Home Safety Checklist For Orange County

Being safe and secure in your home should be your largest priority. But are you missing some key safety items? Look over this home safety checklist for Orange County and see where your house can use some work.

We give you a few whole-home safety items, and then we delve down on a room level. Then, phone (714) 475-2212 or send in the form below for additional information.

Basic Home Safety Checklist for Orange County

While you should employ a room-by-room approach to home safety, there are a few items that work for multiple rooms. These components can link with one another through a smart hub, and can even work off other components. You might also control every one of your home safety equipment through a mobile app, such as ADT Control:

Monitored Security System: Each one of your windows and doors should use a sensor that warns you to forced entry. As your alarm triggers, your monitoring center responds to the alert and immediately contacts emergency personnel.

Smart Bulbs For Each Room: Of course, you can program your smart lighting to become more eco-conscience. But smart lights can also allow you to keep safe throughout an emergency. Make your downstairs lights come on when an alarm goes off to shoo off robbers or light the way out to a safe place.

Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in Orange County can save you up to 15% in energy spending. It also can turn on an exhaust fan when your alarms senses a fire.

Monitored Fire Alarms: It’s code that you have a smoke detector on every level of your house. You can improve your fire game by installing a monitored fire alarm that looks for both heat and smoke, and alerts your round-the-clock monitoring experts when it detects a fire.

Smart Locks: Every entryway that needs a keyed lock can upgrade to a smart door lock. Now you can assign key codes to friends and family and receive alerts to your smartphone when your locks are unlocked. Your smart lock can even automatically open, letting you quickly get out if you have an emergency.

Family Room/Living Room Safety Checklist For Orange County

You’ll spend most of your time in your living room, so it’s the most reasonable area to improve your home safety. Popular items, like a big screen or video game console, usually reside in your living room, making it an alluring space for robbers. Start with hanging a motion detector or indoor camera by the doorway, then continue on with the following ideas:

Motion Detectors: By hanging motion sensors, you’ll hear a loud siren whenever they sense unusual motion in your living room. The best devices are motion sensors that aren’t set off by pets or you’ll see your sirens go off every time your cat roams by for a drink of water.
Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera gives you a visual on your family room. Get constant feeds of your room so you can know what’s going on through the mobile app. Or talk with your kids in the family room by using the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Outlet Maintenance: Make sure you protect those electronics and stop overloading your circuits with a surge protector. For additional comfort, set up a smart plug with a surge protector in the unit.
Furniture Bolted To The Wall: If you have curious kids, you’ll need to secure your bookshelves and entertainment center to your wall. This is extra important if your living room has rugs or carpet that can make heavy objects extra wobbly.
Special Locks For Sliding Doors: If your family room has a glass door that opens to a deck, patio, or outside porch, you probably know that the latch is fairly worthless. Install a custom lock, like a bottom bar or small locks that bolt to the bottom and top of the opening.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Orange County

Your kitchen has room for items that should provide safety to your home. Most of these things should be easy to add and can be found in the a retail store:

Fire Extinguisher: A fire can come from from an unwatched skillet or a towel that’s too close to a burner. Always keep a fire extinguisher at hand for any cooking mishaps.
GFCI Box On Every Outlet: A circuit interrupter outlet should be installed everywhere they’re close to water to ward off a deadly shock. That means the plug outlets around your kitchen counter and sink. For 30 years, it’s been standard to have one circuit interrupter outlet per dedicated circuit. But if you don’t want your whole kitchen to flip off when one outlet trips, you’ll want to install an unchained GFCI per outlet.

Monitored CO Detector: A CO detector is handy in the kitchen if you have gas for the oven and range. If your gas lines spring a leak, the CO detector will play a loud, buzzing sound and ping your monitoring expert.
Disinfectant Wipes Or Spray: The biggest safety issue in the kitchen is the invisible bacteria and cross-contamination that comes with blood from meat and other foods. Always keep antiviral wipes or an antibacterial spray to sanitize your area before and after preparing food.
Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The items in your fridge need to stay at a cold temperature to stay safe to eat. If you leave the refrigerator door ajar, then a constant beep will tell you to check the seal. Some fridges come with an alarm, others do not, and you’ll have to buy an external alarm from online.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Orange County

Just because you may not have a bunch of room in your bathroom there’s still safety hazards. From water problems to electric safety, here are five safety ideas for your bathroom:

Flood Detectors: A leaking toilet or tub can cause extensive damage. Get alerted early about leaks with a flood detector before they cause hundreds of dollars in renovations.
No-slip Bath Mats: A fall in the bathroom can be a painful occurrence, causing pulled muscles, gashed heads, or broken bones. You can steer clear from these problems with a textured bath mat for your wet feet.

Non-slip Bathtub Stickers: Like a tiled floor, a tub can be a slick surface to move in. It’s a good idea that every tub has some textured stickies so your toes have a bumpy patch to grip.

Medicine Door Lock: If you have young children or anyone with memory lapses, you have to take extra precautions regarding medicine. Hide away your pills and syrups by using a medicine cabinet with a latch that locks.

GFCI Circuits: Similarly to the kitchen, you will have to also put in a grounded circuit interrupter outlet on each bathroom circuit. These will cut the electricity if water enters the outlet or they experience a sudden surge from a curling iron or hair dryer.

