Found 69 results for the keyword(s) ‘Security’

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  Is knob and tube wiring safe?

  Knob and tube wiring is safe if it is in good condition and it is doing no more than it was designed to do. In fact it was an very good wiring system designed to keep the two wires far apart from each other and well protected as it ran through the house.What could make it unsafe?Rodents gnawing ...
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  Preparing for a household emergency.

  Is your family trained and ready to deal with a household emergency?Discussion is good, but training and practice is a very good idea, especially when children are involved.If kids have some sense of what to do, they will panic much less during an emergency like a fire.Make a rough sketch of the ...
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  Can I turn down the sensitivity of my smoke alarm?

  Rick is having trouble with the smoke detector near his kitchen going off too often and he wants to turn down its sensitivity. You can't do that Rick, but the real problem is that you probably have the wrong alarm installed near the kitchen. There are three types of fire alarms.The most sensiti...
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  Classy lightening rods

  For those of you who have decided that your house needs the protection of a grid of lightning rods, we took a look at a company that provides the basic service, but decorates it into something classy looking on the roof.Custom Cupola & Steeple Co in Oakville, Ontario make just about anything ...
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  Where do you place CO detectors?

  Smoke is hot and rises -- so smoke detectors are placed on the ceiling or close to the ceiling. Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a gas that is about the same weight as regular air -- so it does not tend to either rise or fall significantly in the house. So CO detectors can be placed anywhere; in fac...
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  Protecting the wall behind a wood stove.

  Melissa sent in an e-mail worrying about the fact that the paint on the wall behind her wood burning fireplace is so hot that it is bubbling.That is too hot. Check the manufacturer's instructions if you have them -- each appliance has specified distances from combustible surfaces. Yours is ...
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  Power Management: surge protectors and electrical filters

  Ken Houseley from the Monster Cable company came into studio to educate me a bit on surge protectors, but mostly on how to clean up the electrical current within our house.We all buy bus bars with surge protection for our computers, maybe even our more expensive TV sets and sound systems. Some o...
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  Identifying Asbestos in your home.

  Dr. Don Pinchin of the Pinchin Group in Mississauga, Ontario is an expert in asbestos abatement who usually works on large commercial projects. We got him to show us what forms of asbestos we might still find in our homes, and just how dangerous they might be.The key message was that if it is...
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  How do you make a house "earthquake ready"?

  When an earthquake strikes you have two major things to worry about:First, things may move or fall over. This could mean glasses falling out of cupboards, or electrical appliances crashing to the ground (fire hazard) or even the hot water tank tipping over (fire hazard again).Second, the house...
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  The ABC's of Fire Extinguishers

  Jeff Dale from Toronto's Classic Fire Protection service came in to talk about fire extinguishers.Research has shown that one reason people do not have fire extinguishers, or that they don't put them out on the wall where they should be, is that they find that big red can ugly. So something i...