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Spring Fire Safety Tips to Keep in Mind

We “sprang forward” for daylight savings time recently. Did you check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors? This is an important part of spring fire safety. In many regions, working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are the law. For example, in Ontario, every home must have a working smoke alarm installed on every level and outside all sleeping areas. This is an important part of spring fire safety. Plus, as of last April, any home in the province that has an attached garage or a fuel burning appliance installed must also have working carbon monoxide alarms outside all sleeping areas. It’s very important that you take the time to make sure that these systems are working correctly. A smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector can save your life. As a general rule of thumb, it’s a good idea to test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors at least twice a year as part of your spring fire safety plan. Doing this check when the clocks change for daylight savings time is a good idea as it’s easier to remember. If your alarms are battery operated, make sure to change the batteries so that your alarm works when you need it. If you have a hardwired alarm, test it to make sure that it’s functioning correctly. However, spring isn’t just a good time to check on alarms, it’s also a good time to do an overall fire safety review. Spring is the time to get outside, enjoy the weather and to make repairs that may have been overlooked during the long winter. Here are some tips for spring fire safety:

Focusing on Spring Fire Safety

• Visually inspect all electrical cords and outlets, both inside and outside your home. Replace worn or damaged cords and repair any outlets that may have been damaged by winter weather.
• Clean up any debris that may have built up in your yard. Once the snow melts, you might find a lot of miscellaneous debris in your yard and some of it could be hazardous.
• Cut back branches and remove dead tree limbs and grass. These are fire hazards and should be removed.
• Check your fire extinguishers and get them serviced as needed.
• Review your family’s fire safety plan and escape routes.
• Clean eaves troughs thoroughly. Make sure that you use a sturdy and reliable ladder.
• If you have a barbecue, get it cleaned and serviced. Make sure that all fuel tanks and lines are safe and replace any damaged parts before you start using it.
• Clean back any trees, bushes or other debris that could be obscuring your house number from the street. It’s important that emergency vehicles are able to easily identify your home.
For more information on what you can do to protect your home and plan for spring fire safety, please contact our experienced team. Fire detection and carbon monoxide detection and monitoring services save lives. Find out how SafeTech can protect your family and provide greater peace of mind.

Facts to Consider When Having Security Cameras Installed

Security cameras are an excellent way to keep your property safe. Whether you are looking to secure a home or business location, having security cameras installed provides you with an extra layer of security protection and peace of mind. Video surveillance cameras catch criminals in the act. No criminal wants his or her face or actions captured on video. This footage can be used by law enforcement to identify criminals and determine exactly what happened at your property in the event of a crime. Security camera footage often leads to arrests and convictions. Criminals know this and, therefore, they avoid locations that have security cameras installed. When it comes to having security cameras installed, there are a few important points that you should keep in mind.

What to Think About When Having Security Cameras Installed

If you are considering security cameras, it’s important to understand the different options out there. It’s also very important to consider your needs, which will likely be different than just about anyone else’s.

What area do you want to cover?
– The size and shape of the area you’re planning on covering will determine a lot about the camera set-up that you require. A very large area, an area with many rooms or a location with lots of nooks and crannies will likely require more cameras than a smaller area or a single room.

What are the lighting conditions?
– Will your cameras be working in low-light conditions? Is there a lot of bright sunlight that could negatively affect the quality of the footage? Do conditions change throughout the day? These are all facts to keep in mind.

How much video storage is required?
– Do want to retain the footage from your cameras for one day? Two weeks? Several months? Be sure to choose a set-up and a hard drive capacity that suits your needs.

Do you want remote access?
– Many modern security cameras can be remotely accessed from smart phones, tablets and computers. Do you want to be able to view the footage from your cameras remotely? Do you want to receive alerts when motion is detected? If so, you’ll need a smart security set-up for your location.

Do you want central monitoring?
– Another good security choice is to have security cameras installed that are connected to a central monitoring station. If a trouble condition is detected, station staff can log in and view your cameras, giving them important details about the situation taking place.

For more information on having security cameras installed and details on the cameras and security services that we offer, please contact a member of our loss prevention team today.

