Tools
Home readiness calculators & tools
Free calculators and decision tools for real household problems. Check the assumptions, understand the limits, and take the result to your next step.
Power outage
Make the first outage decisions around heat and household safety before choosing equipment.
Home safety
Plan smoke alarms, earthquake securing, radon testing and fire-extinguisher decisions with Canadian safety guidance kept visible.
Home safety
Smoke Alarm Placement Planner
Turn bedrooms, sleeping areas, storeys and common nuisance-alarm concerns into a location checklist without pretending to certify code compliance.
- Have handy
- Home layout, storeys, basement, bedrooms, sleeping-area groups, existing interconnection, and known cooking/steam/airflow concerns.
- What you get
- A baseline location count to verify, placement checklist, interconnection review and jurisdiction/manufacturer caveats.
Home safety
Smoke Alarm Age & Replacement Checker
Prioritize a printed replace-by date or exact model service life, then use Health Canada’s broad 10-year guidance only as a fallback.
- Have handy
- Replace-by date, manufacture date, and model-defined service life when known.
- What you get
- Replacement timing, the basis used, next steps, and a clear warning that age alone cannot certify an alarm.
Home safety
Earthquake Home Safety Walkthrough
Walk room by room through things that can fall, tip, break, block an exit or need professional follow-up, without inventing a seismic risk score.
- Have handy
- Bedroom, living area, kitchen, mechanical/laundry, garage, exits, emergency-kit access, household plan, coastal tsunami planning and structural-concern checks.
- What you get
- Fix first, Worth securing and Planning follow-up actions plus a printable Earthquake Home Audit.
Home safety
Radon Test Planner
Turn the home layout and test method into a baseline long-term radon test location and placement plan.
- Have handy
- Residence type, lowest-level/foundation situation, normally occupied room, test method, and optional start date.
- What you get
- Baseline room and level, placement checklist, method notes, heating-season reminder, and earliest 91-day completion date when available.
Home safety
Radon Result Interpreter
Interpret a long-term Bq/m³ result against current Canadian guidance while checking duration, heating-season coverage, and placement.
- Have handy
- Long-term average in Bq/m³, total test duration, heating-season days, and placement confidence.
- What you get
- Interpretation, next steps, retest or mitigation guidance where applicable, and a caveat when the measurement is not representative.
Home safety
Fire Extinguisher Rating Decoder
Decode common extinguisher label ratings without turning the rating into permission to fight a real fire.
- Have handy
- The rating printed on the extinguisher label, such as 2-A:10-B:C.
- What you get
- Normalized rating, class/rating explanations, and a safety reminder about the limits of the label.
Home safety
Home Fire Extinguisher Planner
Review household coverage zones and placement without inventing a national extinguisher count.
- Have handy
- Residence type, above-ground levels, basement, attached garage, workshop, and handling preference.
- What you get
- Areas to review, placement guidance, selection notes, manageability reminders, and escape-first safety notes.
Backup power
Size generator, battery, furnace, well-pump, internet, refrigeration and cord decisions from the loads and data you actually have.
Backup power
Generator size calculator
Choose the loads that matter, account for startup demand, and check voltage compatibility.
- Have handy
- Your appliances and their running / starting watts.
- What you get
- A sizing estimate or a check against your existing generator.
Backup power
Generator runtime & fuel calculator
Estimate gasoline or propane runtime, outage fuel needs, and natural-gas consumption from manufacturer data and actual load.
- Have handy
- Fuel-specific running watts, average load, and manufacturer runtime or consumption data.
- What you get
- Fuel/hour, runtime or outage fuel, confidence level, and natural-gas flow/cost when applicable.
Backup power
Generator cord checker & voltage-drop calculator
Check load current, labelled cord and generator-outlet ratings, conductor gauge, length and estimated voltage drop without pretending AWG alone certifies the setup.
- Have handy
- 120/240 V, watts or amps, one-way cord length, copper AWG, cord labelled current, generator outlet current and an editable voltage-drop target.
- What you get
- Calculated current, estimated voltage drop and delivered voltage, plus independent current-rating warnings and explicit limits.
Backup power
Fridge/freezer outage calculator
Work through outage time, temperature, and the food-safety checks that matter.
- Have handy
- Time without power and a thermometer reading, if available.
- What you get
- Food-safety guidance and next steps, with uncertainty made clear.
Backup power
Portable power station runtime calculator
Compare battery capacity with the load you need to keep running.
