As a homeowner with friends and family, you are constantly looking for ways to improve the safety of your home. Like most homeowners though, you may find yourself overlooking important safety options for your home. The area that is most frequently overlooked are the windows because most homeowners assume that there are no safety concerns regarding windows. The truth is, windows can be one of the easiest things to breakthrough. Therefore, understanding proper window safety can keep you and your family safe against intruders.
Window Safety and Children
There are many ways that you can make your windows safer, but the first thing that should be addressed is window safety for children. Due to their curiosity, children tend to endanger themselves when around windows. They will either push or bang on the glass or they will open the window and try to climb out. To keep windows safe for your children, you should keep their bed or any other object that is able to be climbed away from the window. This will prevent them from reaching the window and causing harm. You also want to make sure that there is a child lock on the window so that if your child does get to the window, they will be unable to open it.
Ultraviolet Rays
Ultraviolet rays have numerous harmful effects due to the radiation that they emit. These types of rays are what cause sunburn, premature skin aging, eye damage, skin cancer, and even a weakening of the immune system. Unbeknownst to most people, ultraviolet rays can enter your home and right through the windows. In order to protect yourself and your family, and your home, you can always install Low-E glass windows. The Low-E glass windows will minimize the amount of ultraviolet rays and infrared light entering the home. With the heat or light energy being absorbed from the Low-E glass, it’s either reradiated by the glass surface or by having the air moved.
Keep Pesky and Dangerous Bugs Out
Windows are essentially a two way street. They can be used to escape the home and they can also be used to let certain bugs and animals in. If you’re looking to keep bugs and animals out, then you may want to consider installing a screen. There are dozens of different screens, each with their own capabilities and improvements. However, even the most standard screen should be able to get the job done so that you don’t need to worry about dangerous bugs or animals entering the home.
Window Stops and Window Guards
If you are unable to install a new set of windows in your home or if you can’t add a few great but costly features, then you might want to consider another solution to attaining window safety. You can always install window guards and window stops. The window stop will prevent the window from opening up more than a few inches, so that you can be sure that nothing is going to get through, even if the window is open a bit. A window guard, on the other hand, is a latch that protects your children from accessing and climbing through the window. Through this step and those above, you can create a secure and protected home.
