Having a safe home is a top priority for most, but it might be overwhelming to find the best ways to secure your home. There are many factors to consider when deciding on home security, here is 10 home safety tips to help keep you and your family safe. improve the overall safety of your home.
1. Install a Home Security System
A home security system can do more than just detect intruders; it also can detect fire, smoke, carbon monoxide, and water leaks. If there's a problem, a good home security system also will place an automated call to a central monitoring service, first responders, or the occupant of the home or someone the occupant designates.
2. Check Home Insurance
A good homeowners insurance policy can’t prevent losses, but they can limit the financial consequences. The key is to work with your insurance company or agent to make sure your coverage is adequate.
3. Store Hazardous Substances Safely
You probably have some hazardous substances around your home. Those could be obvious things like paint thinner or gasoline for your lawn mower, but they go far beyond that. For example, dishwasher detergent pods or laundry pods can be fatal if swallowed. In addition, antifreeze tastes sweet to your pets, but can make them sick or kill them.
4. Dispose of Expired or Unused Medications
An accident that involves ingesting prescription medications is called unintentional poisoning. A lot of these are preventable.
5. Remove clutter and debris from Around Your House
Dry dead bush, leaves, and flammable materials put your home at risk of fire, containers keeping stale water attract disease insects etc.
6. Inspect and Replace Water Feed Lines
Those short, flexible water lines that connect your toilets, washing machine, and dishwasher to the main water lines in your home need to be inspected often and replaced every five years. Replace them with braided stainless steel hoses instead of less expensive plastic ones that won't last as long.
7. Improve the Lighting Around Your Home
Lighting should be a key consideration for anyone who wants to improve the safety of their home. Outdoor lighting around the perimeter of a house can help illuminate potential intruders so they don’t go unseen. This can deter burglars from targeting a property, since they usually look for dark and quiet homes that are easier to get in and out of without being seen. Lighting literally shines a light on intruders which will enhance their facial features on security cameras, increasing the chance of them being identified by relevant authorities.
8. Add Some Security Cameras
Security cameras deter intruders because they hate security cameras. Cameras don’t have to be fancy or expensive. For example, one of the reasons for the popularity of doorbell cameras from Ring, Nest, and other companies is that they're easy to set up and install while still being effective. They contain sensors that can detect the presence of a person, and they can work in very low light and use infrared so you can see who's in front of your house at night. Many security cameras also have a microphone and speaker so you can talk to someone within the camera's field of view. Security cameras work with your smartphone so you can monitor them whether you’re home or not, and they can store images and videos for use by law enforcement.
9. Test Your Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
That low-battery alarm in your fire alarms and carbon detectors is annoying for a reason, those devices need fresh batteries to work, and when they’re working they’re able to save lives. Getting internet-connected smoke detectors is even better because they can alert you if you’re not home and even can contact the fire department. Smart carbon monoxide detectors can alert you to the presence of the colorless, odorless, and poisonous gas that results from the use of devices such as space heaters and generators.
10. Get To Know Your Neighbors
One of the best things you can do to improve home safety costs nothing at all. Getting to know your neighbors and developing a strong community on your street will benefit everyone. Getting to know your neighbors also means you can help each other out with occupancy cues, which is another useful way to deter intruders.
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