Physical Security Bars Keep You Safe

When many people think of home security, they think of alarm systems and security cameras. This makes sense as these tools are excellent ways to protect your property. However, combining these tools with physical security tools (such as window bars) will give you even better protection and will likely prevent burglars from entering your premises in the first place.
There are a number of reasons for this.

One is that physical security bars are a strong visual deterrent. Criminals see a property that has bars installed and they often consider moving on to a different location. It simply isn’t worth it to them to try and break into a property that has this level of security. Criminals take the path of least resistance.

Why Physical Security Bars are Effective

The effectiveness of security bars is a key reason that they are such a good choice. While alarm systems and security cameras are very effective at catching criminals in the act and identifying them so that they will be held responsible for their crimes, security bars physically keep criminals out of a property. This fact makes them the perfect tool to complete a security system. If a criminal simply can’t get inside, he or she can’t steal anything from your property. Installing security bars can also save you money. When security bars are installed at a home or business premises, owners will not need to pay an insurance deductible as required following a loss due to break in. This is because window bars make it less likely that the window glass on the property is being broken. In addition, having a comprehensive security system (such as one that includes cameras, alarms and security bars) will reduce your overall insurance costs. This is because many home insurance providers offer a discount on homes that are properly secured.

Window bars are usually made with a thick grade of steel that will make the job of cutting through them very tedious and onerous. Most bars come with a white or black powder coating, allowing them to easily blend into the window. Bars are usually installed on basement or shop windows, in doors or doorways, however they can also be used to divide a room and secure internal spaces. Bars can be custom-designed to fit most openings and can be used in the form of a gate that will expand or contract in size. As you can see, there are a number of benefits to having physical security bars installed on your property. When combined with other types of security tools, they increase the overall effectiveness of the security set-up, keeping your home and your family safe.

For more information on how physical security bars can protect your property, please contact a member of our loss prevention team. At SafeTech, we understand the crucial importance of layering different types of security technology together in order to keep people safe.

Smart Home Technology Doesn’t Just Make Life Easier, it can Save Lives

When many people think of smart homes, they think of homes that allow you to control your home remotely, receive alerts when you’re away and make life easier. This is all true about smart home technology and all of these uses are benefits to installing this technology. However, the benefits don’t stop there. You can also use smart home technology to keep track of various appliances, devices and locations in your home. This means that you can use the smart home technology to check if your children are home from school, if your water heater has malfunctioned and is flooding or if your elderly relative has gotten up and opened the fridge. These features add convenience, but they can also save lives. For example, you can have sensors installed in the home of a loved one who may require additional care, such as seniors or those with medical conditions. These sensors will allow you to know if your loved one has turned the lights on in the morning or opened the fridge door to prepare breakfast. You can even install motion detectors to make sure they’re moving around the house when they should be. If you see that they are not following their regular schedule, you can investigate more thoroughly. Receiving an alert that lets you know something could be wrong with a loved one could save a life.

Other Smart Home Technology Benefits

This also applies to children. You can receive an alert to let you know that your child has arrived home from school and even access your security cameras to make sure that they’re home safe and sound.

Another way that smart home technology can save lives is by alerting you to potentially dangerous activity. For example, smart home sensors can be installed to alert you when someone enters your driveway. These alerts could prevent a potentially serious crime such as a home invasion. Smart home technology can be integrated with your security system to provide even greater benefit. You can receive an alert when carbon monoxide is detected in your home, allowing you to react no matter where you are. Carbon monoxide can be deadly and is almost impossible for humans to detect. An early warning of the presence of this gas could save your life and the lives of your loved ones.

As you can see, in addition to providing greater convenience, smart home technology can also save lives. For more information on these security tools, please contact us today.

Holiday Home Security Tips to Protect your Property

During the holiday season, many people travel to visit loved ones, attend events or just to take a vacation. Unfortunately, criminals know this and they wait for this time of the year to strike. This is why holiday home security is so important. Obviously, criminals don’t want to be caught in the act of committing a crime. They would much rather break into a property where no one is at home.

