Spring Cleaning Tips For Your Home Safety Plan

Now that spring is in full swing, it’s time to catch up on your home. You may have cleaned out your cabinets, organized your closets and scrubbed your floors. But what you may not have done is updated some of the safety features in your home.

Home safety and home automation deserves a category of its own. It’s highly important, but unfortunately, it’s often overlooked.

People tend to tackle many of the cleaning projects in the springtime, especially since it becomes obvious when the dust builds up on the blinds or the grout changes color. Yet just because home safety features aren’t staring you in the face doesn’t mean they’re not important.

Below are spring cleaning tips for your home safety plan that you should address before the summer starts.

Let’s begin!

Replace Your Filters

Did you know that indoor air can be five times more polluted than outdoor air? This is especially true in the winter and early spring when the windows and doors are closed and there isn’t any fresh air to circulate through the home.

To improve the air quality in your home, replace the air filters in your HVAC system. Also replace filters that are in your home appliances, such as the range hood, refrigerator, vacuum cleaner and dryer.

Choose Green Cleaning Products

Another way to improve the indoor air quality in your home is to use green cleaners. However, do be aware that “natural” does not mean “nontoxic.” Many cleaners, including natural ones, use chemicals that can be toxic, especially for children, pets and seniors.

If you don’t trust what’s on the shelves, find a recipe online and make your own cleaner. A few basic ingredients like vinegar, lemon juice, castile soap and baking soda can give you cleaning products for every purpose while also saving you money. Check out some great recipes here.

Test the Batteries in Your Smoke Alarm

To ensure that your smoke alarm is in good working condition, check the batteries even in a hard-wired alarm. Each alarm should be tested individually. You’re looking for a couple things when you test the batteries. First, the smoke detectors should be working and responsive. Second, the alarm should be loud enough for you to hear. If it’s not, replace the batteries and retest. If it’s still not very loud, you may need to replace the fire alarm.

Check Your Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Many smoke alarms these days also have a carbon monoxide detector built in. If not, you should have separate carbon monoxide detectors on each level of the home. Test the batteries on a regular basis. The test button only accounts for the battery, however, and not the actual sensors. If your carbon monoxide detectors are 5 or more years old, you should have them replaced or recalibrated.

Secure Your Home

With summer approaching, homes are more at risk for burglaries. You will be leaving your doors and windows open more often, and you may be going on vacation.

If you already have a home security system but haven’t been using it to its full advantage, now is the time to get everyone in the home on board. Create a family safety plan that includes when the alarm should be set, what the access code is, whether or not you want security cameras, etc.

Now is the time to think about securing your home. Find a reliable Austin alarm company that will provide you with the peace of mind you deserve. Call Texas Security and Surveillance and let us check out your existing system and make sure that everything is in excellent working condition.