The Ultimate Home Fire Prevention Checklist

0
73
fire prevention

A little over 350,000 home fires happen every year. With an average US home selling for about $227,000, that’s around $79.5 billion in raw property damage alone.

Of course, that can’t account for the personal nightmare of actually losing a home. Fortunately, most home fires come from predictable sources. Even better, you can deploy some home safety fire prevention tips to minimize the risk to your home.

Keep your home and family safe with this fire prevention checklist.

Check Your Smoke Alarms

Smoke alarms provide you and your family with a critical warning system for a fire. Of course, your smoke alarms face the same problems as any other piece of technology. They need power, and they fail sometimes.

Make a point of testing your smoke alarms on a monthly basis. This ensures that you spot a faulty alarm early. Also, replace the batteries in the alarm every year.

Get Your Electrical System Inspected

A faulty electrical system is one of the more causes of a house fire. Some houses have outdated wiring that can lead to shorts or sparks.

Some homes cannot support the electrical needs driven by a wider range of common electrical devices. This can overload the electrical system and, again, trigger fires.

Get a certified electrician in for a thorough inspection of your electrical panel, as well as your overall wiring system. The wiring is especially important because a new panel doesn’t necessarily mean new wiring.

Limit Space Heater Usage

Problems with or misuse of heating equipment is another one of the major causes of fires. Ideally, you can get by without using space heaters at all. If so, that’s a big step toward home fire prevention.

If not, make sure that you don’t leave space heaters unattended. Keep children clear of them as well. For more advice on using space heaters safely, check out these space heater tips.

Kitchen Safety

The kitchen is another hotspot for where home fires begin. As tempting as it may prove, don’t leave food cooking unattended for any length of time.

Clean grease off of your stovetop quickly, as grease is a flammable material. Don’t leave towels or sponges near the stovetop during or after cooking.

Don’t leave electrical appliances such as mixers or toasters plugged in near the kitchen sink. Contact with water can create sparks or damaged outlets.

Fire Prevention Means Good Habits

Aside from an electrical inspection, most home fire prevention begins with good habits. If you don’t already have those good habits, develop a home fire prevention checklist.

A fire prevention checklist gives you actionable steps that you can follow on a regular basis. You get the psychological payoff of task completion every time you tick a box on your checklist. Plus, the checklist helps you develop good habits.

Once you get your home settled into a fire prevention routine, though, you can always explore other home improvement options. Take a look at our home improvement section for some inspiration.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here