When it comes to holiday home security, it’s important to remember that criminals often scout locations for quite some time in order to make sure that no one is home when they break in. They may even take to social media to see if a potential victim has recently posted about an upcoming vacation. For this reason, it’s wise to avoid making it obvious that you’re traveling. Suitcases tied to the roof of your car, Facebook posts about your trip, and other obvious signs that you’re going away should be avoided. This is important for holiday home security.

Advice to Improve Holiday Home Security

Here are some other holiday home security tips for protecting your home when you’re on vacation.

Make You Home Look Occupied

– There are many simple things that you can do to ensure that criminals don’t realize that you’re not at home. This is crucial for good holiday home security. Setting your lights on timers is a good idea, as is placing a TV or radio on a timer to create some noise. It’s also a good idea to leave your curtains or blinds in the position that you normally do so that criminals won’t realize that anything is different.

Take Care of Chores

– It becomes obvious that no one is home if your snow hasn’t been shovelled and your mail is piling up by your front door. This is bad for holiday home security and can make your home a target. Before you leave, make sure to arrange for someone to take care of these chores. Have someone come by and shovel your snow, clean off your car and handle any other chores that need to be completed. Contact the post office and have them suspend your mail while you’re away and do the same for magazine or newspaper subscriptions.

Check Your Locks and Alarm System

– Before you leave, make sure that all locks on all doors and windows are functioning properly. Test your alarm system as well. You want to make sure these are working properly while you are away to ensure holiday home security.

Consider Smart Home Monitoring

– For added peace of mind and holiday home security, consider installing a smart home monitoring service. These allow you to get instant notifications on a mobile device as soon as there is any trouble at home. If you have your video surveillance cameras monitored, you can even check in on your home from nearly anywhere in the world and view live video. Check out more information on smart home monitoring here.

By following these holiday home security tips, you can drastically reduce the likelihood of a criminal breaking into your property. If you make your home look like a difficult target, most criminals will simply move on and search for something easier. For more information on what you can do to protect your property, more holiday home security tips, or for a free risk assessment, please contact one of our experienced loss prevention professionals today.

A Smart Thermostat that Adjusts Itself!

Smart homes are more than just alarm systems. When you have smart home technology installed in your home, you have the ability to get complete control over your home from anywhere. But that isn’t all! Now your Alarm.com powered system has the ability to make intelligent predictions about your schedule and adjust your thermostat to match your activity by using smart thermostat technology.

This not only makes your home more comfortable without having to manually adjust your thermostat, but it also helps you save energy by automatically reducing heat or air conditioning usage when you’re not at home.

A smart thermostat adjusts by using information from your Alarm.com powered system (such as alarm arming state and motion sensor activity) to make predictions as to when you will be at home or away during the week. For example, if you arm your alarm system at 8am and disarm it at 6pm every weekday, the system will learn that you are away from home during those hours and make automatic intelligent adjustments. A smart thermostat also includes an “Activity Patterns” feature that provides you with graphs that display the predictions from the smart thermostats. Customers can use this feature to adjust the predictions and schedules to more closely match their actual activity.

Using the activity patterns feature of the smart thermostat is easy. The graph displays your typical routines based on your past activity. It is colour-coded to show times of day when you will likely be home, away or asleep. By selecting and dragging temperature presets, you can adjust the temperature for these specific times.

For example, if you want it to be cooler when you’re asleep, warmer when you’re at home and even cooler when you’re away from home, you can easily make these adjustments. The smart thermostat system will then adjust the temperature to match your activities with your suggested temperatures, ensuring that you’re comfortable at all times and that you receive incredible energy savings. Once this information is set, it’s set and you won’t have to do anything else to save energy and increase comfort!

For more information on smart thermostat and smart home technology, please contact us today.

