ADT® Authorized Dealer Serving Tempe & the surrounding area

Home Safety Checklist For Tempe

Staying safe in your home should be your largest priority. But are you forgetting one or two useful safety items? Take this home safety checklist for Tempe and discover where your house needs an update.

We give you a few whole-house safety ideas, and then we delve down room-by-room. Then, call (480) 608-0064 or complete the form below for additional information.

Whole Home Safety Checklist

Essential Home Safety Checklist for Tempe

While you should employ a room-to-room approach to home safety in Tempe, there are a few items that work for the whole-house approach. These components can sync together through a wireless hub, and often can work off one another. You might also control each of your home safety equipment through a mobile app, such as ADT Control:

  • Monitored Home Security System: All your windows and doors should use a sensor that notifies your family to forced entry. After the alarm triggers, your monitoring agent responds to the alert and quickly sends the police or fire department.

  • Smart Lights For Every Major Room: Sure, you can schedule your smart lights so your house is more eco-conscience. But smart lights can also allow you to stay safe during an emergency. Have your downstairs lights flip on when a sensor goes off to frighten off burglars or brighten your way to a outside place.

  • Smart Thermostat: Likewise, a smart thermostat in Tempe can save you 10%-15% in gas and electric spending. But it also can turn on an exhaust fan when your alarms senses a fire.

  • Monitored Fire Detectors: It’s code that you have a fire alarm on each level. You can increase your fire game by installing a monitored fire detector that senses unusual heat and smoke, and notifies your round-the-clock monitoring team when it senses a fire.

  • Smart Locks: Every doorway that needs a deadbolt can be made safer with a smart lock. Now you can preset numbered codes to friends and family and get texts to your phone when the locks are used. Your smart lock can even automatically open, letting you quickly get out during a fire or dangerous situation.

Family Room Safety Checklist

Living Room/Family Room Safety Checklist For Tempe

You’ll hang out most in your family room, so it’s the perfect area to start your home safety renovation. Highly sought after items, like your TV or video games, typically reside in your family room, making it a tempting area for robbers. Start with placing a motion detector or indoor camera in your room, then continue on with the following ideas:

  • Motion Detectors: By installing motion detectors, you’ll have a shrieking siren if they sense unexpected motion within your family room. Look for motion sensors that ignore a dog or cat or you’ll get an alert every time your cat passes through for a bite of food.

  • Indoor Camera: An indoor security camera gives you a visual on your family room. View real-time streams of the area so you can see what’s going on through the mobile app. Or speak with your kids when they get home from playing by using the two-way talk feature.

  • Surge Protector/Outlet Maintenance: Safeguard all your electronics and quit overtaxing your circuits with a surge protector. For extra comfort, set up a smart plug with anti-surge functionality built-in.

  • Heavy Furniture Bolted 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 carpet that can make heavy objects extra unbalanced.

  • Enhanced Locks For Sliding Glass Doors: If your family room uses a sliding door that slides out to a patio, deck, or porch, you know that the door lock is pretty thin. Install an enhanced lock, like a bottom bar or small locks that bolt to the bottom and top of the door frame.

Kitchen Safety Checklist

Kitchen Safety Checklist For Tempe

Your kitchen has plenty of items that can provide safety to your house. Most of these items are also a snap to add and should be bought from the grocery store:

  • Fire Extinguisher: A fire can happen from an overfilled skillet or an errant grease splatter. Always store a fire extinguisher at the ready for any kitchen mishaps.

  • GFCI Box On Every Outlet: A GFCI outlet should be used on outlets where they’re by running water to ward off a deadly shock. That includes the plug outlets around your kitchen counter and sink. Since the late ‘80s, it’s been code to have one circuit interrupter outlet per dedicated circuit. But for simplicity’s sake, try to use a separate GFCI for every outlet.

  • Monitored Carbon Monoxide Detector: A carbon monoxide detector is advised for kitchens that employ a gas oven and range. If your gas appliances malfunction, the CO detector will emit a loud, buzzing noise and call your monitoring center.

  • Disinfectant Wipes Or Spray: The most overlooked safety problem in the kitchen is actually bacteria and protein that comes with raw meat and dairy. Always have cleaning wipes or a bleach spray to sanitize your area after making a meal.

  • Refrigerator/Freezer Alarm: The food items in the fridge need to stay at a cold temperature to stay healthy to eat. If you accidently leave the freezer or refrigerator door ajar, then a small beep will remind you to shut it securely. Some fridges come with this installed, older models do not, and you’ll have to get a refrigerator alarm from the hardware store.

Bathroom Safety Checklist

Bathroom Safety Checklist For Tempe

Just because you don’t a lot of space in your bathroom, you will still have safety concerns. From flood detectors to electric safety, here are some safety tips for your bathroom:

  • Flood Detectors: A leaking sink or shower can create extensive damage. Find leaks early with a flood detector and save hundreds to thousands of dollars from damage.

  • Non-slip Bathroom Mats: A slip and fall in the bathroom can be painful, causing pulled muscles, bruises, or sprained ankles. Or prevent these hazards with a non-slip bathroom mat for your wet feet.

  • No-slip Bathtub Stickies: Like a tiled floor, a tub basin can be a slick place to move in. Make sure every bathtub has some textured strips so your feet and toes have a rough patch to grip.

  • Medicine Door Latch: If you have young children or a family member with memory complications, you need to take extra attention regarding prescribed medicine. Safeguard your pills and syrups by using a medicine cabinet with a locking latch.

