Winter Home Safety Tips

Alabama is gearing up for temps in the teens this week. Whether you are a first-time homeowner or have been a homeowner for years, we all need to know how to prep our home for below freezing temps. Follow these basic steps to stay safe at home this winter:

Check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Test them to ensure they work. If your models use replaceable batteries, change the batteries now rather than wait for them to run low. A general rule is you need new smoke detectors if they are more than 10 years old and replace carbon monoxide detectors that are more than five years old. 

Get your chimney, fireplace, furnace, water heater, and roof inspected (and cleaned, if needed). Chimneys and fireplaces account for nearly 3 in every 10 fires caused by home heating equipment, and carbon monoxide poisoning can result from blocked flues and chimneys.

Practice safe heating and ventilation. Definitely don’t keep anything flammable or combustible within three feet of heating equipment. Turn your space heaters and other portable devices off when you leave a room or go to sleep. Avoid using your oven to heat the house. Gas ovens can result in carbon monoxide poisoning. Electric ovens are slightly safer, but they can still malfunction and cause a fire if they’re left on for hours. Ovens simply aren’t meant to heat homes.Here are some other safe heating tips:

• • Use only manufacturer-recommended fuels in fuel-burning space heaters.
  • Use durable fireplace screens to keep embers from shooting around the room.
  • Blow out candles when you leave the room or go to sleep.
  • Clean your heating equipment. Dirty equipment causes about a quarter of home heating equipment fires.

Insulate or winterize water hoses, sprinkler systems, pipes, and attics. Keep your house heat at 55 degrees Fahrenheit or higher to avoid burst pipes. Disconnect garden hoses, and drain sprinkler systems and outdoor faucets.

Prep home, vehicle, and pet emergency kits in case of power outage, heat loss, or other crises. Include these supplies in your home kit: Two-way radio, cellphone charger, flashlights, lanterns, batteries, clothing, blankets, hand and foot warmers, and a minimum of three days’ water, medications, and nonperishable food. In your pet kit, include a few days’ worth of food and water and blankets to keep them warm. When packing vehicle emergency kits, think about supplies such as socks, hats, mittens, and blankets, ice scraper, jumper cables, flashlight, and batteries. It’s also great to keep a Swiss Army knife, windshield cleaner, first aid kit, nonperishable food, and bottled water in your car in the winter.

Know where to go and what to do in case an emergency occurs. For instance, find the cold weather shelters in your area and arrange for friends to watch your pets if necessary. Establish contact with various service companies ahead of time in case you eventually require someone to fix frozen pipes or repair your roof.

Use outdoor lighting that works from afar. The days grow shorter in winter, but you don’t have to struggle or slip in the dark. Outdoor lighting options include smart bulbs, motion sensors, and photocells. You can mix and match using motion sensors for stairways, and both photocells and motion sensors for floodlights, security, and pathway lights. Smart bulbs allow you to turn lights on and off remotely whenever you want or according to a set schedule. They also come in handy to create the illusion you’re home when you are not.