Holidays are exciting times for singles, couples, families, and friends, but to ensure that you have complete peace of mind while you're away, there are some steps that you should take to prepare your home for the duration of your trip.
Not only will these steps save you money and energy, but they’ll also help protect your home from damage, and prevent you from coming home to expensive repairs or long-term home maintenance projects.
Turn off the water valve: There's no need to have the water running in your house when you're not there to use it.
This simple step could save you hundreds of dollars from stopped leaks, or even save you thousands from a prevented flood, a house full of water and damaged goods, and gallons of wasted water.
Before catching your car ride, bus, train, or flight, turn off the main water valve and run all the faucets in the house to get water out of the pipes. This will prevent frozen pipes, bursts, leaks, and floods.
Put the water heater on vacation mode: There's also no reason to keep a tank full of water hot in your basement when you're not home to use it, so put it on vacation mode (VAC) for the time you're gone. If your heater doesn’t have this mode, put it to the lowest possible setting. In summer, you can even turn off the circuit breaker controlling the heater to shut it down completely, but in winter it’s a good idea to use a low setting to prevent freezing for those in colder climates.
The refrigerator: When you're in a fancy hotel, up at the cottage, or at a vacation getaway resort, you don’t need a fridge and freezer full of food going bad. In the week or so leading up to your trip, use up all the food in your fridge and freezer so that it’s empty when you leave. When you go, unplug the appliance, prop open the doors, and put a box of baking soda in the freezer to absorb smells and moisture. Turning off the fridge will save a ton of energy and money that you can use toward your next holiday.
Turn off and unplug all devices: Most modern devices use power even when they're turned off, so shut everything down and unplug it before you go. This means appliances, electronics, and even clocks and phone chargers. Not only will this save energy by preventing phantom power use, it'll also reduce the risks of damage from power surges and fires.
Turn it up or down: A climate controlled home is another thing you don’t need when you're on holiday, and the furnace or air conditioner will just pump away your money as it keeps the house at a comfortable temperature for nobody.
About an hour or two before you leave on a summer vacation, set your thermostat to 85 F. Before a winter vacation, set it to between 50 and 60 F.
These temperatures will ensure that your house doesn’t become a complete inferno in summer or freeze over in winter, all while saving you money.
Keeping your house safe while you're away can be as easy as making a few changes before you leave and turning off the units, devices, appliances, and electronics that you use daily.
For help with plumbing needs around the house, repairs, or regular or pre-vacation home maintenance with your plumbing systems, call Plumb Level servicing the Brenham, TX area at (979) 200-6674 .