Home Safety Tips for Spring

Spring is upon us! As every responsible homeowner already knows, the arrival of springtime also means that they need to look into improving the security of their home. Some homeowners choose to invest in one of the top home security systems, while others choose a more personal approach. Regardless of which group you may fall into, taking some time to ensure that your home is as safe as possible is always a good idea. Most of our home safety tips for spring involve inspection and maintenance, but some may be a bit more complicated.

5 Top Home Safety Tips for Spring

1. Create a spring safety checklist
2. Inspect gutters, chimneys, and roofs
3. Verify that your outdoor lighting and motion detection is in good order
4. Double-check and test your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors
5. Do some landscaping

Aside from these seven tips, you may also want to make sure that your HVAC filters and vents are clean and to check whether they need any adjusting. Of course, make sure to verify whether your garage and shed are as secure as possible, since you may want to keep them open during the spring. Lastly, you may want to give home fire prevention and safety another pass, even though summer may be a few months away. By doing this now, you may save a bit of time during the summer, when you may have other things to take care of.

Now, let’s take a more detailed look into what you will be doing, and why.

Creating a spring safety checklist

Home safety and maintenance may sound simple but is anything but. There will be dozens (even hundreds, in some cases) of tasks that you will need to perform during your routine spring maintenance and safety pass. Since some tasks will inevitably be of small consequence and easily forgotten, you will need a way to keep track of them. The best way to do so is to create a spring home security maintenance checklist. Ideally, all members of the household would contribute, as everyone might have some great ideas on how to improve the safety of your home. At the very least, ask all of the home’s occupants about their thoughts on safety. Whenever you hear or think of a task that needs doing, simply write it down.

To help you get the list started, you may want to write down all of the other home safety tips for spring from this article, starting with:

Inspecting gutters, chimneys, and roofs

During the fall and winter, your gutters, chimneys, and even roofs are going to accumulate plenty of dead leaves. While these leaves might not be an immediate security concern on their own, their presence might signal that the homeowner is not paying much attention to their property. This, in turn, may invite burglars to try and sneak in. By removing all of the leaves and other debris, you can both improve your home security and make your home look nicer. If you are not comfortable around a ladder, you may want to seek professional assistance, however. Make sure to also inspect the gutters, chimneys, and roofs for any damage, especially if you have experienced a winter storm or two.

Verifying that your outdoor lighting and motion detection is in good order

The arrival of springtime makes a perfect occasion to finally check for any missing or inactive light bulbs. While you are doing that, you might want to consider replacing any old-fashioned light bulbs with LED bulbs. You may also want to pair them with your home security system, so you can turn them on and off through an app on your phone. If you are concerned about the additional cost, just remember that improving your home’s outdoor lighting improves home security as well! Furthermore, if your home security system has motion detection capabilities, you will want to verify that they are working properly. Alternatively, you may want to look into adding motion detection to your existing home security layers.

If you really want to make your home as safe as possible, you can also combine your outdoor lighting with video analytics-capable cameras. This will allow you to set up a home security system that is completely unintrusive, yet extremely reliable.

Double-checking and testing your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors

Checking your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors is one of the most important home safety tips for spring that we can give you. Even if you have done so somewhat recently, it is never a bad idea to do it again. Making sure that your smoke alarms and detectors are in proper order can literally mean the difference between life and death. Therefore, take some time to replace the batteries and test every single smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector you may have. If you haven’t already done so, you may want to consider directly connecting all of these devices to your home security system. This will allow you to easily monitor their status and will make subsequent maintenance much easier.

Landscaping

The last one of our home safety tips for spring is to avoid having any overgrown or dead trees, shrubs, or hedges around your property. These can be used as hiding spots and can block your security camera’s line of vision. Furthermore, neglecting your landscaping can make your home look like it is not lived in, which can potentially entice criminals to pay your home a visit. If you want to deter most burglars and other unsavory individuals, it is always best to present them with an image of a well-maintained home.

For more information about improving your home security, the best home security systems on the market, and anything else that may concern the safety of your home, the Consumer Opinion Guide is your go-to resource! Within our vast knowledge database, you can find all the answers you seek!