Kid’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Orange County

Your kid’s bedroom should balance safety with manageability. If their window coverings or other things are safe but difficult to use, then your children may try unsafe activities -- like shimmying up a bookshelf -- to use them. Try these easy, yet safe, ideas:

Cordless Window Treatments: Safety professionals have designated corded window treatments a secret problem for both children and pets. Use motorized treatments that kids can easily open and close with a remote. Or even better, pair your motorized coverings to your ADT smart hub so they open without anyone’s help when it’s time to get up, and close at bedtime for extra privacy.

Indoor Security Camera: A camera sitting on your kid’s desk can behave just like a high tech baby monitor that you can see with your phone. And if they want something, they can push the intercom talk button on the camera.

Outlet Covers: While each outlet should have covers on them for your little children, this is especially important in a child’s bedroom. It’s the main place in your home where your toddler will most likely be alone without constant adult supervision.

Window Fire Ladder: If you use bedrooms on the second story, then you need to install a window safety ladder. These will help your children leave the house even if the stairway or ground floor are on fire. Make sure to go over how to unfurl the ladder a few times a year.

Toy Chest Or Low Shelves: It’s strange to view a toy box as a safety item, but you’ll understand if you’ve ever stepped on an action figure in your bare feet. A clutter-free floor let your child have a quick way out when there’s a fire or break-in.

Master Bedroom Safety Checklist For Orange County

The main bedroom should be a refuge, so let your safety components give you peace of mind if there's an emergency event. After all, being jerked awake by a high-decibel alarm can be disorienting.

Smart Hub Touchscreen: Having a smart hub on your nightstand gives you a sense of what’s happening without jumping out of bed. You could alternatively log into your ADT smartphone app. However, the large touchscreen may be easier to control to use when you’re yawning and finding your bearings.

Phone Charging Area: We use our cell phones for so many things now alarm clocks, internet searches, game machines, and maybe even phones. The only problem is that a dead phone can cut us off from communications if something goes wrong. To keep it nice and ready, a charging station or cord becomes an essential.

Nightlights Or Voice Activated Smart Lights: A tiny light can be a beacon when you’re bolted awake from a siren or other loud sounds. If you have trouble falling asleep with a nightlight, install a smart bulb in your fixtures. Then you can get light anytime with a button push or voice direction.
Fireproof Lockbox: Store your vital papers like insurance cards, medical information, or a bankbook in a fireproof safe. Your safe can be a large one that camps out in a corner or a slender portable lockbox that you can carry when you leave during an emergency event.

Temperature Sensor: The problem with most bedrooms is that they might feel too hot or be frigid because they sit far away from the thermostat. A temperature sensor will talk to your smart thermostat so you can have a pleasant, peaceful sleep at the perfect climate.

Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For Orange County

Most safety problems in the garage or basement have to do with your water or furnace. Seeing hazards early can stave away bigger disasters later on. So, as you look around your garage or basement, check over these critical items:

Water Sensor Or Sump Pump Alarm: Placing a flood alarm by your water heater or sump pump drain can stop you from finding a pond when you walk into your garage or basement. Do you really want to waste your day drying the floor?

CO Alarm: It’s smart to install a carbon monoxide detector in a place where a natural gas leak can happen. If you have gas heating, you’ll want to hang an alarm in the same area as your HVAC unit.
WiFi Water Shutoff Valve: If your water alarm senses a hot water leak or a burst pipe, then you will want to cut off the primary water line quickly. With a WiFi shutoff valve, you can block water flow from anywhere in the world. That’s nice when you’re out of town and get an emergency leak text on your mobile device.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage open causes all types of issues. You can lose heat or air through that open door, and critters or intruders can just wander in. A sensor will notify you about an open garage door and lets you lower it with your phone.
Temperature Sensor: A temperature alarm in your garage or basement is handy if you wonder about your pipes freezing. The temperature in these rooms can be wildly different than the rest of the home, so you may want to have a closer eye on them through the ADT mobile app.

Home Perimeter Safety Checklist for Orange County

Your foliage, driveway, and front porch are just as important to secure as the inside of your house. Use this checklist to defend your perimeter:

Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s knocking on the door before you open it and talk to guests. Get a visual on 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 movement in your back yard. These devices are nice in areas where you may not have a window installed -- like around a cellar or by the garage door.

Low Shrubbery: High foliage can offer some serenity, but they also hinder you seeing into the outside. Don’t offer potential intruders a dark shadow to hide. Plus, tall bushes, shrubs or foliage around your structure can jam up gutters and summon bugs.
ADT Signage: One of the most popular discouragements for home intrusion is advertising to potential rogues that you use a state-of-the-art ADT security system. An ADT sign by the main walk and a window sticker will tell lurkers that they might want to keep walking to an less prepared score.

Motion Activated Outside Light Fixtures: Light is the greatest obstacle to people who sneak around in the dark. Motion-controlled lights on your deck, patio, or garage can help scare lurkers away. Lights also help you work the locks when you come back home late at night.

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

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t deliver every item on your Orange County home safety checklist, we can discuss a customized home security system. With everything from alarms to thermostats, we can install the perfect system for your house’s needs. Simply phone (714) 475-2212 for more information or send in the form below. Or personalize your own solution with our Security System Designer.