Winter Security Tips for a Safe and Happy Season

Now that the colder days and longer nights are here, it’s important that you take steps to ensure your safety and security during the winter by following some winter security tips. You may not be faced with snowstorms and frigid temperatures quite yet, but it’s much better to prepare in advance so that you don’t end up surprised and in danger when the coldest weather hits. Here are some winter security tips that you should keep in mind:

Helpful Winter Security Tips

Protect against the dark

– It gets dark much earlier these days, especially since Daylight Saving Time has ended in most regions. Criminals like to work in the dark. They don’t want to get caught in the act and the best way to do this is to commit crimes in darkness.
– You can protect yourself by installing motion-activated lighting at your property. Not only will this lighting deter criminals, but it will also increase the effectiveness of your security cameras by helping your cameras capture higher quality video. Remember this when thinking of winter security tips.

Prepare for emergencies

– During the winter months, the likelihood of a power outage or other emergency increases. Frozen power lines or fallen trees can leave homes without electricity.
– Have an emergency kit at home for these situations. Your kit should include flashlights, batteries, blankets and other items that you would need to cope with a power outage. This is one of the winter security tips that could apply to anyone.
– You’ll also want to prepare for flooding. Cold temperatures can cause pipes to break, flooding homes and basements. Install flood detectors in your home that will alert you if a flood occurs. You can even have these detectors watched over by your central monitoring system so you’ll always receive an alert no matter where you are.

Be safe with heaters

– Every winter, fires and even deaths are caused by unsafe heating. When it comes to winter security tips, this is important to remember.
– Be sure to keep anything that can burn (blankets, paper, clothing, etc.) at least three feet away from heating equipment such as furnaces, fireplaces or space heaters.
– Never use an oven, BBQ or outdoor heater to heat your home.
– Have all heating equipment checked for safety issues before turning it on for the first time this season.
– Never leave portable heaters unattended.
– Make sure your carbon monoxide detectors are working correctly. You may wish to have these detectors monitored by a central station. This is one of the crucial winter security tips that could save your life. By taking some steps to improve security this season, and following these winter security tips, you can greatly increase the chances of having a safe, happy and secure winter.

Fall Security Tips to Keep You Secure

Now that fall is here, the days are getting shorter, the temperatures are getting cooler, and the leaves are starting to change colour. Fall is a time for getting back into the swing of things following summer and a key time for completing tasks that you put off due to vacations and relaxing in the sun. This includes security tips. It’s a great idea to use this time to get ready for the upcoming winter.

Here are a few fall security tips and safety tips that will keep you safe and secure all season:

Important Fall Security Tips

Service your heating and cooling systems

You’ve probably spent all summer running the air conditioning, and you’ll soon be switching on the heat. Take advantage of the fall weather to get your heating and cooling systems serviced and inspected. Make sure there are no electrical problems, cracked pipes or clogged filters. This is one of the most important fell security tips as damaged systems can cause serious problems including fires.

Remember to check your smoke detectors when you “fall behind”

You roll your clocks backwards on November 1st this year. When you do, remember to check your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they’re working correctly. Doing so could save your life. This is another one of the security tips that you should never forget. You may even want to take this opportunity to upgrade your system to a monitored system for even greater security.

Improve your lighting

Criminals like to take advantage of the darkness to commit crimes. During this time of year, the days are shorter and the nights are longer. This means that there’s more darkness for criminals to work with. Combat this by following theses fall security tips and installing motion-activated lighting on your property.

Clean up your yard

Rake leaves, clean gutters and perform maintenance on your property before the winter arrives. You may not think of these actions as security tips, but doing so will keep your home safer and reduce the risk of floods, clogged drains and other issues.

Stock up on emergency supplies for winter

Make sure you have shovels, ice melting material (such as salt) and ice scrapers on home and in the car. It’s better to get them now before you need them than to be stranded without them during the first winter storm.

By being proactive, following these fall security tips and taking some precautions, you can be sure to have a safe, happy and secure fall.

To help improve fall security, SafeTech is offering a free risk assessment to help improve security at your home. If you have any questions about fall safety or security tips, please do not hesitate to contact one of our loss prevention professionals today.

Protecting your Home on Halloween: Halloween Home Security Tips

Halloween is almost here! While this is a fun time filled with tricks, treats and costumes, it’s also important to remember Halloween home security. Criminals frequently use this occasion to commit crimes. Why? Because it’s an entire night filled with costumes, darkness and lurking around homes. Criminals take advantage of these facts. So how can you protect your home at Halloween? Here are a few Halloween home security tips.

