Home Safety Checklist For Fort Collins

Being safe in your house should be your largest responsibility. But are you forgetting some key safety items? Take this home safety checklist for Fort Collins and find out where your house requires an update.

This guide starts with five whole-house safety ideas, and then we delve down to specific room ideas. Then, call (970) 316-5674 or send in the form below for additional information.

General Home Safety Checklist for Fort Collins

While you will want to employ a individual room method for home safety, there are a few items that work for the whole-house approach. These items can link together through a smart hub, and can even react to one another. You might also manage every one of your home safety components using a mobile security app, like ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: All your entryways should use a sensor that notifies you and your family to forced entry. As an alarm goes off, your monitoring agent responds to the alert and contacts a first responder.

Smart Bulbs For Most Rooms: Sure, you can schedule your smart lighting to make your house more energy-efficient. But smart lights can also allow you to stay safe in an emergency. Make your lights come on when an alarm trips to frighten off intruders or light a path to a secure location.

Smart Thermostat: Like your smart lights, a smart thermostat in Fort Collins can save you up to 15% in gas and electric costs. It also can flip on the exhaust fan during a fire.

Monitored Fire Detectors: At the very least, you have a smoke detector on each level of your house. You can improve your fire readiness by installing a monitored fire detector that senses both heat and smoke, and alerts your 24/7 monitoring agents when it senses a fire.

Smart Locks: Every entryway that utilizes a keyed lock can use a smart door lock. Now you can assign key codes to friends and family and receive alerts to your mobile device when your locks are activated. Your doors can even automatically turn off, allowing you to quickly get out when you have an emergency.

Family Room Safety Checklist For Fort Collins

You’ll hang out most in your family room, so it can be the best place to start making your home more secure. Electronics, like your TV or video games, usually reside in your family room, making it a tempting area for thieves. Start with placing a motion detector or indoor security camera in your room, then take a look at the following safety protocols:

Motion Sensors: By hanging motion sensors, you’ll hear a high-decibel noise anytime they detect unexpected motion in your family room. The best devices are motion sensors that filter out pet movements or you’ll get an alert each time your pet roams by for a drink of water.
Indoor Camera: An indoor security camera gives you a constant watch on your family room. Watch live feeds of your room so you can find out what’s going on through the mobile app. Or speak with your kids in the room by using the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Safeguard expensive electronics and stop overtaxing your outlets with a surge protector. For extra comfort, use a smart plug with surge protection built-in.
Heavy Furniture Attached To The Wall: If you have curious kids, you’ll need to attach your bookshelves and entertainment center to your wall. This is especially important if your living room has carpeting that could make furniture extra unbalanced.
Enhanced Locks For Sliding Doors: If your living room has a glass door that slides out to a patio, deck, or outside porch, you probably get that the door lock is pretty flimsy. Install a custom lock, like a bottom bar or locks that bolt to the top and bottom of the opening.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Fort Collins

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

Fire Extinguisher: Fire can happen from an overfilled pot or a faulty burner. Always store a fire extinguisher at hand for any cooking mishaps.
Circuit Interrupter Box On Each Outlet: A GFCI outlet should be standard everywhere they’re close to water to ward off a deadly shock. That means the outlets close to your kitchen counter and sink. Since 1987, it’s been code to have one GFCI per dedicated circuit. But if you don’t want every outlet to go dead when one outlet flips, you’re going to want to have a separate GFCI on each outlet.

Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A CO detector is handy in kitchens that use gas for the oven and range. If your gas appliances leak, the CO detector will emit a loud, buzzing siren and contact your monitoring expert.
Cleaning Wipes Or Spray: The largest safety issue in the kitchen is the invisible bacteria and contamination that comes with uncooked meat and vegetables. Always have cleaning wipes or a bleach spray to sanitize your surfaces after making a meal.
Refrigerator Alarm: The items in your fridge have to remain at a chilly temperature to be ready to use. If you accidently leave the fridge or freezer door open, then a constant beep will let you know so you can close the door. Some refrigerators already have this installed, others do not, and you’ll have to pick up an external alarm from the store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Fort Collins

Just because there’s not a lot of square footage in your bathroom doesn’t mean that there aren’t safety concerns. From flood detectors to anti-surge outlets, here are five safety ideas for your bathroom:

Flood Detectors: A leaking sink or tub can create an expensive amount of damage. Deal with a water problem with a flood detector and save yourself from renovating the entire bathroom.
Non-slip Bathroom Mats: A fall in the bathroom can be devastating, causing bumps, sore joints, or trips to the hospital. You can avoid these hazards with a non-slip bath mat for while you towel off.

Textured Bathtub Strips: Like a tiled floor, a tub basin can be a slippery area to move in. It’s a good idea that each bathtub has some non-slip strips so your feet have a textured patch for stability.

Medicine Door Latch: If you have young toddlers or someone with memory complications, you should take additional care regarding prescription medicine. Secure your prescriptions by installing a medicine cabinet with a locking latch.

GFCI Circuits: While installing better outlets in the kitchen, you will have to also put in a surge protecting circuit interrupter outlet on each bathroom outlet. These will cut the electric current if water splashes on them or they experience a sudden jolt from a curling iron or hair dryer.

