Prevent Holiday Mishaps!

The holidays are upon us once again! For many, this means traveling to see extended family.  For others, it means traveling to a warmer climate.  It could also mean possible homeowners claims if you have not prepped your home in advance.  There are some safety tips you can implement to keep your home safe during the holidays!

Consider putting your Christmas lights on a timer.  You can set the timer so that your lights turn on and off even when you are not at home.  It gives the appearance that you are home even when you are not.  It’s a simple way to keep burglars away from your home.  If they think you are there, they are less likely to target your home.

Consider purchasing cameras that connect to your smart phone.  It is relatively inexpensive to buy a set of cameras that can be placed all around your home.  The cameras connect to an app on your smart phone.  If the camera detects activity, you receive an alert on your phone.  Once the alert shows up on a smart phone, you can immediately pull up video activity to see what is happening at your home.  With this type of system, you are able to monitor your home even when you aren’t there.

Consider adding an app to your smart phone to control your heating system remotely.  If this is not an option, program your furnace to run at a certain temperature even when you aren’t home.  Not only can this save you heating costs, it can prevent pipe bursts if you aren’t home.  Imagine the amount of damage that could occur in your home if a pipe burst while you were away for several weeks.  If the water sits too long, mold can start.  No one wants to return from the holidays to find water and mold in their home.

Make sure your gutters are clean.  Clean out anything that may be clogging up your gutters.  If there are leaves preventing melted snow from draining, the snow will not be able to drain properly.  If the snow re-freezes as ice, it can create ice dams in your gutters.  If gutters are too heavy from the ice, they can break away from your home.

Take a moment to consider these simple steps. They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  These simple could prevent you from encountering unnecessary homeowners claims!  No one needs extra stress added to their holidays!