Make It Safe: Babyproofing Your Home HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical Systems 

As a parent, there is nothing more critical than ensuring your child’s safety. Once your little ones start crawling, it seems like the whole house feels like one big hazard! The HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems are especially concerning. With this guide from the Experts at Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing, you can ensure your home’s essential systems are thoroughly babyproofed—which gives you one less thing to worry about!

Block Access to Air Vents and Registers

HVAC grills that fit over the air vents throughout your home often prove to be irresistible areas for small children. Here are tips to make sure they are safe:

• Secure registers: If your floor or wall registers easily pop out, fix them in place to make sure children can’t pry them loose.
• Install babyproof vent covers: These use a fine mesh to keep small objects from falling inside without restricting airflow throughout your home.

Block Access to the Thermostat

Kids are fascinated by buttons and screens, which makes the thermostat a potentially fun and exciting plaything. Follow these tips to stop small children from creating temperature control problems in your home:

• Install the thermostat away from children: The thermostat should be installed at adult eye level. Avoid placing furniture near it that could tempt kids to climb up for a closer look.
• Lock the controls: Some thermostats feature safety functions to stop anyone from changing the settings. If yours doesn’t have this feature, consider investing in a thermostat cover that keeps curious kids from inadvertently changing the temperature.

Make the Utility Closet Off Limits

If your HVAC system is located in your home’s basement or utility closet, this is a critically important place for babyproofing. These are no places for [babies|children|infants or toddlers|any child}, so use these tips to make them safe:

• Put on doorknob covers: If your utility area is enclosed, you are in luck. Just put a childproof cover on the doorknob to prevent your kids from opening the the door and accessing your HVAC system.
• Set up a safety gate: If your heating or air systems are in an open area, put up a safety gate to block adventurous crawlers from getting too close to your furnace or water heater.
• Check your carbon monoxide detectors: Every house, mobile home or apartment should have at least one carbon monoxide detector on every level, especially if you have gas appliances. But, plug-in versions are within reach for kids to reach. Consider installing combination CO/smoke detectors on the ceiling for maximum safety.

Follow These Tips to Prevent Burn Injuries

In many homes, the threat of burn injuries isn’t limited to the utility room. Here are tips on how to protect your child from the dangers of hot surfaces:

• Place heat guards: Use a baby gate or specially designed heat guard around heat-producing appliances or equipment, baseboard heaters or fireplaces to build a barrier between your child and potentially dangerous hot surfaces.
• Stop using space heaters: A correctly adjusted and serviced heating system should heat your entire home, and there should be no reason for a space heater to endanger curious kids.

How to Childproof Your Electric System

We all need electricity to run today’s appliances, but power also poses safety hazards for kids. Here’s how to protect your home’s electrical setup:

• Use outlet covers: Building code requires that new receptacles be tamper resistant. If you have old outlets, you can update them by using outlet covers. Choose childproof covers instead of plug-in styles, because clever children can sometimes pull off the plug-in styles.
• Conceal cords: Exposed cords are a pulling risk. Use cord concealers or fasten them along the baseboards. Power strip covers are also useful for preventing little fingers from reaching the sockets.
• Keep the electrical panel closed: If your electrical panel is somewhat low to the ground, make sure it’s adequately closed and locked to stop inquisitive kids from tampering with it.

Use Good Plumbing Safety Practices

Babies love water. That’s why it’s so vital to ensure they stay safe around home plumbing fixtures like sinks, tubs and toilets. Try these babyproofing tips for plumbing systems:

• Control the water temperature: Turn your water heater to 120 degrees F to prevent children from being burned by hot water. Just don’t turn the temperature down any colder than this, because this could risk microbial growth in the tank.
• Use a faucet cover: Has your baby ever bumped their head on the bathtub faucet? Soft covers are an easy way to stop this sort of injury.
• Try using toilet locks: Babies are often fascinated by the toilet. A special lock stops little ones from playing in unsanitary water or tossing toys inside, which can lead to pipe clogs.

Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing: Your Trusted Partner for the U.S. HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical Services

With these childproofing tips, you can easily create a safe environment in your home. At Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing, we’re proud to help parents protect their little ones with efficient HVAC, plumbing and electrical services in the U.S.. We strive to make a meaningful difference in the lives of all our customers—even the little ones! Contact Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing at 866-397-3787 today for top-notch workmanship and customer service.