Now that you know how to CYA in the Car we’ll focus on the home. You spend a lot of time in your house, and a lot (all?) of your most valuable possessions are in there. Not to mention, y’know, your family and pets and the actual living beings you care about!
There are a number of threats to your home security and safety. Some come from other human beings, but some are simply acts of nature. While you may never be able to prevent all the bad things in the world, you can at least mitigate some of the damage and reduce your losses!
1. Firesafe
If you keep important documents in the home, you need a firesafe. While this safe is not completely protected — a thief could still pick it up and carry it off to crack it elsewhere — it can protect you in the event of a fire. Losing everything in a house fire is among the worst things that can happen these days. Not only do you lose everything you used on a daily basis, you can also suffer the lost of precious, irreplaceable family photos and hard-to-replace documentations. You can make your nightmare after a house-fire a little better if you have the protection of a fire-safe for your most important documents.
2. Surveillance Camera
Creepy neighbors or creeping animals can damage your property. While a surveillance camera won’t stop a malicious neighbor or a nasty woodland creature, having video footage of these incidents can help you recoup the costs of fixing the damages. Surveillance cameras are a great way to protect your property if something goes wrong. For $22, you can’t go wrong on this one.
3. Security Bar
If you have a sliding door, you’re probably aware that they’re pretty big targets for criminals. A security bar for your door can make it that much harder for a criminal to get in. Of course and naturally, a truly motivated criminal will get in… but many criminals are looking for the easy pickings. If you make it clear you’ll put up a fight with a security bar attached to your door, you may just deter a criminal from trying to break in.
4. Radon Test Kit
So we’re getting away from physical security against other people into some of the inhuman things that can hurt your family and home. Radon doesn’t seem as dangerous as a hardened criminal… but it can seriously mess you up in the long term. Radon poisoning can lead to lung cancer if it’s not addressed quickly — and even when it doesn’t yield lung cancer, living with coughing up blood and constant pneumonia and bronchitis is no picnic.
Radon testing can help you ascertain if the levels of Radon are too high in your home. With a cheap testing kit, you can determine if you need to hire a professional to keep your family safe. Remember, though — if everyone’s already sick, skip the cheap crap and get thee to a doctor and a professional ASAP.
5. Smoke and CO Detector
Pretty much every home has a smoke detector these days — and CO testers are quite common as well. If your home doesn’t have these items, however, you need to get them ASAP. Smoke detectors can give your family precious minutes to get out of a burning house — minutes that seriously matter. Carbon monoxide detectors can literally save your life — remember that CO is an odorless gas that puts you to sleep and kills you silently.
6. Water Alarms for Flooding
If you’re 20 miles away from the nearest water source, you probably don’t need to worry about flooding… or do you? Pretty much every modern human dwelling has pipes running through it, directing water to your sinks, toilets, washing machines, and more. There is water in your home, and you do have to worry about it! Flood damage can get incredibly expensive incredibly quickly — and water alarms can help you stop the damage before it gets really bad.
