Plan ahead for Home Safety Month

While you may think of smart home technology as a convenience — something to save you a few steps of walking between the couch and the nearest light switch, smart home offerings also include important preventative measures that can help you protect not only your valuables, but your home itself and everyone in it.

June, which is Home Safety Month, is a great opportunity to learn how to use new technology in order to help protect your family:

Beyond the Burglar: The first thing that comes to mind when most people think about home security is almost certainly burglary. But intruders aren’t the only thing you have to worry about entering your home. Water damage is the second most common cause of property loss and accounts for a quarter or more of homeowner’s insurance claims. A good early detection device, such as a Z-Wave flood sensor, could be the difference between a damp inconvenience and a soaking wet catastrophe in your home, especially when combined with a smart shutoff valve.

Avoid dangers: Some sensors, like GoControl’s Z-Wave Door/Window Sensors, for example, are a great way to keep you alerted to potential dangers — especially on days when the kids get home earlier than you do. A few placed judiciously around the house — on liquor or medicine cabinets, for example, or even the knife drawer, are a great way of keeping your mind at ease. And those same sensors placed on entry points could alert you in the event of an invasion.

Deter intruders: When it comes down to it, though, the best way to deal with home invasion is to deter intruders altogether. When you’re out of town for a vacation or business trip, it’s important to make sure your home still looks lived in, and rigid pre-programmed lighting timers aren’t fooling anyone. Newer smart light bulb systems, like BeON Home, go one step further by recording and playing back your daily lighting routines, and even include a sophisticated listening system that can respond to a doorbell, by turning inside lights on organically, one at a time, exactly the way you would if you were home.

Smart home technology is becoming more versatile than ever. To learn more about how it can be used for keeping people, pets and property safe, visit Z-Wave.com and BeONHome.com for DIY videos, how-tos and live customer assistance.

While there’s no replacement for a caring neighbor’s watchful eye, these days there are a great number of ways of taking home security into your own hands — no matter where you are. Smart hubs, combined with sensors in and around the home, can take the worry out of being away from home by alerting you when something goes wrong.

With a connected home, you can better keep tabs on your house and keep the things and people in it safe, even when you’re not home.