Have You Made a Home Safety Checklist?

Home safety means more than adding deadbolt locks and smoke alarms. There are many things to do to keep your home safer from intruders and accidents. Here are tasks to add to your list.

Start with the Landscape

Criminals like an easy target and will usually case a home before attempting to break into it. The more you do to make your home appear fortified and secure, the more likely they are to ignore your home and move on to another. Improving your landscape can also prevent accidents, such as falls.

• Don’t give criminals cover. Keep bushes pruned down near windows and doors so the foliage doesn’t give anyone a place to hide.

• Use motion-sensing lights at night near porches, garages, and all other home entrances. It is also wise to use these lights with your outdoor HVAC unit to deter copper thieves.

• Install lighting along pathways, outdoor steps and on any other landscape feature that could be a dangerous obstacle at night.

• Keep a light on in the house. It should be one that is viewable from the street so potential intruders can see the illumination. You can also put a few lamps on timers. However, at no point should the whole house be dark.

Secure Windows and Doors

‍Windows and doors are weak points in the structure of a home. This is true in terms of energy loss and burglaries. You can protect against both energy leaks and intruders by adding storm windows and storm doors on the outside. These make your home more difficult to break into and they help seal air leaks.

‍Prevent Electrical Problems

‍Don’t overload electrical outlets by using more than one power strip or by letting an appliance such as a refrigerator share the outlet with another device. In addition, watch all appliances for signs of electrical issues. This can include appliances that blow the breaker when they are turned on.

Keep your sensitive appliances, such as your HVAC system, safe during a power outage by unplugging them.