The home is a place where you and your family members should feel the safest and most comfortable. Homes should be safe havens and sanctuaries so why not do everything you can to make this true and keep you and your family as safe as possible. Below are some of the best ways you can keep your family safer in your home.
Lock Your Doors and Windows: This may sound like a no-brainer when it comes to home safety, but you would be surprised at how many people often forget to do this. Ensuring that you have solid, working locks on your doors and windows is the first step to keeping your family safe. Lock your doors and windows anytime you are not in the house and at night especially. Think about opting for a deadbolt on your front door as well as a keyed lock for added security. If your windows are older and do not all lock properly, you may want to consider getting new replacement windows for your home. New windows have upgraded, secure locking systems and will ensure the safety of your family and home.
Use Advanced Security Features: If you want to really enhance the security of your home and family members, consider adding an alarm system to your entranceways. With alarm systems installed, only those you choose to give it to will have access to the security codes. Some systems also offer password-protected lock on your doors, where a code must be punched into a keypad in order to gain access into the house. This may be preferred by homeowners who don’t want to deal with the hassle of keys, or for those who often lose and misplace keys. Another secure option for home entry to replace keys and keypads are biometric devices. These are devices such as fingerprint scanners that allow only members of your household to enter your home by scanning their fingerprints. These devices are very secure and cannot be tampered with. This is especially a great choice if you work from home and have other employees or clients entering and exiting your home during the day.
Install Working Alarms: The alarms we are referring to here are fire alarms and carbon monoxide alarms. You should have at least two of each installed in your home, one of each on the upper most floor and one of each in the basement, preferably close to where the furnace is placed. If you want to be extra careful, install a fire and CO alarm on every level of the house. Ensure that these alarms have working batteries installed and do a battery test once a month to ensure they are still working. If the alarms do not go off during the battery test then be sure to replace the old batteries with new ones right away. Having working alarms can save you and your family from any dangerous situations involving fires or carbon monoxide leaks, especially during the night when everyone is asleep.
Unplug Unused Appliances: An important safety measure to take when you are leaving the house is to unplug any unused appliances that can pose a safety hazard. These are things such as irons and toasters. As well, be sure that your oven and dryer are turned off as well. Many house fires have started from appliances like these left unattended. Another great way to stay safe at home is to make sure that your outlets are not overcrowded. This can cause circuits to blow or spark, which could cause dangerous electrical fires. These fires are dangerous because often times they start behind the walls and are not detected until it’s too late. Keeping unused appliances unplugged can prevent this from happening.
Check Your House for Mould: Household mould is a health and safety hazard for any household. Mould often occurs in places where there is a lot of moisture build-up, such as the bathroom. Check you house on a regular basis for any possible mould – especially in the bathrooms and basement. If you do happen to find some typical mold in these areas, it usually can be cleaned with hot water and dish soap or detergent. Once it is cleaned and dried, consider repainting those areas with a mould-resistant paint. This is especially useful in bathrooms where it is hard to always keep the moisture content down. If you happen to come across any other suspicious mould in the house or large amounts of it, call in a professional to check it out. Some moulds cannot only affect your breathing and allergies, but can be very toxic.
Author Bio
Adelaide Irene is a freelance writer with interest in home improvements and eco-friendly living. She also works with eco-friendly windows and doors …spreading the green love.
One thing to remember when looking at locking doors and windows is to make sure that in an emergency (such as a fire) you can easily unlock doors to get out
Agreed re: Brian – a working fire alarm is extremely important but it goes hand in hand with the ability to easily and quickly get out of the house should the alarm ever go off. I suppose going OTT with locks on doors in some respects could be dangerous.