Add These Home Safety Items to Your Home During a Winter Audit

The seasonal transition to winter is an excellent time to audit your residence and look for unsafe aspects. Then, minimize those risks by purchasing appropriate home safety items. That way, you can be well-prepared for threats and emergencies rather than scrambling once they happen. 

Fire Extinguisher 

Although fires can happen at any time, they are especially frequent in the winter months.  Many factors contribute to this, including people spending more time inside and being more dependent on heating appliances and products that can catch on fire. A related aspect is that this season features celebrations that center around entertaining and cooking.

For example, research shows Thanksgiving is the top day for house fires in the United States, and the blazes are three to four times more common then than other days. That is primarily because so many people cook items for their celebratory feasts. Additionally, some households use candles, casting an elegant glow on their carefully cooked fare. Although that choice adds ambience — and often pleasant aromas — to the settings, it can also raise fire risks. 

Additionally, problems occur if people put holiday decorations too close to heat sources. Moreover, if they opt to mark Christmas with real trees but do not water them often enough, those can catch on fire. 

These realities do not mean you should become a Scrooge for the sake of safety, but they emphasize the importance of having a fire extinguisher so you can react quickly if needed. 

Consider the Kidde FA110 Multi-Purpose Fire Extinguisher 1A10BC. If you’ve ever noticed how many commercial establishments have several fire extinguishers for different types of blazes and felt concerned about that specificity, this option is a convenient solution. It works on the most common home fire types (trash, wood and paper, flammable liquids and gases and electrical equipment). 

The strap bracket makes it easy to mount the extinguisher in a prominent place within your abode. And, because people must know how to use home safety items correctly to get the intended results, this item has instructions printed clearly on the front. 

Sidewalk Salt

Freezing temperatures can make sidewalks incredibly slippery, and it is not always easy to tell if the surface is safe for walking. That is why it is so important to check your supply of sidewalk salt during a home safety audit this winter. It is an easy-to-apply topical treatment to melt ice that accumulated on the surface. 

This preventive measure is particularly important if you have older adults in your home or plan to welcome some as guests this winter. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) representatives studied non-fatal unintentional falls in adults older than 65. Their findings indicated these events are the top cause of injury among people of this age group.

Although falls are common, they are preventable, and one way to reduce them is to modify the home. Some more invasive possibilities include installing better or more handrails or adding ramps to eliminate the chance of falling while going up or down stairs. However, sidewalk salt is a practical and simple option that you can use all winter long. 

Since sidewalk salt can irritate the skin, read and follow the instructions before using it. If you have pets or live in an area where many people do, consider selecting a pet-safe option. One possibility is HARRIS Kind Melt Pet-Friendly Ice and Snow Melter. Its magnesium-chloride formula works immediately. Additionally, this option is less corrosive to concrete than versions containing sodium chloride and calcium chloride. 

Another plus is that you can purchase it in several sizes depending on how much icy weather your region typically gets each year. The included scoop makes it easy to spread without directly touching the salt. 

Portable Heater

When people think about essential home safety items, they often consider the things that will help them deal with emergencies. During winter, that usually means ensuring they have items that will help them stay warm during power outages or heating system failures.

Cold weather causes numerous bodily changes, including increased respiration rate and decreased blood flow to the brain. While reviewing home safety items during a winter audit, occupants should think about how well they would tolerate colder temperatures if their home heating system were unavailable. 

Some individuals — including those with limited body fat or chronic health conditions — are especially sensitive to the cold. Even relatively brief periods without heat can have comparably much more severe consequences for them. Many people living in the at least 63 million homes with smart devices program them to maintain pleasant temperatures. 

However, planning what to do when things go wrong is important. Heaters are among the many home amenities that people tend not to notice unless there are problems with them. Think proactively and remember that there will likely be some occasions over the years when your home is not the comfortably toasty place you expect in the winter. 

Heaters that do not require electricity are some wise home safety items to buy as you go through your winter audit and look for vulnerabilities. Most campers are already familiar with these items, but consumers don’t always realize that many models work for indoor use, too. One is the VESTA Self-Powered Camping Indoor/Outdoor Heater & Stove. It uses forced air to heat rooms measuring up to 200 square feet. The stove component also ensures users can continue cooking or boiling water without conventional appliances. 

Carbon Monoxide Detector

An easy but necessary part of a winter safety audit is to check smoke detectors and change their batteries when needed. However, households should also strongly consider treating carbon monoxide detectors as home safety items to put on their lists. Carbon monoxide poisoning risks rise in the winter as more people use furnaces, gas heaters, and generators in or around their residences.

A product such as the X-Sense XC01-R Carbon Monoxide Detector Alarm with Digital LCD Display can warn occupants if levels become dangerously high, sounding a warning so they will evacuate. The backlit screen and color-coded system makes it easy to get details about a situation at a glance. Since people can use the detector as a wall-mounted or freestanding device, it is an excellent choice for those who travel frequently or split their time between multiple homes. 

Since the replaceable battery should last five years and the built-in CO2 sensor has a decade-long life span, households can trust that this product is among the home safety items they only need to buy occasionally. 

Many people rightfully consider carbon monoxide detectors as some of the essential home safety items they own. However, they can prevent residents from addressing problems at their source. More specifically, a crucial part of a winter audit is is scheduling service visits so technicians can inspect all fuel-burning appliances to ensure they work safely before the cold weather hits.

Include Home Safety Items in the Seasonal Budget 

Households often spend more during the winter for various reasons. Perhaps they need to buy holiday gifts for everyone in their large families. Alternatively, they might have vacation plans or live in areas where frigid temperatures require most people to expand their home heating budgets for comfort’s sake. 

Even in these cases and similar circumstances, it is  smart to tweak spending plans to include home safety items like those mentioned here. They are practical purchases that can keep you and your family safer this winter — and the rest of the year.