When you’re getting ready for your summer vacation, closing the home for vacation could top the list of important things to do. Addressing your home’s safety and improving its security will ease your mind while you’re away. Do the following:
- Have the cooling system tuned up before you leave. The inspection will turn up any issues that could become problems during your absence, and it will also lower your energy consumption throughout the cooling season. It’s a good idea to leave the air conditioning system running (albeit several degrees higher than usual) because it tempers the air indoors and creates noise outside, which discourages intruders. If you leave pets behind, find out the temperatures they require for their well-being.
- Check the air filter for your cooling system and clean or replace it if it’s covered with dust. Dirty filters slow airflow through the system, drive up the cost of running the A/C and lead to premature part failure. If too much dust builds on the evaporator coil inside the blower, it slows the heat-exchange process.
- Unplug the automatic garage door opener and lock the adjoining door between the garage and your home before closing the home for vacation.
- Turn down your water heater to its lowest setting or turn it off altogether if you’re going to be away for a while.
- Verify that the smoke and carbon monoxide detector batteries are fresh and the devices work. While nobody will be in your house to hear an alarm, a neighbor might hear it, and you’ll feel more secure when you get home, knowing the batteries are working.
- If yours is an electric range, turn the circuit breaker off for it. It’s one more way to reduce your risks when your home is not occupied.
- Put a few lights and a radio or television on timers. They’ll deter break-ins.
- Ask a neighbor to park a vehicle in the driveway intermittently to make it look as if someone’s at home.
- Have someone mow the lawn in your absence and water plants, if necessary.
If you’d like more information about closing the home for vacation, please contact us at Marsh Heating & Air Conditioning. We’ve provided top-notch HVAC services for the Twin Cities area since 1974.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about closing the home for vacation and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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