Use Lighting

Criminals like to work in the dark. That’s why lighting is so important. With all the hustle and bustle of Halloween, you want to make sure that you shine a light on potential criminals. Motion-activated lights are a good idea. They turn on when needed and stay off when there’s no one around. You can install them around your property so that you’ll know if someone is lurking near your back door.

Pay Attention

Halloween is a busy time. Between handing out candy, looking after children and enjoying yourself, it’s easy to get distracted. Criminals use this opportunity to strike. The fact that you’ll likely have many people walking around your neighbourhood and coming up to your house can also cause you to become complacent. On any other night, you’d notice someone walking up to your house and spending time there. You’d correctly be suspicious. However, on Halloween, you might not notice this person. An important Halloween home security tip is that you pay attention on Halloween and keep your eyes peeled for trouble.

Criminals Wear Masks Too

On Halloween, you’ll likely encounter a lot of people wearing masks. Many of them will be trick or treaters, but some might be criminals. Not only do criminals take advantage of the day to cause crime, but they also use Halloween to scout out the neighbourhood. Normally, you’d be wary of someone walking down your street in a mask checking out homes but, on Halloween, the behaviour becomes normal. Watch out.

Be Careful Opening your Door

You’ll likely get a lot of knocks on your door on Halloween night. While you’ll likely want to open it up for children and their parents, you don’t want to do the same for a criminal. If someone looks suspicious (such as an adult with no children present) or if it’s very late at night (most trick or treaters don’t knock on doors at 11pm, for example) keep your door shut. This is a Halloween home security tactic that will keep you safe. By following these Halloween home security tips, you can keep your home and your loved ones safe on Halloween night.

Improving Back to School Security

It’s back to school time! It’s a busy time of year for just about everyone. Summer is over and it’s time to get back into new routines, new schedules and new activities. But, between school, work and soccer practice, you might not have time to think about safety and back to school security. However, criminals will. They often use this busy time of year to strike. Read SafeTech security tips and stay safe.

Burglars would rather break into a home when no one is around. That makes back to school time a prime time for home robberies. Criminals know that people are rushing around trying to meet all of their obligations and they use this opportunity to commit crimes. In fact, many criminals stake out locations in advance to learn the routines of those who live in the homes they hope to rob. They then break in when they know that no one will be around.

Therefore, it’s important that you take the time to protect yourself, your family and your property. Here are some back to school SafeTech security tips that can help you.

Home Security & SafeTech Security Tips

Having security technology properly installed in your home is crucial. However, even if you have an alarm system installed, does it provide adequate protection? A number of new advances have taken place in the security industry in recent history. If your alarm system is older, it may not feature all of the tools that modern systems use to provide superior protection. Back to school security checks at this time allow you to review your current security set up and see if any improvements can be made.

For example, is your system monitored? If it’s not, it could sound when there’s a break in, but the chances of anyone responding are very slim. However, with a monitored system, your home is watched by a central monitoring station 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Central station staff can contact the appropriate authorities right away if there is an issue. This is a big back to school security upgrade that can improve your safety.

Modern security systems can also be watched remotely from just about any location with an Internet connection. Did you know that you can watch your security cameras from your smart phone? With a smart home alarm system, it’s possible to do this and more. You can set your alarm, turn your lights on and off, adjust the temperature and even lock your doors from your phone, tablet or PC. You can even use the system to receive alerts and check in on your children when they arrive home from school. This sort of technology not only makes your home safer, but it also offers a higher level of convenience. At this busy time of year, anything that can save you time and provide peace of mind is a great idea. It’s the ultimate in back to school security!

Back to school time is the perfect time to give your property a back to school security audit. Look for any weaknesses in your system and take steps to fix them. SafeTech even offers a free risk assessment so you can see how well your property is protected. Plus, as part of our back to school security special, we’re offering a free alarm installation with a 36-month alarm monitoring service contract! This time of year is all about focusing on family and children, so why not take steps to improve the safety of your home during this back to school season? SafeTech security tips will help you improve safety.