Introduction

It’s very understandable to think that home security is all about securing your home against crimes by intruders. However, home security is really to do with keeping your home safe and, as many Americans have found out in recent years, it’s more than just criminals that we need to protect our homes from. Flooding, fires and high winds are three natural phenomena that have caused great devastation to many American homes in recent years. Whilst you will do your best to protect your loved ones from these natural phenomena, as an individual you probably won’t be able to prevent them. However, have you thought about how secure your home is from things like fire or flooding from within it?

Home security and fires

There is absolutely no excuse for not have some fire alarm and prevention systems in your home. You can make your home a veritable fortress against any potential intruders - but how secure is your home against the threat of an accidental fire starting within it? Recent research has shown that children can be immune to the sound of a ‘siren’ style detector smoke alarm, so if you already have smoke detector alarms fitted do consider replacing them with the latest in vocal smoke detector alarms. If for any reason you haven’t got any smoke detector alarms - you should install vocal smoke detectors now; these simple and relatively cheap devices will literally save lives. Unless you have a very large home that is full of expensive art or antique furniture, installing a sprinkler system may well prove not to be cost effective. However, having fire extinguishers strategically located around your home will, if your smoke detector alarms are sounded, let you respond quickly to the scene of a fire and possibly extinguish it yourself before it gets out of hand. Do consult with a reputable guide to ensure that you buy the correct type of fire extinguishers for certain rooms like the kitchen etc. A big risk for anyone trapped in a fire is Carbon Monoxide poisoning; this gas is also a potential and silent killer if you have any faulty gas fittings in your home. You should, of course, always keep gas appliances well maintained; but in the event of an unexpected leak of gas in your home Carbon Monoxide poisoning as well as an increased fire risk, is a real problem. You can significantly reduce any threat of Carbon Monoxide poisoning by fitting Carbon Monoxide gas detectors near gas appliances in your home.

Home security and flooding

Anyone sitting down and listing the number of ways their home could become flooded will probably be quite shocked at the number of things they can think of, way beyond someone leaving the bathtub or sink faucet on. If your home becomes flooded you will at least be left with a large ‘mop up’ headache, if not also being several thousand dollars out of pocket and having to move out of your home for a while. So, the sooner you know something’s flooding in your home - the sooner you can deal with it, so home automation sensors like installing a flood detector in your bathroom, kitchen and basement make sense. One flooding risk that you can easily eliminate is the risk of flooding due to pipes bursting in freezing temperatures. All you need to do to improve your home security in this matter is to fit a freeze alarm near a water pipe at most threat to freezing temperatures. On hearing the alarm you can turn up your heating system to prevent the pipes form freezing, or have it wired in to your heating system to automatically raise the temperature.

Home security and surveillance

If you’re away from home you might still want to be able to see what’s going on in your home, just to double check that all’s well. By fitting surveillance cameras in your home and connecting them to the internet you can now look in on your home from just about anywhere in the world, should you need that extra bit of reassurance that all your home security features are working fine.