensor that notifies you and your family to intrusion. As an alarm trips, your monitoring team responds to the call and calls the police or fire department.

Smart Lighting For Every Major Room: Sure, you can schedule your smart lights to make your house more efficient. But they can also allow you to remain safe in an emergency. Have your lights come on when a security alarm goes off to shoo off burglars or illuminate a path to a outside location.

Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in Sioux City can save you up to 15% in energy costs. It also can turn on an exhaust fan during a fire.

Monitored Smoke Detectors: At the very least, you should have a smoke detector on every level. You can increase your fire preparedness by hanging a monitored fire detector that detects excessive heat and smoke, and pings your 24-hour monitoring agents when it detects a fire.

Smart Locks: Every door that uses a keyed lock can upgrade to a smart lock. Now you can program key codes to family and friends and get notifications to your phone when your locks are used. Your doors can even automatically open, helping you to quickly leave during an emergency.

Family Room/Living Room Safety Checklist For Sioux City

You’ll spend most of your time in your living room, so it’s the perfect area to improve your home safety. Popular items, like your TV or stereo system, typically sit in your living room, making it a popular space for thieves. Begin with hanging a motion sensor or security camera by the doorway, then try all these suggestions:

Motion Detectors: By putting in motion detectors, you’ll hear a shrieking noise anytime they detect unusual motion within your living room. You’ll want motion sensors that ignore a dog or cat or you’ll see an alert every time your pet roams by for a bite of food.
Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera gives you a visual on your family room. Watch live streams of your room so you can know what’s happening from the mobile app. Or chat with family members when they get home from playing by using the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Outlet Maintenance: Safeguard all your electronics and quit overburdening your circuits with a surge protector. For extra comfort, set up a smart plug with anti-surge functionality included.
Furniture Secured To The Wall: If you have babies or toddlers, you’ll want to secure your heavy furniture and entertainment center to the wall. This is extra important if your living room has rugs or carpet that could make objects extra unstable.
Enhanced Locks For Glass Doors: If your living room uses a sliding door that slides out to a deck, patio, or outside porch, you already can see that the latch is usually worthless. Use an enhanced lock, like a cross bar or locks that bolt to the bottom and top of the frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Sioux City

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

Fire Extinguisher: Fire can spring up from an unwatched skillet or a towel that’s too close to a burner. Always keep a fire extinguisher in close reach for any kitchen emergencies.
GFCI Box On Every Outlet: A GFCI outlet should be standard anywhere they’re close to running water to ward off an electric shock. That means the plug outlets close to your sink and kitchen counter. For 30 years, it’s been code to have one GFCI per circuit. But each one of your plugs will go dead if one outlet sees a surge, so try to have a single GFCI for every outlet.

Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is handy in the kitchen if you employ gas for the oven and range. If your gas burners malfunction, the CO detector will cause a loud noise and ping your monitoring center.
Cleaning Wipes Or Spray: The largest safety issue in the kitchen is the viruses, bacteria, and contamination from blood from meat and other foods. Always have antiviral wipes or an antibacterial spray to scrub off your surfaces before and after cooking.
Refrigerator Alarm: The items in your fridge should stay at a chilly temperature to stay healthy to eat. If you accidently leave the freezer or refrigerator door open, then a constant beep will remind you to close the door. Some refrigerators come with an alarm, older models don’t, and you’ll have to get an external alarm from the hardware store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Sioux City

Just because you don’t a lot of square footage in your bathroom doesn’t mean that there aren’t safety hazards. From flood prevention to electric safety, here are some safety ideas for your bathroom:

Flood Detectors: A leaking sink or shower can create a whole lot of destruction. Find leaks early with a flood detector and save a bunch of money from renovations.
Textured Bathroom Mats: A slip in the bathroom can be a painful occurrence, causing cuts, gashed heads, or broken bones. You can avoid these hazards with a non-slip bathroom mat for after your bath or shower.

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

Medicine Door Lock: If you have little children or someone with memory lapses, you have to take additional attention regarding prescribed medicine. Safeguard your bottles by getting a medicine cabinet with a locking latch.

Circuit Interrupter Outlet: Similarly to the kitchen, you should also install a grounded circuit interrupter outlet on every bathroom circuit. This will shut off the current if water enters the outlet or there’s an unusual surge from an electric razor or hair dryer.

Child’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Sioux City

Your child’s bedroom should counterbalance safety with accessibility. If their window treatments or other things are safe but tricky to manage, then your child may perform dangerous activities -- like climb a chest of drawers -- to use them. Try these simple, yet safe, ideas:

Cord-Free Window Coverings: Safety professionals have identified window treatment cords an unsuspecting hazard for both children and pets. Install motorized shades that you can easily open and close via remote control. Or go state-of-the-art and link your shades to your ADT smart hub so they rise automatically when the sun comes up, and lower at night for an easier sleep.

