Home Safety Checklist For Madison

Being safe in your home should be your number one concern. But are you overlooking some useful safety items? Take this home safety checklist for Madison and see where your living space needs an update.

This guide begins with five whole-house safety ideas, and then we whittle it down room-by-room. Then, you can call (608) 424-5550 or send in the form below for more information.

Essential Home Safety Checklist for Madison

While you may want to employ a individual room approach to home safety in Madison, there are some methods that work for multiple rooms. These items can talk to each other through a wireless hub, and oftentimes work off other components. You might also control all your home safety equipment through a mobile app, such as ADT Control:

Monitored Security System: All your entryways should have a sensor that warns you to forced entry. As an alarm trips, your monitoring expert picks up the call and immediately calls the police or fire department.

Smart Lights For Each Room: Sure, you can set your smart lights to become more efficient. But they can also help you stay safe during an emergency. Have your downstairs lights flip on when a security alarm triggers to scare off robbers or light the way out to a safe location.

Smart Thermostat: Like your smart lights, a smart thermostat in Madison could save you between 10%-15% in energy spending. It also can flip on an exhaust fan when your alarms senses a fire.

Monitored Smoke Detectors: At the very least, you have a fire detector on each level. You can increase your fire readiness by utilizing a monitored fire detector that looks for unusual heat and smoke, and pings your 24/7 monitoring agents when it thinks that there’s a fire.

Smart Door Locks: Every entryway that needs a keyed lock can upgrade to a smart lock. Now you can assign numbered codes to family and friends and get alerts to your smartphone when your locks are unlocked. Your smart lock can even automatically turn off, letting you quickly flee the house when you have an emergency.

Family Room/Living Room Safety Checklist For Madison

You’ll hang out most in the family room, so it’s the best room to optimize your home safety. Electronics, like a big screen or video games, typically are located in your family room, making it a popular area for burglars. Start with placing a motion detector or indoor camera in your room, then try some of these suggestions:

Motion Detectors: By hanging motion sensors, you’ll have a loud alarm if they detect suspicious motion in your family room. Look for motion sensors that filter out pet movements or you’ll get an alert every time your dog comes in for a bite of food.
Indoor Security Camera: An indoor security camera puts a visual on your family room. View real-time streams of everything so you can know what’s happening from the mobile app. Or chat with family members in the room by using the two-way talk feature.
Surge Protector/Cord Maintenance: Make sure you protect those electronics and quit overtaxing your circuits with a surge protector. For additional convenience, install a smart plug with anti-surge functionality in the unit.
Furniture Bolted To The Wall: If you have curious kids, you’ll need to attach your entertainment center or other heavy furniture to the wall. This is especially crucial if your family room uses rugs or carpet that can make heavy objects extra unstable.
Special Locks For Glass Doors: If your living room uses a sliding door that leads to a deck, patio, or screened-in porch, you probably know that the latch is pretty thin. Install a special lock, like a bottom bar or locks that bolt to the top and bottom of the door frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Madison

The kitchen has plenty of items that can bring safety to your home. Some of these items are also simple to add and can be found in the a retail store:

Fire Extinguisher: Fire can spring up from an unwatched pot or an errant grease splatter. Always store a fire extinguisher in close reach for any cooking emergencies.
GFCI Box On Each Outlet: A circuit interrupter outlet should be standard anywhere they’re by running water to prevent electrocution. That means the plugs around your kitchen counter and sink. For 30 years, it’s been required to have one circuit interrupter outlet per dedicated circuit. But for simplicity’s sake, you’ll want to install a separate GFCI per outlet.

Monitored CO Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is handy in kitchens that use gas for the stove and oven. If your gas lines malfunction, the carbon monoxide detector will emit a loud, buzzing siren and contact your monitoring expert.
Disinfectant Wipes Or Spray: The most overlooked safety problem in the kitchen is actually bacteria and cross-contamination from blood from meat and dairy. Always have cleaning wipes or an antibacterial spray to clean your surfaces after preparing food.
Refrigerator Alarm: The food items in the fridge need to stay at a chilly temperature to stay ready to use. If you accidently leave the fridge or freezer door open, then a small beep will let you know so you can close the door. Some refrigerators come with this installed, some don’t, and you’ll have to pick up a fridge alarm from the store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Madison

Just because there’s not a bunch of space in your bathroom doesn’t mean that there aren’t safety concerns. From water problems 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 damage. Deal with a leaking pipe with a flood detector before they generate hundreds of dollars in damage.
Textured Bath Mats: A fall in the bathroom can be devastating, causing pulled muscles, sore joints, or sprained ankles. Or avoid these problems with a textured bath mat for your wet feet.

No-slip Bathtub Stickers: Like a tiled floor, a tub can be a slick place to move in. It’s a good idea that each tub has some textured stickers so your toes have a bumpy patch for stability.

Medicine Door Latch: If you have little kids or someone with memory complications, you need to take extra care regarding prescription medicine. Safeguard your bottles by using a medicine cabinet with a latch that locks.

GFCI Circuits: Just like the kitchen, you need to also install a safer circuit interrupter outlet on each bathroom outlet. These will cut the electric current if water enters the outlet or you have a sudden jolt from an electric razor or hair dryer.

