Fire and carbon monoxide come first
- Smoke alarms on every level of the home, including the basement (Ready.gov).
- Carbon monoxide detectors with battery backup on every level (Ready.gov).
- A fire escape plan with two ways out of each room, practiced twice a year (Ready.gov).
- An extinguisher in the kitchen and the garage.
By threat, at three budgets
| Threat | Good | Better | Best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wildfire smoke | N95s for everyone; one clean room with a box-fan filter | High-efficiency furnace filters; a portable HEPA purifier for the clean room | Whole-house filtration; sealed windows and doors |
| Cold and outage | Cold-rated sleeping bags; one room you can close off and heat | Indoor-rated propane heater with a CO alarm; pipe insulation | Wood or pellet stove (permit required) |
| Extreme heat | Fans, blackout curtains, a cool room on the lowest floor | One-room window AC on backup power | Heat pump on a home battery |
| House fire | Smoke alarms on every level, extinguishers | Interconnected alarms; escape ladders for upper floors | Monitored alarms |
| Wildfire embers | Keep at least 30 ft around the house free of leaves, debris and flammable materials (Ready.gov) | Ember-resistant vent screens; clean gutters each fall | Noncombustible siding and fencing at the house |
| Intrusion | Battery motion lights; use the locks you have | Reinforced strike plates; doorbell camera on backup power | Monitored security with cellular backup |
| Digital | Multi-factor login on email and banking; change the router password | A household password manager; router firmware updates | Encrypted offline backup of documents and photos |
Set up a clean room for smoke
Pick a room you can close off from outside air, ideally one with few windows, and run a portable air cleaner or filter in it so the air stays clean even when the rest of the house is smoky (Ready.gov). Set it up in spring, before fire season, when purifiers and filters are easy to find.
Know your shutoffs
Find, label and practice the water main, the gas meter shutoff (and keep the wrench next to it), and the electrical panel. Free, and it takes an afternoon.
What to look for
CO and smoke alarms
- Listed by a recognized testing lab (look for UL on the package)
- Battery backup, or a sealed 10-year battery
- Interconnected models, so one alarm sets off all of them
Portable air purifier
- A true HEPA filter
- Rated for the size of your clean room
- Spare filters on hand before smoke season