  • Circuit Interrupter Outlet: Just like the kitchen, you will have to also put in a grounded GFCI outlet on each bathroom circuit. This will stop the flow of the electric current if they ever get wet or they experience a harmful spike from an electric razor or hair dryer.

Child's Bedroom Safety Checklist

Kid’s Bedroom Safety Checklist For Tempe

Your child’s bedroom should balance safety with manageability. If their window shades or other things are safe but tricky to manage, then your children may try dangerous methods -- like shimmying up a bookshelf -- to touch them. Here are 5 easy, yet safe, ideas:

  • No Cord Window Treatments: Safety experts have designated corded window treatments an unsuspecting danger for kids and pets. Put in motorized shades that your child can easily open and close with a remote. Or go state-of-the-art and connect your motorized coverings to your security system so they open automatically at dawn, and lower in the evening for an easier sleep.

  • Tableside Security Camera: An indoor security camera perched on your kid’s desk can double as a baby monitor that you can watch from your phone. And when they need something, they can hit the two-way talk feature that comes with the camera.

  • Outlet Covers: While every outlet should have protective covers on them when you have young children, this is especially important in their bedroom. It’s the one room in your home where your child will most likely play solo without constant adult supervision.

  • Window Escape Ladder: If you use bedrooms on above the first story, then you need to have a window fire ladder. These should let a young one leave the house in case the hallway or lower levels are engulfed in smoke and fire. Just remember to rehearse how to use them at least twice a year.

  • Toy Chest Or Low Shelves: It’s interesting to look at a toy box as a safety component, but you’ll see the light if you’ve ever stepped on a building block in your bare feet. A clutter-free floor gives your child a quick escape if there’s a fire or break-in.

Master Bedroom Safety Checklist

Master Bedroom Safety Checklist For Tempe

Your master bedroom should be a refuge, so let your safety devices make life easier when you experience an emergency. After all, being startled awake by a high-decibel siren can be quite a shock.

  • Smart Hub Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen on your dresser gives you a sense of what’s going on without jumping out of bed. You could always use your ADT mobile app. However, the touchscreen can be better to use when you’re bleary-eyed and disoriented.

  • Phone Charging Stand: We rely on our phones for so much now GPS, web browsers, social media, and sometimes even phones. But, an uncharged device can cut us off from reaching help if there’s a problem. 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 can be a beacon when you’re jolted awake from a siren or other sounds. If you can’t fall asleep with a small nightlight, install a smart bulb in your bedroom. Then you can have light on-demand with a mobile device or vocal command.

  • Fireproof Lockbox: Keep your important documents like social security cards, stock certificates, or a spare checkbook in a fireproof safe. Your lockbox can be a bigger one that sits out of the way or a smaller portable lockbox that you can carry when you leave during a fire or break-in.

  • Temperature Sensor: The issue with a master bedroom is that they might be too warm or be chilly since they sit far from the thermostat. A temperature sensor will communicate to your smart thermostat so you will have a nice, restful sleep at the perfect climate.

Garage Safety Checklist

Garage/Basement Safety Checklist For Tempe

Most safety needs in the basement or garage deal with your water heater or HVAC system. Seeing hazards before they start can stop larger disasters later on. So, as you take a look around your garage or basement, pay attention to these safety items:

  • Flood Sensor Or Sump Pump Alarm: Placing a flood sensor in back of your water heater and sump pump drain can prevent you from wading into a lake when you walk into your basement or garage. Do you really want to spend your weekend drying the floor?

  • CO Alarm: It’s smart to hang a CO alarm in a place where a gas leak can happen. If you have a gas furnace, you should install a detector in the same area as your unit.

  • WiFi Water Shutoff Valve: If your water sensor senses a hot water leak or a busted pipe, then you need to shut off the main water valve quickly. With a WiFi shutoff valve, you can stop water flow from your phone. That’s perfect when you’re on vacation and receive a water leak text on your smartphone.

  • Garage Door Sensor: Leaving the garage up brings about all sorts of headaches. You can waste heat or air through that open door, and all sorts of animals or intruders can just walk in. A remote sensor will alert you to a neglected garage door and allow you to close it remotely.

  • Temperature Sensor: A heat alarm in your garage or basement is a definite if you wonder about frozen pipes. The temperature in these rooms can be drastically different than the rest of the house, so you may want to maintain a close look on the temperature by using your security mobile app.

Outside perimeter checklist

Outside Safety Checklist for Tempe

Your landscaping, drive, and front porch are just as important to secure as the inside of your home. Try the items on this checklist to defend your perimeter:

  • Outdoor Security Camera: You can install outdoor security cameras to notify you about unusual movement in your 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 Shrubs: Tall shrubs can give you some serenity, but they also obscure your line of sight of the outside. Don’t offer potential intruders a dark shadow to hide. Plus, high bushes, shrubs or foliage too close to your house can clog gutters and summon pests.

  • ADT Signage: One of the largest disincentives for a break-in is advertising to potential rogues that you have a monitored home security system. An ADT yard sign by the stoop and a window sticker will tell ne'er-do-wells that they ought to keep walking to an easier target.

  • Motion Activated Flood Lighting: Light is the biggest obstacle to people who sneak around in the dark. Motion-controlled flood lights on your porch, garage, or deck can help scare lurkers away. Lights also help you get inside when you arrive home on those dark, winter nights.

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

While Secure24 Alarm Systems can’t deliver each household item on your Tempe home safety checklist, we can offer a state-of-the-art home security. With everything from alarms to thermostats, we can personalize the ideal system for your house’s needs. Just contact (480) 608-0064 and talk to a professional or fill out the form below. Or personalize your own ADT system with our Security System Designer.