Illinois storm season home safety checklist

Illinois sees storms in spring and fall, and winter brings furnaces, space heaters and holiday cooking. That makes it a good idea to check your home safety gear twice a year. Pick a Saturday morning, grab a coffee and work through this list.

1. Test every smoke alarm

Press the test button on each alarm and make sure everyone in the house knows the sound. Illinois law requires working smoke alarms in homes, and the State Fire Marshal recommends one on every level and outside each sleeping area. Interconnected hardwired alarms mean that a fire in the basement sets off the alarm upstairs too.

2. Check the extinguishers

Look at the gauge. The needle should sit in the green zone. Keep one ABC extinguisher in the kitchen and another in the garage, and hang a fire blanket near the stove for grease fires.

3. Plan two ways out

Every bedroom should have two exits. For upstairs rooms in older bungalows and two-flats, a folding escape ladder stored in the closet makes the window a real second exit. Practice the plan with kids so they know what to do.

4. Look at older wiring

Many homes in Cook County still have decades-old wiring. Warm outlets, flickering lights and buzzing switches are signs to call an electrician. A plug-in electrical fire prevention sensor can give early warning in the meantime.

5. Space heaters, the right way

• Plug heaters straight into the wall, never into a power strip.
• Keep three feet of clear space around them.
• Choose models with tip-over and overheat shutoff, like our ceramic space heater.

Total time: about an hour. It is one of the most useful hours you will spend on your home this year.

Written by the Buy Zone Point team in Melrose Park, Illinois. Questions? Call +1 708-345-0113.