Home Safety Checklist For El Paso

Staying safe in your house should be your number one responsibility. But are you missing a few key safety items? Look over this home safety checklist for El Paso and discover where your house requires some work.

This guide starts with five whole-house safety items, and then we whittle it down on a room level. Then, contact (915) 233-0687 or fill out the form below to get your house ready.

General Home Safety Checklist for El Paso

While you may want to take a individual room process for home safety in El Paso, there are some things that work for a lot of your rooms. These components can link together through a touchscreen hub, and oftentimes work off other components. You can also manage each of your home safety devices with a smartphone app, like ADT Control:

Monitored Home Security System: Each one of your windows and doors should use a sensor that warns you to a break-in. As your alarm goes off, your monitoring team picks up the call and immediately contacts the police or fire department.

Smart Lights For Each Room: Of course, you can set your smart lights to become more efficient. But they can also help you stay safe in an emergency. Make your smart bulbs flash on when a sensor goes off to shoo off intruders or light your way to a secure place.

Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in El Paso can save you 10%-15% in gas and electric spending. It also can start an exhaust fan during a fire.

Monitored Fire Alarms: It’s code that you will have a fire alarm on each level. You can improve your fire game by installing a monitored fire detector that looks for unusual smoke and heat, and pings your 24/7 monitoring team when it senses a fire.

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

Family Room/Living Room Safety Checklist For El Paso

You’ll hang out most in the family room, so it may be the perfect place to start making your home more secure. Highly sought after items, like a TV or video games, typically sit in your family room, making it a tempting room for robbers. Begin with placing a motion sensor or indoor camera in there, then continue on with all these suggestions:

Motion Detectors: By hanging motion sensors, you’ll get a shrieking siren if they sense unexpected movement within your family room. Look for motion sensors that filter out pets or you’ll see an alert each time your pet passes through for a drink of water.
Indoor Camera: An indoor security camera gives you an eye on your family room. Watch live streams of your room so you can know what’s going on from the mobile app. Or talk with your kids when they get home from school with the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Outlet Maintenance: Protect those electronics and stop overtaxing your outlets with a surge protector. For added comfort, use a smart plug with anti-surge functionality included.
Furniture Bolted To The Wall: If you have any small children, you’ll need to bolt your bookshelves and entertainment center to the wall. This is especially crucial if your living room uses carpeting that might make objects extra wobbly.
Enhanced Locks For Sliding Glass Doors: If your family room has a sliding door that opens to a deck, patio, or outside porch, you know that the door lock is fairly flimsy. Put in a custom lock, like a cross bar or locks that are located on the bottom and top of the frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For El Paso

The kitchen has many items that can bring safety to your house. Some of these items should be easy to add and should be purchased from the a retail store:

Fire Extinguisher: A fire can spring up from an unwatched skillet or a towel that’s too close to a burner. Always keep a fire extinguisher in close reach for any kitchen mishaps.
GFCI Box On Each Outlet: A circuit interrupter outlet should be used on outlets where they’re close to running water to ward off electrocution. That means the outlets around your kitchen counter and sink. For 30 years, it’s been required to have one circuit interrupter outlet per circuit. But each one of your outlets will go if any outlet detects a surge, so you’ll want to use a single GFCI per outlet.

Monitored CO Detector: A CO detector is handy in the kitchen if you employ natural gas for the oven and range. If your gas burners leak, the carbon monoxide detector will emit a loud, buzzing noise and contact your monitoring expert.
Clorox Wipes Or Spray: The most overlooked safety hazard in the kitchen is actually bacteria and cross-contamination that comes with raw meat and dairy. Always have disinfectant wipes or spray to sanitize your area after preparing food.
Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The milk, meat, and perishables in the fridge need to stay at a cold temperature to stay ready to consume. If you leave the freezer or refrigerator door open too long, then an alarm beep will tell you to close the door. Some appliances already have an alarm, others do not, and you’ll have to pick up a refrigerator alarm from the store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For El Paso

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

Flood Detectors: A leaking sink or tub can create a whole lot of water damage. Deal with water problems early with a flood detector and save yourself from renovating the entire bathroom.
Textured Shower Mats: A slip in the bathroom can be painful, causing bumps, sore joints, or trips to the hospital. Make sure you steer clear from these hazards with a no-slip bath mat for after your bath or shower.

Textured Bathtub Strips: Another water hazard, a tub can be a slick place to move in. Make sure every bathtub has some non-slip stickers so your toes have a textured patch for stability.

Medicine Door Lock: If you have young toddlers or anyone with memory lapses, you should take extra attention regarding medicine. Safeguard your prescriptions by installing a medicine cabinet with a locking latch.

GFCI Circuits: Similarly to the kitchen, you need to also install a surge protecting GFCI outlet on every bathroom receptacle. These will cut the electric current if water enters the outlet or there’s a harmful spike from a hair dryer or curling iron.

