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Tag: Home Safety

  • Is Your Home Safe From Carbon Monoxide?

    Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas that can be deadly if inhaled in large amounts. It is produced when fuels such as wood, gasoline, propane, and natural gas burn incompletely. Because it is difficult to detect, CO poisoning can be a serious hazard, particularly in enclosed spaces such as homes and vehicles.  

    One of the most common sources of CO in homes is the furnace, which can produce the gas if it is not properly maintained or ventilated. Other sources of CO in homes include gas stoves, gas water heaters, and gas dryers. Wood stoves and fireplaces can also produce CO if they are not properly ventilated.  

    Symptoms of CO poisoning include headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, and shortness of breath. In severe cases, it can lead to unconsciousness and death. Children, the elderly, and people with respiratory conditions are especially vulnerable to CO poisoning.  

    To protect your home and family from carbon monoxide poisoning, there are several steps you can take:

    1. Install and maintain CO detectors in your home, you can additionally consider a monitored CO system to protect your home while you’re away.  
    2. Keep your furnace, water heater, and other gas appliances in good working order, and have them inspected regularly by a qualified technician.  
    3. Make sure that your home is well-ventilated, particularly when using gas appliances.  
    4. Never use a gas stove or oven to heat your home.  
    5. Never leave a car running in an attached garage, even with the door open.  
    6. Avoid using portable fuel-burning appliances, such as camping stoves, inside your home or any other enclosed space.  

    By following these simple steps, you can help protect yourself and your family from the dangers of carbon monoxide. 

    Additionally, residents of rental properties should know about their landlord’s responsibility to maintain adequate carbon monoxide detection. To learn more about   Ontario carbon monoxide detection requirements, read here.

  • Fireplace Safety Tips: Best Practices to Keep Your Home Safe

    Fireplaces can be a cozy and attractive addition to any home, but it’s important to follow safety guidelines to prevent accidents and fires. Here are some fireplace safety tips to keep in mind: 

    Safe Practices

    1. Have your fireplace inspected and cleaned annually by a professional. This will help ensure that your fireplace is in good working order and reduce the risk of a chimney fire. 
    1. Use a fireplace screen to prevent sparks and embers from escaping the fireplace and starting a fire. 
    1. Only burn dry, seasoned wood in your fireplace. Wet or green wood can produce more smoke and creosote, increasing the risk of a chimney fire. 
    1. Use a proper fire starter to ignite the fire, rather than accelerants like gasoline or kerosene. These can be extremely dangerous and increase the risk of a fire spreading quickly. 
    1. Keep a fire extinguisher nearby in case of emergencies. 

    Greater Prevention

    1. Never leave a fire unattended, and make sure the fire is completely extinguished before you go to bed or leave the house. 
    1. Keep children and pets away from the fireplace when it is in use and teach them about the dangers of fire. 
    1. Install monitored smoke alarms and have them tested regularly. 

    Make sure you have working smoke detectors on every floor of your home. These devices can detect smoke or fire and give you and your family a chance to evacuate safely. If you have a monitored smoke detector system, an agent will also be alerted and can dispatch emergency services to your home for quick response. 

    Don’t take the risk – make sure you have a smoke detector system in place to protect your family and your home. By following these safety tips, you can enjoy your fireplace without worrying about accidents or fires.  

    You can learn more about our residential smoke detector systems here.

  • Fall Safety Tips

    Fall Safety Tips

    Fall is here, the days have gotten shorter, the temperatures are cooler, and the leaves are starting to change colour. After a great summer, it’s time to get back into the swing of regularly scheduled household chores. It’s also the time to get ready for winter.
    Here are a few fall security tips and safety tips that will keep you safe and secure all season:

    Check your heating and cooling systems
    •  The air conditioner has been turned off or put away, its almost time to turn on the heat. Take this time to get your heating and cooling systems serviced and inspected. Make sure there are no electrical problems, cracked pipes or clogged filters. Damaged systems can cause serious problems including fires.

