Home Safety Checklist For Chicago

Keeping safe in your home should be your largest priority. But are you overlooking one or two big safety components? Look over this home safety checklist for Chicago and see where your house requires an update.

This guide begins with some whole-home safety ideas, and then we delve down on a room level. Then, you can call (312) 319-8662 or fill out the form below to get your home safe and secure.

Whole Home Safety Checklist for Chicago

While you should employ a room-to-room approach to home safety in Chicago, there are a few items that work for the whole-house approach. These devices can talk to each other through a wireless hub, and often can work off one another. You might also manage every one of your home safety components with a mobile security app, like ADT Control:

Monitored Security System: All your windows and doors should have a sensor that alerts you to a break-in. When the alarm triggers, your monitoring team responds to the call and sends emergency personnel.

Smart Lights For Most Rooms: Of course, you can set your smart bulbs to become more energy-efficient. But smart lights can also allow you to keep safe in an emergency. Make your smart bulbs come on when a security alarm trips to shoo off burglars or brighten your way to a outside area.

Smart Thermostat: Like your smart lights, a smart thermostat in Chicago could save you up to 15% in energy spending. Also, it can turn on the exhaust fan when your alarms senses a fire.

Monitored Smoke Detectors: At the very least, you need to have a smoke detector on every level. You can improve your fire preparedness by installing a monitored fire detector that looks for excessive smoke and heat, and pings your round-the-clock monitoring experts when it detects a fire.

Smart Lock For Every Door: Every door that uses a deadbolt can use a smart lock. Now you can preset codes to family and friends and receive alerts to your smartphone when the locks are unlocked. Your locks can even automatically open, helping you to quickly get out during a fire or other emergency.

Family Room/Living Room Safety Checklist For Chicago

You’ll hang out most in your living room, so it’s the perfect place to improve your home safety. Popular items, like a big screen or video games, probably sit in your family room, making it an alluring space for thieves. Start with hanging a motion detector or indoor camera in your room, then take a look at the following safety protocols:

Motion Sensors: By putting in motion sensors, you’ll get a shrieking siren whenever they detect unusual motion in your family room. The best devices are motion detectors that filter out a dog or cat or you’ll see a tripped alarm every time your dog comes in for a midnight stroll.
Indoor Camera: An indoor security camera offers an eye on your living room. Get real-time streams of the area so you can find out what’s going on without leaving your bed. Or chat with your family when they arrive back from playing with the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Make sure you protect expensive electronics and stop overburdening your circuits with a surge protector. For extra energy-efficiency, use a smart plug with a surge protector included.
Furniture Attached To The Wall: If you have curious kids, you’ll want to secure your heavy furniture and entertainment center to the wall. This is especially crucial if your family room has rugs or carpet that could make furniture extra unstable.
Enhanced Locks For Sliding Doors: If your living room uses a sliding glass door that opens to a backyard, deck, or screened-in porch, you probably know that the door lock is usually flimsy. Use a custom lock, like a metal bar or small locks that are located on the top and bottom of the frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Chicago

The kitchen has many items that can provide comfort and safety to your house. Most of these objects are also easy to add and should be bought from the Target or Walmart:

Fire Extinguisher: Fire can happen from a neglected pot or an errant grease splatter. Always keep a fire extinguisher at hand for any cooking mishaps.
GFCI Box On Each Outlet: A GFCI outlet should be used on outlets where they’re close to running water to lessen the chance of a deadly shock. That means the plugs by your sink and kitchen counter. Since the late ‘80s, it’s been code to have one GFCI per circuit. But for simplicity’s sake, you’ll want to have a separate GFCI per outlet.

Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A CO detector is handy in kitchens that have a gas oven and stove. If your gas burners malfunction, the carbon monoxide detector will emit a high-decibel sound and ping your monitoring expert.
Disinfectant Wipes Or Spray: The biggest safety problem in the kitchen is the invisible bacteria and protein from blood from meat and other foods. Always store antiviral wipes or an antibacterial spray to scrub off your area when preparing food.
Refrigerator Alarm: The milk, meat, and perishables in the refrigerator need to stay at a chilly temperature to stay healthy 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 refrigerators already have this installed, older models don’t, and you’ll have to get a fridge alarm from online.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Chicago

Just because there’s not a lot of space in your bathroom, you will still have safety hazards. From flood detectors to anti-surge outlets, here are some safety ideas for your bathroom:

Flood Detectors: A leaking sink or shower can lead to an expensive amount of destruction. Find a leak with a flood detector and save yourself from redoing the entire bathroom.
No-slip Bath Mats: A slip and fall in the bathroom can be devastating, causing pulled muscles, bruises, or broken bones. Make sure you prevent these issues with a textured bathroom mat for after your bath or shower.

Textured Bathtub Strips: Likewise, a tub can be a slippery surface to move in. Make sure each bathtub has some no-slip strips so your toes have a textured patch to gain traction.

Medicine Door Latch: If you have little kids or anyone with memory lapses, you need to take additional care regarding prescribed medicine. Secure your prescriptions by using a medicine cabinet with a latch that locks.

GFCI Circuits: Just like the kitchen, you need to also put in a grounded GFCI outlet on each bathroom receptacle. These will shut off the electricity if water enters the outlet or they experience a harmful spike from a hair dryer or curling iron.

