Home Safety Checklist For Muncie

Staying safe and secure in your residence should be your largest responsibility. But are you forgetting a few big safety items? Look over this home safety checklist for Muncie and find out where your house can use an update.

This guide starts with a few whole-home safety items, and then we break it down room-by-room. Then, contact (765) 221-8081 or send in the form below to speak to a security professional.

General Home Safety Checklist for Muncie

While you will want to take a room-by-room process for home safety, there are some things that work for all of your rooms. These components can link to each other through a wireless hub, and can even respond to one another. You might also manage all your home safety components with a smartphone app, such as ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: Each one of your windows and doors should have a sensor that notifies you to a break-in. As the alarm goes off, your monitoring expert picks up the alert and calls a first responder.

Smart Lighting For Each Room: Sure, you can set your smart lighting to make your home more energy-efficient. But smart lights can also help you stay safe during an emergency. Make your downstairs lights flash on when a security alarm triggers to scare off burglars or light your way to a secure location.

Smart Thermostat: Like your smart lights, a smart thermostat in Muncie can save you 10%-15% in utility costs. But it also can start your exhaust fan if you have a fire.

Monitored Fire Detectors: At the very least, you need to have a fire detector on each level of your house. You can improve your fire readiness by installing a monitored fire detector that detects both smoke and heat, and pings your round-the-clock monitoring agents when it thinks that there’s a fire.

Smart Lock For Every Door: Every doorway that uses a deadbolt can use a smart door lock. Now you may set codes to friends and family and get texts to your phone when they are used. Your locks can even automatically turn off, helping you to quickly leave when you have a fire or dangerous situation.

Family Room/Living Room Safety Checklist For Muncie

You’ll spend a lot of time in your family room, so it’s the most reasonable area to start making your house more secure. Electronics, like your TV or video games, usually sit in your family room, making it a popular space for burglars. Begin with installing a motion sensor or indoor camera in there, then take a look at some of these ideas:

Motion Sensors: By putting in motion sensors, you’ll have a high-decibel noise whenever they detect unexpected movement within your living room. Look for motion sensors that filter out a dog or cat or you’ll have a tripped alarm every time your dog roams by for a drink of water.
Indoor Camera: An indoor security camera puts a constant watch on your family room. Watch constant feeds of everything so you can find out what’s happening from the mobile app. Or talk with your family when they come home from school using the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Protect all your electronics and stop overloading your outlets with a surge protector. For extra comfort, use a smart plug with a surge protector built-in.
Furniture Secured To The Wall: If you have curious kids, you’ll want to secure your heavy furniture and entertainment center to a wall. This is especially crucial if your family room uses carpet that could make objects extra unbalanced.
Enhanced Locks For Sliding Glass Doors: If your family room has a sliding door that slides out to a backyard, deck, or screened-in porch, you can see that the latch is pretty thin. Install an enhanced lock, like a metal bar or small locks that secures the door to the bottom and top of the opening.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Muncie

Your kitchen has many items that can add safety to your home. Most of these items should be simple to add and can be bought from the grocery store:

Fire Extinguisher: A fire can spring up from an overfilled frying pan or an errant grease splatter. Always keep a fire extinguisher in close reach for any kitchen emergencies.
Circuit Interrupter Box On Every Outlet: A GFCI outlet should be installed anywhere they’re by running water to lessen the chance of electrocution. That means the plug outlets around your kitchen counter and sink. For 30 years, it’s been code to have one circuit interrupter outlet per dedicated circuit. But for simplicity’s sake, you’re going to want to install a separate GFCI per outlet.

Monitored CO Detector: A CO detector is recommended for the kitchen if you have gas for the oven and stove. If your gas lines malfunction, the CO detector will emit a loud siren and contact your monitoring professional.
Disinfectant Wipes Or Spray: The most overlooked safety hazard in the kitchen is actually bacteria and protein from raw meat and dairy. Always keep antiviral wipes or a bleach spray to clean your surfaces before and after cooking.
Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The items in your fridge have to stay at a cold temperature to be safe to consume. If you leave the fridge or freezer door open too long, then a constant beep will remind you to shut it securely. Some appliances come with a pre-installed alarm, older models do not, and you’ll have to buy a fridge alarm from the store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Muncie

Just because you may not have a lot of room in your bathroom doesn’t mean that there aren’t safety hazards. From flood prevention to anti-surge outlets, here are some safety tips for your bathroom:

Flood Sensors: A leaking sink or bathtub can create a whole lot of destruction. Find a leak with a flood detector before they generate hundreds of dollars in damage.
Textured Bathroom Mats: A fall in the bathroom can be a painful occurrence, causing cuts, bruises, or trips to the hospital. Make sure you prevent these problems with a no-slip bathroom mat for after your bath or shower.

Textured Bathtub Strips: Likewise, a tub can be a slippery area to stand in. Make sure each tub has some non-slip strips so your feet have a rough patch to grip.

Medicine Door Latch: If you have curious children or a family member with memory lapses, you need to take extra precautions regarding prescribed medicine. Safeguard your pills and syrups by getting a medicine cabinet with a child-proof lock.

Circuit Interrupter Outlet: While installing better outlets in the kitchen, you should also install a safer circuit interrupter outlet on every bathroom outlet. These will shut off the electric current if water splashes on them or they experience a harmful surge from an electric razor or hair dryer.