Child’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Fort Collins

Your kid’s bedroom should balance safety with manageability. If their window treatments or other things are safe but tricky to operate, then your child may get around the device with unsafe methods -- like shimmying up a chest of drawers -- to open them. Here are 5 simple, yet safe, ideas:

Cordless Window Coverings: Safety experts have identified corded window treatments a secret danger for kids and pets. Use motorized blinds or shades that kids can easily open and close via remote control. Or better yet, connect your motorized treatments to your ADT smart hub so they can raise on a schedule at dawn, and close at bedtime for extra privacy.

Indoor Security Camera: A camera placed on your toddler’s dresser can behave as a high tech baby monitor that you can see with a mobile device. And if they want you, they can hit the intercom talk feature on the camera.

Outlet Covers: While each outlet should have outlet safety caps on them to protect your little children, this is especially important in their bedroom. It’s the main place in your house where your children will most likely play alone without consistent parental supervision.

Window Fire Ladder: If you have bedrooms on the second floor, then you need to put in a window escape ladder. These can let your children get out of their room even if the hallway or lower levels are blocked off with fire. Make sure to practice how to unfurl them one or two times a year.

Toy Box Or Low Shelves: It’s weird to view a toy box as a safety device, but you’ll understand if you’ve ever stepped on a Lego in your stocking feet. A uncluttered floor let your child have a quick way out when there’s an emergency.

Main Bedroom Safety Checklist For Fort Collins

Your main bedroom should be your calm space, so let your safety devices give you peace of mind when you have an emergency event. After all, being startled awake by a high-decibel alarm can be confusing.

Home Security Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your nightstand helps you know what’s happening without jumping out of bed. You could always use your ADT smartphone app. However, the touchscreen can be easier to control to use when you’re coming out of sleep and disoriented.

Phone Charging Stand: We use our phones for almost everything now alarm clocks, news readers, social media, and --legend has it-- even phones. But, a depleted device can cut us off from communications if something goes wrong. To make sure your phone always works, a charging station or cord is should be used nightly.

Nightlights Or Voice Activated Smart Lights: A small light can calm you when you’re startled awake from an alarm or unexpected noises. If you have trouble falling asleep with an outlet light, install smart bulbs in your bedroom. Then you can get light anytime with a push of a button or voice command.
Fireproof Safe: Keep your important paperwork like insurance cards, passports, or banking information in a fireproof safe. Your lockbox can be a big one that camps out out of the way or a slender handheld safe that you can snatch as you escape during a fire or break-in.

Temperature Sensor: The drawback with a master bedroom is that they tend to feel too stuffy or be chilly since they sit across the house from the thermostat. A heat sensor can talk to your smart thermostat so you will have a pleasant, restful sleep at just the right climate.

Garage/Basement Safety Checklist For Fort Collins

Most safety problems in the basement or garage are with your water heater or heating system. Seeing hazards early can prevent bigger disasters later on. So, as you look around your garage or basement, pay attention to these crucial items:

Flood Detector Or Sump Pump Alarm: Placing a flood alarm by your water heater or sump pump can stop you from discovering a pond when you go into your basement or garage. It’s definitely better than sifting through a heap of soiled storage boxes.

Carbon Monoxide Alarm: It’s nice to have a CO alarm in areas where a natural gas leak can occur. If you have a gas furnace, you should hang a detector in the same room as your HVAC unit.
Wireless Water Shutoff Valve: If your water alarm senses a hot water heater leak or a busted pipe, then you will want to cap the main water pipe at once. With a remote shutoff valve, you can stop water flow from any mobile device. That’s perfect when you’re out of town and receive a water leak notification on your mobile device.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage door open brings about all types of headaches. You can lose heat or air through that gaping hole, and all sorts of animals or intruders can just walk in. A sensor will text you about an open garage door and lets you close it remotely.
Temperature Sensor: A temperature sensor in your basement or garage is a definite if you worry about your pipes freezing. The temperature in these rooms can be surprisingly different than your main rooms of the home, so you may want to have a close look on the temperature through your security mobile app.

Home Perimeter Safety Checklist for Fort Collins

Your foliage, drive, and front step are just as imperative to make safe as the rest of your house. Try the items on this checklist to create a safe outside:

Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s arrived at the door before you answer it and welcome guests. Get a visual on packages and record video clips if they are taken.

Outdoor Camera: You can place outdoor security cameras to alert you to suspicious movement in your back yard. These cameras are nice in areas where you may not have a window -- like a side yard or by the driveway.

Window Height Shrubbery: High shrubs can create some solitude, but they also block your line of sight of the yard and curb. Don’t provide potential thieves an area to hide. Plus, large bushes or foliage around your house can clog gutters and bring in pests.
ADT Signs And Decals: One of the most popular deterrents for a thief is telling aspiring burglars that you own a state-of-the-art home security system. An ADT yard sign by the main walk and a window decal will tell people that they should shove off to an unprotected house.

Motion Controlled Flood Light Fixtures: Light is the largest enemy to people who lurk in the dark. Motion-activated flood lights on your porch, garage, or deck can frighten possible intruders away. Flood lights also help you work the locks when you arrive back home on those dark, winter nights.

Contact Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You Finish Your Home Safety Checklist for Fort Collins

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t deliver non-security devices on your Fort Collins home safety checklist, we can bring you a powerful home security. With everything from alarms to thermostats, we can personalize the best system for your home’s needs. Just call (970) 316-5674 to get started or fill out the form below. Or customize your own solution with our Security System Designer.