While planning, designing or building the home of dreams, you are inclined towards the look and feel of it. In the rush of making it the perfect place, you often miss out on the most important part, which is how to secure your home.

There can be several disruptions or incidents such as a sudden fire, natural disaster-induced damages or even theft. To minimise the risk of these conditions, you can follow some of these effective home safety tips.

Many things can trigger a house fire like short-circuits, cigarettes, and heated appliances; the list is endless.

These are some of the tips to protect your home from fire.

• Unplugging those electronic appliances that one is not using.
• Monitoring appliances which overheat quickly and switching them off when no one is using them.
• Ensuring the electronic appliances are connected to surge protectors.
• Keeping inflammable goods away from heat sources.
• Smoking must be prohibited in closed doors; make sure if someone is smoking, it is done in a well-ventilated area.
• During winter, if you light a fire at the fireplace, ensure to put it out completely.
• Change the lint fills in the filter from your heater as well as the dryer.
• Space heaters, heated blankets, dishwashers etc., everything that generates heat can cause a fire. So, make it a habit to turn it off when no one is using it.
• By checking the electrical outlets on a regular basis, you can monitor if there is an alarming situation and take immediate action.
• Checking the smoke detectors, changing their batteries every two months, and replacing them in 10 years minimises fire risks.
• Keeping a standard-sized fire extinguisher in your home is highly recommended.

Whether you are based in the heart of the city or the suburbs, securing your home from intruders or theft is vital. Some of the basic home safety tips to protect your home from burglars are listed below.

• Ensuring all the doors are built with sturdy materials and hinges are protected.
• You can also install a deadbolt lock or a smart lock, which is hard to break.
• Placing a video doorbell to monitor whoever comes in.
• Keeping the windows shut and locking them is a basic step to keeping your home secure.
• Reinforcing glasses to have window security film to avoid breaking the glass windows.
• Another popular method is to add window sensors.
• An age-old but effective way of securing your windows is to add window bars.
• Planting prickly bushes on window panels and bordering walls of your property.
• A dark place attracts intruders and thieves more than a well-lit house. So, you can use bright lights to light up your garden and other areas.
• Motion-activated lights are also a great way to trap burglars and thieves.
• Setting up home security includes automation features, security cameras, and smoke and carbon monoxide monitoring.
• Securing garage doors with extra locks, covering the windows from inside, and installing driveway alarms. Some additional ways of protecting your garage and eliminating the risk of intruders.
• Lock your Wi-Fi for private use only so no one can hack into your system.
• Purchasing a safe with redundant locks that is waterproof, fireproof and unbreakable to store important documents and jewellery.

Incidents like burglary and stranger intrusion are very common in some parts of the world. This is why people look for tips on how to prevent theft at home.

Predicting natural disasters is highly unlikely. However, you can take certain protective measures to protect your home from natural disasters.

• Before constructing your property, test the soil, then consult with the experts.
• Monitoring the building to check the base is strong enough to withstand adverse weather conditions.
• Obtaining homeowners' insurance only after ensuring it would cover repairs in case of any natural disasters.
• Confirm all the details about the coverage prior to taking a vehicle's insurance.
• Securing the garage doors by changing them with a stronger material.
• Getting all the valuables and collectables insured.
• Construction of higher walls around your home to protect against floods.
• Unplugging all the electronics during any natural calamity to avoid a short circuit or fire.
• Staying updated with the weather reports and natural disaster management.
• If you live in an earthquake-prone region, hiring a professional to bolt the house to its foundation is necessary.
• Adding extra support to cripple walls, as these cannot tolerate the tremors.
• If flooding is common in your region, stacking sandbags on the door is one of the ways to prevent the water from entering.
• Repairing all kinds of cracks, and holes in the foundation, to prevent floodwaters from entering.
• Keeping appliances above the flood level so that they do not get damaged.
• Choosing fire-resistant building materials, like clay or metal tiles and stones.

These are some general home safety tips you can follow to protect your property from natural disasters. However, it is difficult to predict when a natural disaster will occur. So, the best thing you can do is reduce the attributes that cause man-induced disasters as these are the main reasons which can create an imbalance in our ecosystem.

It is an inherent tendency of all living beings to put their best to protect their habitat. This is why humans take insurance against their properties and take precautionary measures to protect their homes.

Safeguarding one’s home is given so much importance because it is the only place where people feel safe. In addition to emotional values, securing a house is also vital from the perspective of an asset.

Another reason for safeguarding your property is that it can prevent accidents. From minor falls from the stairs to major fire incidents, anything can happen if precautionary methods are not applied.

Fire, theft and natural disasters are the three major conditions from which you need to protect your house. The more you apply these home safety tips; the lesser the damage will be. Choosing the right preventive method and applying it at the correct time is the key to safeguarding your property.