Children’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Muncie

Your kid’s bedroom should pair safety with accessibility. If their window shades or other items are safe but hard to manage, then your children may try risky activities -- like scale a chest of drawers -- to open them. Try these simple, yet safe, ideas:

Cordless Window Coverings: Safety professionals have long called cords from shades and blinds a secret danger for children and animals. Put in motorized treatments that your child can easily manage through a remote control. Or even better, connect your motorized coverings to your security system so they can raise automatically when it’s time to get up, and lower at bedtime for an easier sleep.

Indoor Security Camera: A camera placed on your child’s dresser can behave just like an HD baby monitor that you can see with a mobile device. And when they need you, they can use the two-way talk button that comes with the camera.

Plug Covers: While each outlet should have covers on them for your young children, this is especially needed in their bedroom. It’s the one room in your house where your children will most likely be alone without adult supervision.

Window Safety Ladder: If you use bedrooms on an upper story, then you should install a window fire ladder. These should help a child get out of their room in case the stairway or lower levels are blocked off with fire. Remember to go over how to employ them at least twice a year.

Toy Chest Or Low Bookshelves: It’s interesting to think about a toy chest as a safety device, but you’ll get it if you’ve ever walked on a Lego in your bare feet. A clean floor gives your child a quick escape during an emergency.

Main Bedroom Safety Checklist For Muncie

The master bedroom should be a refuge, so let your safety items give you peace of mind if you have an emergency event. After all, being startled awake by a loud alarm can be quite a shock.

Home Security Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your bedside table gives you a sense of what’s happening without leaving your bed. You could also log into your ADT mobile app but, the large touchscreen may be easier to use to use when you’re coming out of sleep and confused.

Device Charging Area: We depend on our smartphones for so many things now alarm clocks, internet searches, game machines, and maybe even phones. However, an uncharged phone can cut us off from reaching help if something goes wrong. So, a charging cord or station becomes should be used nightly.

Nightlights Or Voice Activated Smart Lights: A tiny light helps ground you when you’re jolted awake from an alarm or other loud noises. If you can’t fall asleep with a nightlight, install smart lights in your fixtures. Then you can control light on-demand with a mobile device or voice direction.
Fireproof Safe: Stash your essential papers like insurance cards, stock certificates, or a bankbook in a fireproof safe. Your lockbox can be a bigger one that camps out in your closet or a smaller portable lockbox that you can grab on your way out during an emergency event.

Heat Sensor: The drawback with a master bedroom is that they can run too stuffy or be cold because they sit across the house from the thermostat. A temperature sensor will communicate to your smart thermostat so you should have a comfortable, relaxing sleep at the perfect temperature.

Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For Muncie

Most safety needs in the basement or garage have to do with your pipes or furnace. Seeing problems at the source can prevent larger disasters in the future. So, as you take a look around your garage or basement, take note of these safety items:

Flood Sensor Or Sump Pump Alarm: Placing a flood alarm in back of your water heater or sump pump drain can stop you from discovering a mess when you walk into your garage or basement. The last you need is to spend the weekend bailing out water and going through all those storage boxes.

Carbon Monoxide Alarm: It’s beneficial to install a CO detector in a place where a CO leak can happen. If you use a gas furnace, you’ll want to hang a detector in the same area as your inbound pipes.
Wireless Water Shutoff Valve: If your flood alarm finds a plumbing leak or a busted pipe, then you will have to cut off the main water valve immediately. With a wireless shutoff valve, you can block water flow from your phone. That’s helpful when you’re visiting relatives and see an emergency leak text on your phone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage up brings about all types of problems. You can lose a bunch of heat through that large opening, and all sorts of animals or thieves can just saunder in. A sensor will alert you to an open garage door and allow you to close it remotely.
Temperature Sensor: A heat alarm in your basement or garage is handy if you wonder about freezing pipes. The temperature in these areas can be wildly different than the main part of the home, so you will need to have a closer eye on the temp by using your mobile app.

Outside Safety Checklist for Muncie

Your landscaping, drive, and front step are just as imperative to make safe as the rest of your house. Use this checklist to defend your perimeter:

Doorbell Camera: See who’s arrived at the door before you open it and welcome visitors. See package deliveries and review video clips if they vanish off the step.

Outdoor Camera: You can install outdoor security cameras to guard against unusual movement in your yard. These devices are especially useful in areas where you may not have a view -- like around a cellar or by the garage door.

Low Shrubs: High bushes can give you some serenity, but they also obscure your line of sight of the yard. Don’t offer potential thieves a dark shadow to hide. Plus, large bushes, shrubs or foliage around your house can jam up gutters and summon ants and termites.
ADT Signs And Decals: One of the biggest discouragements for home intrusion is telling aspiring intruders that you own a state-of-the-art home security system. An ADT sign by the stoop and a window decal will alert people that they might want to shove off to an easier target.

Motion Activated Porch Light Fixtures: Light is the best deterrent to people who skulk in the shadows. Motion-activated lighting on your deck, porch, or garage can shoo possible intruders away. Lights also help you see the walk when you get home on those dark, winter nights.

Call Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You Finish Your Home Safety Checklist for Muncie

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t help you with each household item on your Muncie home safety checklist, we can bring you a powerful home security. With everything from alarms to thermostats, we can install the best system for your home’s needs. Just contact (765) 221-8081 and talk to a professional or complete the form below. Or customize your own ADT system with our Security System Designer.