Child’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Chicago

A child’s bedroom should balance safety with manageability. If their window shades or other things are safe but difficult to operate, then your kids may get around the device with risky activities -- like climb a bookshelf -- to open them. Here are 5 simple, and safe, ideas:

Cord-Free Window Treatments: Safety professionals have identified cords from shades and blinds a hidden hazard for kids and pets. Put in motorized blinds or shades that you can easily open and close with a remote. Or go state-of-the-art and connect your motorized treatments to your ADT security system so they open on a schedule when it’s time to get up, and lower at bedtime for added darkness.

Tableside Security Camera: A camera sitting on your child’s dresser can behave just like a high tech baby monitor that you can view with a smartphone. And if they want you, they can use the intercom talk button on the camera.

Outlet Covers: While every outlet should use outlet safety caps on them to protect your little children, this is especially important in their bedroom. It’s the one room in your home where your child will most likely be solo without parental supervision.

Window Escape Ladder: If you have bedrooms on the second floor, then you need to install a window escape ladder. These can help a young one get out of their room when the hallway or downstairs are blocked off with fire. Make sure to practice how to use them at least twice a year.

Toy Chest Or Low Shelves: It’s strange to view a toy chest as a safety component, but you’ll see the light if you’ve ever tramped on an action figure in your socked feet. A uncluttered floor gives your child a quick escape when there’s an emergency.

Master Bedroom Safety Checklist For Chicago

Your bedroom should be an oasis, so let your safety devices give you peace of mind when there's an emergency. After all, being jerked awake by a loud buzzer can be confusing.

Smart Hub Touchscreen: Having a smart hub on your dresser gives you a sense of what’s what that noise was without jumping out of bed. You could always use your ADT mobile app but, the HD touchscreen can be easier to manage to use when you’re coming out of sleep and confused.

Personal Charging Stand: We use our phones for so much now alarms, web browsers, games, and sometimes even phones. However, an uncharged phone can cut us off from communications if there’s a problem. To keep it nice and ready, a charging station or cord is an essential.

Smart Lights Or Nightlights: A plug-in light helps ground you when you’re startled awake from a fire alarm or other loud noises. If you have trouble falling asleep with a nightlight, install smart lights in your bedroom and hall. Then you can have light on-demand with a push of a button or vocal command.
Fireproof Lockbox: Keep your essential paperwork like insurance cards, medical information, or banking information in a fireproof lockbox. This can be a large one that is located in your closet or a small portable safe that you can carry as you escape during a fire or break-in.

Temperature Sensor: The issue with bedrooms is that they might feel too stuffy or be frigid because they are located far from the thermostat. A heat sensor will communicate to your smart thermostat so you can have a comfortable, peaceful sleep at a wonderful temperature.

Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For Chicago

Most safety issues in the basement or garage have to do with your pipes or HVAC system. Finding issues before they start can prevent more devastating emergencies later on. So, as you look around your basement or garage, take note of these critical items:

Flood Detector Or Sump Pump Alarm: Putting a flood sensor by your water heater or sump pump can stop you from finding a lake when you walk into your garage or basement. The last you need is to lose the weekend drying your floor and going through all those storage boxes.

CO Alarm: It’s nice to hang a carbon monoxide alarm in a place where a natural gas leak can happen. If you employ gas heat, you should hang an alarm in the same area as your inbound pipes.
WiFi Water Shutoff Valve: If your flood detector senses a plumbing leak or a busted pipe, then you need to cap the primary water valve at once. With a WiFi shutoff valve, you can turn off your water flow from anywhere in the world. That’s nice when you’re visiting relatives and see a water leak text on your phone.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage up leads to all sorts of issues. You can lose heat through that gaping hole, and rodents or lurkers can just walk in. A remote sensor will notify you about an open garage door and lets you close it with your phone.
Heat Sensor: A temperature sensor in your basement or garage is handy if you wonder about freezing pipes. The temperature in these areas can be drastically different than the rest of the home, so you may want to keep a constant look on the temp through your mobile app.

Outside Perimeter Safety Checklist for Chicago

Your yard, driveway, and front porch are just as important to make safe as the inside of your house. Try this checklist to create a safe outside:

Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s arrived at the front door before you open it and welcome guests. Get a visual on packages and look at video clips if they vanish off the step.

Outdoor Camera: You can install outdoor security cameras to alert you to unusual activity in your back yard. These devices are nice in places where you may not have a window -- like a side yard or by the garage.

Window Height Bushes: Overgrown shrubs can give you some serenity, but they also obscure your view of the outside. Don’t provide potential burglars a place to hide. Plus, large bushes, shrubs or foliage against your structure can jam up gutters and bring in ants and termites.
ADT Signage: One of the biggest disincentives for a break-in is alerting potential rogues that you have a state-of-the-art ADT security system. An ADT yard stick by the front door and a window cling will alert people that they ought to shove off to an unprotected target.

Motion Triggered Porch Lighting: Light is the best deterrent to people who lurk in the dark. Motion-triggered flood lights on your deck, porch, or garage can frighten lurkers away. Flood lights also help you get inside when you arrive to the house late after work.

Use Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help Complete Your Home Safety Checklist for Chicago

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t deliver non-security devices on your Chicago home safety checklist, we can install a state-of-the-art home security system. With alarms, security cameras, and home automation, we can personalize the perfect system for your family’s needs. Simply contact (312) 319-8662 to get started or complete the form below. Or personalize your own ADT system with our Security System Designer.