- Have handy
- Battery watt-hours, appliance watts, and duty cycle.
- What you get
- An estimated runtime range with efficiency and reserve allowances.
Backup power
Internet backup runtime calculator
Model the network equipment that must stay powered and estimate runtime without pretending a UPS VA rating is battery capacity.
- Have handy
- Your ONT/modem/gateway, router/mesh/switch loads, plus usable Wh, rated Wh, or a nearby manufacturer UPS runtime point.
- What you get
- Network load, incoming-equipment check, and a planning runtime range when the available data supports one.
Backup power
Home Battery Backup Calculator
Keep instantaneous power and outage energy separate while sizing a home battery plan from the loads you choose.
- Have handy
- Selected loads, running and known starting watts, operating profiles, outage duration, and user-entered system overhead/headroom.
- What you get
- Managed continuous-power target, known starting-power envelope, and load-side energy target without assuming a universal battery efficiency.
Backup power
Furnace Backup Power Planner
Separate furnace load data from connection and backup-source questions, and refuse a wattage recommendation when the inputs are weak.
- Have handy
- Heating type, the electrical data you actually know, running/starting watts or volts/amps where available, connection state, and backup source.
- What you get
- Data-quality verdict, usable load values when supported, missing information, connection warnings, and the next sizing path.
Backup power
Well Pump Backup Power Planner
Check pump voltage, starting data, backup-source voltage and connection constraints without converting horsepower into a fake generator size.
- Have handy
- Pump type, required voltage, available electrical data, backup source and source voltage, connection type, and model-specific load values when known.
- What you get
- Compatibility/data-quality verdict, running and starting load or VA where supported, missing inputs, and explicit warnings.
Winter
Work through pipe insulation, drafts, window condensation, ice dams and cold-weather jump-start decisions.
Winter
Pipe insulation selector
Separate actual pipe fit from material, R-value, condensation control, freeze exposure, outdoor use, and heat-cable constraints.
- Have handy
- Goal, pipe material, nominal size or measured outside diameter, location, and whether heat cable is already installed.
- What you get
- A material starting point, fit guidance, thickness/R-value guidance, installation priority, and product-manual hard stops when required.
Winter
Door & Window Draft Diagnostic
Route a draft symptom to the joint or building-envelope category worth checking before buying weather-stripping.
- Have handy
- Where the draft is felt, when it is most noticeable, and the type of opening involved.
- What you get
- Likely diagnostic path, first checks, repair category, cautions, and professional handoff when the symptom points beyond simple weather-stripping.
Winter
Window Condensation Checker
Distinguish likely room-side condensation, exterior condensation, sealed-glass problems and possible water intrusion from observable clues.
- Have handy
- Moisture location, timing, extent and form, humidifier/ventilation/covering conditions, recent changes, visible damage, and optional indoor temperature/RH.
- What you get
- Likely next path and actions, warnings for damage or inspection, plus optional indoor dew point when both measurements are supplied.
Winter
Ice Dam Triage
Separate urgent leak/electrical/ceiling hazards from limited ground-level snow-removal options and professional roof work.
- Have handy
- Active leak, electrical concern, ceiling condition, safe ground access, overhead-wire clearance, visible ice condition, and recurrence.
- What you get
- A conservative stop, professional-help, or limited next-step path with ordered actions and recurrence follow-up.
Winter
Jump-Start Triage
Screen no-start symptoms and obvious battery hazards before deciding whether a portable booster is a reasonable next move.
- Have handy
- Starting symptom, light/display behaviour, visible battery condition, vehicle type, and optional outdoor temperature.
- What you get
- Jump-attempt suitability, stop conditions, next diagnostic steps, and cold-weather cautions without diagnosing the vehicle.
Wildfire smoke
Find a particle-filtration target for the room you actually use.
Water damage
Route active flooding, sump, mould, leak detection, dehumidification, sewer-backup and insurance questions without pretending one tool solves every water problem.
Water damage
Sump pump battery backup calculator
Estimate how pump demand and battery capacity affect backup duration.
- Have handy
- Pump watts, battery watt-hours, and minutes running per hour.
- What you get
- A runtime estimate compared with your planning window.
Water damage
Sump monitoring planner
Match the failure modes you care about to high-water, power-loss, level, pump-activity, backup, floor, and remote-alert layers.
- Have handy
- Your monitoring goals, backup-pump setup, occupancy pattern, and home-network outage backup.