Kid’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Madison

Your child’s bedroom should pair safety with simplicity. If their window treatments or other things are safe but hard to manage, then your children may get around the device with unsafe activities -- like scale a bookshelf -- to use them. Here are some simple, and safe, ideas:

Cord-Free Window Coverings: Safety professionals have long called cords from shades and blinds an unsuspecting problem for both children and pets. Use motorized shades that kids can easily open and close through a remote control. Or even better, pair your motorized treatments to your ADT security system so they can raise automatically when it’s time to get up, and lower in the evening for added darkness.

Tableside Security Camera: A security camera placed on your child’s dresser can double as a baby monitor that you can see with a smartphone. And if they need your help, they can hit the two-way talk button on the camera.

Plug Covers: While each outlet should use protective covers on them for your small children, this is doubly needed in a child’s bedroom. It’s the main place in your home where your children will most likely play alone without consistent additional supervision.

Window Escape Ladder: If you have bedrooms on above the first floor, then you will want to have a window escape ladder. These should help a child leave the house when the stairs or lower levels are on fire. Just remember to rehearse how to unfurl them at least twice a year.

Toy Box Or Low Shelves: It’s strange to think about a toy box as a safety item, but you’ll get it if you’ve ever tramped on an action figure in your socked feet. A clean floor means a quick retreat during an emergency.

Master Bedroom Safety Checklist For Madison

Your bedroom should be a refuge, so let your safety components give you peace of mind if you experience an emergency. After all, being startled awake by a wailing siren can be disorienting.

Home Security Touchscreen: Having a smart hub on your dresser gives you a sense of what’s what that noise was without leaving your bed. You could also log into your ADT phone app but, the large touchscreen is often faster to use when you’re bleary-eyed and confused.

Phone Charging Area: We use our smartphones for so many things now GPS, web browsers, time wasters, and sometimes even phones. However, a depleted device will cut us off from communications if during an emergency. To make sure your phone always works, a an easy-to-use charging station becomes should be used nightly.

Nightlights Or Voice Activated Smart Lights: A plug-in light helps ground you when you’re bolted awake from a fire alarm or other sounds. If you have trouble falling asleep with a nightlight, use a smart bulb in your bedroom. Then you can have light on-demand with a button push or voice direction.
Fireproof Safe: Stash your essential documents like insurance cards, medical information, or banking information in a fireproof lockbox. Your lockbox can be a bigger one that sits in your closet or a small handheld lockbox that you can snatch when you leave during a fire or other emergency.

Heat Sensor: The problem with a master bedroom is that they might feel too hot or be cold since they are located far from the thermostat. A temperature sensor will communicate to your smart thermostat so you can have a pleasant, peaceful sleep at a wonderful temperature.

Basement/Garage Safety Checklist For Madison

Most safety needs in the basement or garage are with your water or heating system. Discovering problems early can stave away larger disasters in the future. So, as you take a look around your basement or garage, check over these safety items:

Flood Detector Or Sump Pump Alarm: Installing a flood alarm by your water heater and sump pump drain can prevent you from finding a mess when you go into your garage or basement. The last you need is to spend the weekend drying your floor and salvaging all those storage boxes.

Carbon Monoxide Detector: It’s nice to hang a carbon monoxide detector in a place where a gas leak can spring up. If you have a gas furnace, you’ll want to install an alarm in the same area as your HVAC unit.
Wireless Water Shutoff Valve: If your water alarm detects a plumbing leak or a burst pipe, then you need to shut off the main water valve immediately. With a remote shutoff valve, you can stop water flow from any mobile device. That’s helpful when you’re out of town and see a water leak alert on your mobile device.
Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage up leads to all types of problems. You can lose a bunch of heat or air through that open door, and critters or thieves can just saunder in. A remote sensor will text you about a forgotten garage door and allow you to close it with your phone.
Heat Sensor: A heat sensor in your basement or garage is a definite if you worry about frozen pipes. The temperature in these areas can be drastically different than the main part of the house, so you may want to have a constant look on them by using your security mobile app.

Home Perimeter Safety Checklist for Madison

Your landscaping, driveway, and front porch are just as important to make safe as the interior of your house. Try this checklist to make your outside safe:

Doorbell Security Camera: See who’s knocking on the door before you answer it and chat with guests. Get a visual on package deliveries and review video clips if they are stolen.

Outdoor Camera: You can place outdoor security cameras to guard against unusual activity in your back yard. These devices are especially useful in areas where you may not have a window -- like a side yard or by the garage door.

Low Shrubbery: Overgrown bushes can offer some serenity, but they also obscure you seeing into the yard and curb. Don’t give potential thieves a place to hide. Plus, large bushes, shrubs or greenery too close to your house can obstruct gutters and invite pests.
ADT Signage: One of the largest discouragements for a thief is alerting aspiring rogues that you use a state-of-the-art ADT security system. An ADT yard stick by the stoop and a window cling will show lurkers that they ought to shove off to an easier target.

Motion Activated Outside Light Fixtures: Light is the greatest enemy to those who skulk in the shadows. Motion-controlled lighting on your porch, garage, or deck can help scare possible intruders away. They also help you see the walk when you come home late after work.

Use Secure24 Alarm Systems To Help You Finish Your Home Safety Checklist for Madison

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t install each household item on your Madison home safety checklist, we can bring you a customized home security. With alarms, security cameras, and home automation, we can personalize the best system for your family’s needs. Simply call (608) 424-5550 for more information or send in the form below. Or personalize your own ADT system with our Security System Designer.