This post is sponsored by Kidde Fire Safety and we were compensated to write this post. However, the opinions expressed in this post are entirely mine!
The other day I got the following email from Katie, representing Kidde Fire Safety:
“With Halloween behind us, our attention quickly shifts to getting ready for Thanksgiving and the winter holidays – the relatives, the food, the gifts! But today, consider getting ready from a different perspective: home safety. After all, as the weather turns cold and homes heat up, so does the chance that your family could experience a home fire or carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. The National Fire Protection Association reports most home fires and CO poisonings occur in winter. Besides heating appliances, seasonal activities such as increased cooking, using candles and decorating Christmas trees all add to the risk.
Will you take a quick safety quiz (below) to ensure that your home is as safe as possible this winter, share your results (and some safety tips) with your community, and encourage your readers to take the quiz too?”
How could I say “no” to Katie? This quiz is entirely “up my alley”, which is emergency planning and preparedness! I’m all over this! Here’s the quiz (my answers are in red), which includes suggestions from Kidde Fire Safety:
(1) One in four homes needs to update fire safety equipment. How old are your alarms? Mine are brand new; installed in August. See my post, The Fire Drill, to learn why!
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Replace smoke alarms every 10 years (ours were 5-years-old). Replace CO alarms every five to 10 years (we didn’t have a CO alarm; we do now!), based on the model.
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Purchase an alarm with a 10-year sealed lithium battery (done), such as Kidde Worry-Free smoke and CO alarms, to receive hassle-free protection for a decade – no need to change a battery or hear a low battery chirp. Available nationwide at retailers like The Home Depot and Walmart, each alarm installed will save you $40 over its life in battery costs.
Love this feature! No battery replacement every year! No climbing up on ladders and stretching to reach the alarm! And, saving $40 on battery costs over the life of the alarm on each alarm installed! Trifecta of reasons to use their product.
(2) Seventy-five percent of homeowners don’t know where to install smoke alarms. Do you have one on every floor, and inside/outside all bedrooms? Yes
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Choose alarms with room-specific features, such as an LED light in the hallway, or a voice notification for the bedroom.
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Place a CO alarm near sleeping areas and on each floor. Keep them 10 feet away from fuel-burning appliances.
Ours have the LED lights. But, we only have one CO alarm. I’m getting one for each bedroom.
(3) Do your alarms incorporate the newest features and technology? Yes
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A sealed-in 10-year lithium battery continuously powers the alarm for 10 years. It’s tamper-proof and can’t be removed.
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A digital display shows the level of CO in the air and updates the reading every 15 seconds.
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An intelligent multi-sensor responds faster to real fires and CO, plus it reduces nuisance alarms like those commonly caused by cooking.
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An end-of-life warning lets you know when to replace your alarms.
(4) Do you need other safety products? Yes; surprisingly, we only one have fire extinguishers and it’s in the garage!
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Fire extinguisher – place one within reach in rooms where fires often begin: kitchen, garage, bedroom, living area. Don’t have these; gotta get them!
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Escape ladder – place in second and third-floor rooms as an alternative escape route. We live in a one-story home.
(5) Have you developed a family escape plan? Yes
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Practice it regularly. Know two ways out of every room and who will assist children and loved ones with mobility/health issues. We have two ways to exit from every room in our home, either a door and window, or two doors, or window, door and other near-by door. Our most recent “practice” was in August.
(6) Do your children know their address and how to dial 911? We don’t have children, but if we did, we would teach them.
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Post your home address and emergency phone numbers on the refrigerator.
(7) Are your appliances and chimney winter-ready? Yes and No.
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Have a professional inspect fuel-burning appliances to ensure they function properly and that they vent outside. Done.
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Have a professional clean or inspect fireplaces annually. Birds and small animals can make nests and leaves can build up on top of the chimney, preventing carbon monoxide from venting properly. We are calling a chimney sweep service!
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Have you created a 3-foot clutter free zone around fireplaces, space heaters or wood stoves? Yes
For a downloadable winter home project checklist and other information, visit: Worry Free Alarm. Plus, here’s are FREE printable Kid’s Safety Activity Worksheet that is a fun project for your whole family: Activity Sheet 2013-PRINT
Gotta run! I’ve got work to do! Gotta go get those fire extinguishers for the kitchen and bedrooms plus the CO alarms for the bedrooms. And, I gotta find a chimney sweep; we’ve lived in this house 5 years and have never had our chimneys inspected! To say we have a few birds on our property is an understatement! {grin}
Thanks, Kidde Fire Safety, for the opportunity to spread the message!
How did you do on this Home Safety Quiz?
For other tips and suggestions on safety, emergency planning and preparedness, check out the links below to several of my earlier posts.
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other posts about emergency planning and preparedness)
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