- What you get
- A ranked monitoring stack with the direct measurement and blind spot of each layer.
Water damage
Mould Cleanup Decision Guide
Combine visible extent with recurrence, odour, moisture source, hidden-growth suspicion and contaminated-water flags without producing a toxicity score.
- Have handy
- Visible extent, recurrence, musty odour, moisture source, source resolution, hidden-growth suspicion and cavity flooding.
- What you get
- A conservative homeowner-cleanup, professional-assessment or professional-cleanup path tied to Health Canada guidance.
Water damage
Mould Area Calculator
Convert rectangular visible patch dimensions to m² and ft², then map only the size rules Health Canada states explicitly.
- Have handy
- Patch width, height, quantity, and measurement unit.
- What you get
- Visible area, patch count, largest patch, Health Canada cleanup category where explicit, and an uncertainty result for the 3 m² wording gap.
Water damage
Moisture Source Router
Turn observable rain, plumbing, condensation, bathroom, basement, pipe-sweating and musty-odour clues into possible moisture pathways.
- Have handy
- Observable timing and location clues only; no health diagnoses or destructive inspection.
- What you get
- Possible moisture pathways, first checks and handoffs to the relevant ReadyHome water-damage or pipe-insulation guide.
Water damage
Backwater Valve Decision Checklist
Screen common sewer-backup risk factors without pretending a webpage can determine code requirements or see the drainage layout.
- Have handy
- Below-grade plumbing, backup history, municipal guidance, neighbourhood context, renovation plans, existing-valve uncertainty, and insurance relevance.
- What you get
- A conservative signal for whether a professional backwater-valve assessment is worth prioritizing, plus local-rule caveats.
Water damage
Basement Dehumidifier Size & Setup Planner
Translate basement size and moisture conditions into the closest published NRCan capacity band, with temperature and drainage warnings kept separate.
- Have handy
- Basement area, measured relative humidity, temperature, visible moisture signs, active-water status, and drainage plan.
- What you get
- NRCan comparison capacity band, humidity status, cold-temperature warning where relevant, and drainage/setup notes.
Water damage
Flooded Basement Triage
Route the first-hour response around electrical, gas, structural, sewage, source and pump-out concerns from a dry location.
- Have handy
- Water trend and amount, electrical proximity and power status, gas and structural signs, sewage signs, likely source, and surrounding flooding.
- What you get
- A conservative next-step sequence with stop conditions, contamination handling, source-control priorities, and escalation paths.
Water damage
Leak Detector Placement Planner
Rank real household water nodes by the equipment and rooms you actually have instead of assigning a fake flood-risk score.
- Have handy
- Home type, water-using features, laundry location, floor-sensor count, and remote-alert preference.
- What you get
- A ranked sensor-placement plan with useful sensor type, reason for each location, blind spots, and separate-system notes.
Water damage
Sump Pump Selection Planner
Compare an observed basin refill rate and static lift with a real point from a candidate pump manufacturer curve.
- Have handy
- Basin diameter, water-level rise and timing, vertical lift, candidate curve head/flow point, and existing-pump history.
- What you get
- Observed inflow, static-head floor, candidate performance checkpoint, and explicit limits where friction or missing data prevent certainty.
Water damage
Water Damage Coverage Decoder
Translate the water pathway into policy vocabulary and insurer questions without deciding whether a claim is covered.
- Have handy
- Active-hazard status, likely water source, sudden/gradual pattern, residence type, and any optional water coverage you know you bought.
- What you get
- Policy terms to search for, questions for the insurer or broker, relevant ReadyHome response paths, and coverage caveats.
Emergency kits
Calculate emergency water and audit a household first aid kit without turning preparedness into a fake score.
Emergency kits
Emergency water storage calculator
Separate the current federal basic amount from Health Canada's additional cooking and cleaning amount, then subtract what you already have.
- Have handy
- People, days, optional cooking/cleaning allowance, household-added litres per day, and litres already stored.
- What you get
- Official baseline, optional/additional water, total target, remaining gap, approximate water mass, and container equivalents.
Emergency kits
Home First Aid Kit Readiness Check
Compare a household kit with the current Canadian Red Cross basic categories and keep inventory maintenance separate from medical advice.
- Have handy
- Kit location, checked inventory items, last review or unknown date, post-use restock status, and a few household planning reminders.
- What you get
- Unchecked supply categories, maintenance actions, household-context reminders, and emergency-number/training links.