Winter Vacation Plans? Prep Your Home Before You Depart
Planning to escape the cold this winter in a tropical paradise? You’ll want to be sure to prepare your home for the time you’ll be away. For example, make sure to leave a key and the name of your HVAC contractor with a trusted neighbor. You will also want to attend to these additional tips to make sure your home stays safe and sound while you are away.
Before you leave, be sure to complete these pre-trip HVAC maintenance essentials.
- Change your air filter (and make sure it’s of sufficient quality to last through the duration of your trip).
- Clear out any debris or storage items from around your HVAC system.
- Make sure your heating system, whether a furnace, boiler or heat pump, is operating properly before you leave. If you haven’t had a pre-season tuneup for you system this fall, have it done before you leave.
Just before you depart, you can follow these steps to safeguard your HVAC system while you’re away.
- Lower the thermostat to a reasonable temperature, factoring in how excess heat or cold could impact your home. Most homeowners lower the heating by anywhere from five to 10 degrees. Don’t turn off the heat entirely, though, since you don’t want your pipes to freeze or cold temps to damage furniture and other sensitive belongings.
- Open cabinets and closets that hide pipes to prevent freeze-up.
- Turn off the water system’s main valve and drain spigots. Alternately, turn off water supply to specific appliances.
- Set your water heater to the lower “vacation” setting, since there’s no need to keep sizzling hot water in the tank if nobody’s home to use it.
- Just in case of a power outage, clean out your refrigerator and freezer of all perishables.
- Close and lower blinds to help with temperature control (use timed lights for security).
At Sobieski Services, our goal is to help educate our customers in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey about energy and home comfort issues specific to HVAC & plumbing systems.
Image Credit: ralph and jenny