Tableside Security Camera: An indoor security camera sitting on your child’s desk can act like a high tech baby monitor that you can watch with a smartphone. And if they need something, they can push the 2-way talk feature on the camera.

Outlet Plug Covers: While every outlet should have outlet safety caps on them to protect your little children, this is especially urgent in a child’s bedroom. It’s the one room in your home where your children will most likely hang out by themselves without consistent additional supervision.

Window Safety Ladder: If you use bedrooms on an upper level, then you should put in a window fire ladder. These should let a young one get out of their room in case the stairs or lower levels are blocked off with fire. Remember to go over how to unfurl them one or two times a year.

Toy Chest Or Low Shelves: It’s strange to think about a toy box as a safety component, but you’ll get it if you’ve ever stepped on a Lego in your bare feet. A uncluttered floor means a quick retreat during a safety or security event.

Master Bedroom Safety Checklist For Sioux City

The main bedroom should be an oasis, so let your safety components make life easier if there's an emergency. After all, being jerked awake by a loud siren can be confusing.

Home Security Touchscreen: Having a smart hub on your bedside table helps you know what’s what that noise was without getting out of bed. You could also log into your ADT mobile app. However, the HD touchscreen is often easier to control to use when you’re coming out of sleep and finding your bearings.

Phone Charging Area: We depend on our phones for so much now alarms, news readers, social media, and --legend has it-- even phones. However, a dead phone in the middle of the night cuts us off from reaching help if something goes wrong. To make sure your phone always works, a an easy-to-use charging station is should be used nightly.

Smart Lights Or Nightlights: A small light helps ground you when you’re bolted awake from a siren or other loud noises. If you can’t fall asleep with a small nightlight, install a smart bulb in your fixtures. Then you can have light anytime with a button push or vocal command.
Fireproof Lockbox: Stash your important papers like insurance cards, passports, or banking information in a fireproof lockbox. This can be a big one that sits out of the way or a slender portable lockbox that you can grab as you escape during a fire or other emergency.

Temperature Sensor: The issue with a master bedroom is that they tend to run too hot or be chilly because they are located far away from the thermostat. A heat sensor can communicate to your smart thermostat so you will have a nice, restful sleep at just the right temperature.

Garage/Basement Safety Checklist For Sioux City

Most safety needs in the garage or basement have to do with your water or furnace. Finding issues at the source can prevent more devastating problems in the future. So, as you look around your basement or garage, check over these crucial items:

Flood Detector Or Sump Pump Alarm: Placing a flood alarm next to your water heater or sump pump drain can prevent you from discovering a lake when you walk into your basement or garage. Do you really want to waste your day bailing out water?

CO Detector: It’s beneficial to install a carbon monoxide detector in a place where a gas leak can spring up. If you use a gas furnace, you’ll want to hang a detector in the same place as your HVAC unit.
Wireless Water Shutoff Valve: If your flood detector detects a hot water heater leak or a busted pipe, then you will have to cap the main water valve quickly. With a WiFi shutoff valve, you can stop water flow from your phone. That’s helpful when you’re visiting relatives and see an emergency leak alert on your phone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage up brings about all types of issues. You can lose a bunch of heat through that open door, and critters or intruders can just walk in. A remote sensor will text you about a forgotten garage door and lets you close it with your phone.
Temperature Sensor: A temperature sensor in your garage or basement is essential if you worry about freezing pipes. The heat in these areas can be surprisingly different than your main rooms of the home, so you will need to have a constant look on the temp by using your mobile app.

Home Perimeter Safety Checklist for Sioux City

Your front yard, driveway, and front porch are just as important to make safe 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 the front step before you open it and chat with guests. View package deliveries and review video clips if they vanish off the step.

Outdoor Security Camera: You can place outdoor cameras to notify you about late night lurkers in your yard. These security cameras are nice in areas where you might not have a view -- like a side yard or by the garage.

Window Height Bushes: Overgrown foliage can create some serenity, but they also block your line of sight of the outside. Don’t offer potential intruders a place to hide. Plus, high shrubs or greenery against your home can jam up gutters and summon pests.
ADT Signs And Decals: One of the biggest disincentives for home intrusion is alerting aspiring rogues that you have an updated security system. An ADT sign by the front door and a window cling will show lurkers that they might want to shove off to an easier score.

Motion Triggered Flood Lighting: Light is the best enemy to those who sneak around in the dark. Motion-triggered flood lights on your deck, patio, or garage can help scare possible intruders away. They also help you get inside when you arrive to the house late after work.

Use Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You With Your Home Safety Checklist for Sioux City

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t deliver each household item on your Sioux City home safety checklist, we can bring you a state-of-the-art home security. With everything from alarms to thermostats, we can install the best system for your family’s needs. Simply contact (712) 796-2024 and talk to a professional or complete the form below. Or customize your own ADT system with our Security System Designer.