Children’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For El Paso

Your kid’s bedroom should pair safety with accessibility. If their window treatments or other items are safe but tricky to operate, then your kids may try dangerous methods -- like scale a dresser -- to open them. Here are 5 straightforward, and safe, ideas:

Cordless Window Coverings: Safety experts have identified cords from shades and blinds a secret problem for children and animals. Install motorized treatments that your child can easily open and close through a remote. Or better yet, pair your motorized treatments to your ADT smart hub so they can raise on a schedule at dawn, and close at night for added darkness.

Tableside Security Camera: An indoor security camera placed on your child’s desk or dresser can double as an HD baby monitor that you can see from a mobile device. And when they want your help, they can hit the two-way talk button included on the camera.

Plug Covers: While every outlet should have outlet safety caps on them for your little children, this is doubly urgent in a child’s bedroom. It’s the main place in your house where your toddler will most likely be by themselves without additional supervision.

Window Safety Ladder: If you use bedrooms on an upper floor, then you should install a window safety ladder. These can let your children leave the house even if the stairway or downstairs are blocked off with fire. Make sure to practice how to unfurl the ladder one or two times a year.

Toy Chest Or Low Bookshelves: It’s strange to look at a toy box as a safety item, but you’ll get it if you’ve ever stepped on a Lego in your stocking feet. A clutter-free floor gives your child a quick way out when there’s an emergency.

Main Bedroom Safety Checklist For El Paso

The master bedroom should be an oasis, so let your safety components make life easier when there's an emergency event. After all, being jerked awake by a loud buzzer can be confusing.

Smart Hub Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your dresser gives you a sense of what’s happening without getting out of bed. You could always use your ADT phone app but, the HD touchscreen may be easier to use to use when you’re yawning and disoriented.

Personal Charging Station: We depend on our smartphones for almost everything now GPS, web browsers, game machines, and --legend has it-- even phones. The only problem is that a dead phone in the middle of the night cuts us off from reaching help if during an emergency. To make sure your phone always works, a an easy-to-use charging station becomes an essential.

Smart Lights Or Nightlights: A plug-in light can be a beacon when you’re bolted awake from a siren or other sounds. If you won’t drift off to sleep with an outlet light, put in a smart bulb in your bedroom. Then you can have light anytime with a mobile device or voice direction.
Fireproof Safe: Stash your important documents like social security cards, stock certificates, or a bankbook in a fireproof safe. This can be a large one that camps out in your closet or a small portable safe that you can snatch on your way out during a fire or other emergency.

Heat Sensor: The problem with a master bedroom is that they can run too warm or be cold because they sit far from the thermostat. A temperature sensor will communicate to your smart thermostat so you will have a comfortable, peaceful sleep at a wonderful temperature.

Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For El Paso

Most safety issues in the garage or basement have to do with your water or heating system. Discovering problems before they start can stave away larger disasters later on. So, as you walk around your garage or basement, take note of these safety items:

Water Sensor Or Sump Pump Alarm: Putting a flood sensor by your water heater or sump pump can prevent you from discovering a pond when you walk into your garage or basement. It’s definitely better than sifting through a heap of soiled storage boxes.

Carbon Monoxide Detector: It’s nice to have a CO detector in an area where a CO leak can spring up. If you employ gas heating, you should put an alarm in the same place as your inbound pipes.
Remote Water Shutoff Valve: If your flood detector senses a plumbing leak or a busted pipe, then you will have to cap the primary water pipe at once. With a remote shutoff valve, you can stop water flow from anywhere in the world. That’s perfect when you’re on vacation and receive a flood sensor notification on your mobile device.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage up causes all types of headaches. You can lose HVAC energy through that large opening, and rodents or lurkers can just walk in. A remote sensor will notify you about an open garage door and lets you close it through the app.
Temperature Sensor: A heat alarm in your basement or garage is handy if you worry about frozen pipes. The heat in these rooms can be wildly different than the rest of the house, so you will want to keep a closer eye on them by using the ADT mobile app.

Outside Safety Checklist for El Paso

Your front yard, driveway, and front walk are just as imperative to secure as the interior of your home. Try this checklist to make your outside safe:

Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s arrived at the front door before you answer it and welcome visitors. Get a visual on package deliveries and review video clips if they vanish off the step.

Outdoor Security Camera: You can install outdoor security cameras to notify you about unusual activity in your yard. These devices are nice in places where you may not have a view -- like a side yard or by the driveway.

Window Height Shrubs: Overgrown bushes can give you some solitude, but they also hinder you seeing into the outside. Don’t give potential intruders an area to hide. Plus, tall bushes or greenery against your structure can clog gutters and summon pests.
ADT Signage: One of the most popular disincentives for a break-in is telling potential rogues that you have a monitored home security system. An ADT sign by the front door and a window cling will alert ne'er-do-wells that they should move on to an less prepared score.

Motion Triggered Outside Light Fixtures: Light is the largest enemy to people who skulk in the dark. Motion-activated lights on your porch, garage, or deck can help scare lurkers away. Lights also help you get inside when you come home late at night.

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

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t help you with each household item on your El Paso home safety checklist, we can discuss a customized home security. With easy-to-use devices and ADT monitoring, we can install the perfect system for your family’s needs. Just call (915) 233-0687 and talk to a professional or fill out the form below. Or customize your own ADT system with our Security System Designer.