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    Remember to check your smoke detectors
    •  We’ve turned back the clocks and now it’s time to check your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they’re working correctly. Doing so could save your life. This is a great opportunity to upgrade to monitored smoke detectors and carbon detectors on your security system for even greater security.

    Improve your lighting
    •  Criminals prefer to take advantage of the darkness when committing crimes. During this time of year, the days are shorter and the nights are longer. This means that there’s more darkness for criminals to work with. Installing motion-activated lighting on your property is an easy and cost-effective way to improve your security.

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    Clean up your yard
    •  Rake leaves, clean gutters and perform maintenance on your property before the winter arrives. Doing so will keep your home safer and reduce the risk of floods, clogged drains and other issues.

    Stock up on emergency supplies for winter
    •  Make sure you have shovels, ice salt and ice scrapers at home and in the car. It’s better to get them now before you need them than to be stranded without them during the first winter storm.

    By being proactive and taking some precautions, you can be sure to have a safe, happy and secure fall. Take advantage of our Fall Life Safety special – buy 2 wireless smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors, get 10% off! Call 1-800-265-5317 or just CLICK HERE.

  • Social Media

    Social Media

    Social networking sites

    Social networking sites are now a primary source for communicating and keeping in touch with friends and family. You share pictures, post updates and reveal all sorts of personal information about yourself – which makes these sites prime targets for criminal activity.

    Social-Media

    What are the risks?

    • Your personal information could be stolen by a cyber criminal, putting your identity and accounts at risk.
    • The personal information you share online could give cyber criminals enough to piece together your email address and password.
    • Cyber criminals could gain access to any account that has a password recovery service and use any saved information to make purchases.
    • Links in messages from cyber criminals posing as someone you know could be a part of a phishing attack trying to trick you into sharing personal information or contain malware that infects your computer.
    • Geotagged photos are photos that have geographical information, like your current location, added to them – and today, most smartphones and digital cameras have a function that automatically geotags all your photos unless you turn it off.  Geotags can expose where you live, when you’re traveling and even what car you drive, which could make you a target for robbery.
    • When you update your status with your whereabouts on a regular basis, you could tip someone off to your routine, and invite real-life threats like robberies, break-ins or stalking.
    • If you add “friends” you don’t know, you could become the victim of a scam.
    • Apps deleted from your account may not be fully deleted – the creator may still have access to your information.
    • If you don’t have a strong password, others could gain access to your profile and pose as you – and potentially send out spam or fake posts that are damaging to you.
    • Potential employers could search social networking sites to get a sense of your character. If you’ve uploaded damaging or embarrassing photos or posts to your social network account, you could hurt your reputation and your chances of employment.

    Three of the easiest things you can do to be sure of your privacy on social networking sites are:

    • Choose a strong password that you change often
    • Take the time to set your privacy setting to control who can see what
    • Always think carefully about any information you choose to share online

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    To add our award winning app Total Connect to your your security system, call 1-800-265-5317, or just CLICK HERE.

  • Winter Home Safety Tips

    Winter Home Safety Tips

    You should always be thinking fire safety around the house, but maybe a little more at this time of year, because we have more appliances to plug in. If you haven’t changed the batteries in your smoke detector for a while, do so! Make sure your family has a well rehearsed escape plan as well.

    • Do a quick check around the house to make sure there are no flammable substances near your furnace.
    • Don’t put your space heater too close to your bed, curtains, or furniture. Shut them off when you’re not using them, and never leave them unattended. Do not use them to dry off wet clothing like mittens or hats.
    • If you have a chimney, make sure it totally clear so your fire can breathe. Do a quick visual inspection of the bricks on the outside to see that it is in good condition. Keep matched, lighters and candles away from children and pets.
    • While doing your outside inspection, look for bad windowsills, loose shingles and slanting concrete from the snow and wind.
    • Check all the outdoor light fixtures.

    For more safety tips, or to schedule a free security evaluation call 1-800-265-5317 or just CLICK HERE.