Question for snowbirds

[Mistybuffy3]

Trying to be a snowbird for 2019, curious as to what people do with their homes up north in regards to the heat, water/pipes, mail, etc. Any suggestions/thoughts appreciated

[eweissenbach]

Trying to be a snowbird for 2019, curious as to what people do with their homes up north in regards to the heat, water/pipes, mail, etc. Any suggestions/thoughts appreciated

In our home in Missouri we:
turn the thermostat to 55 degrees;
shut the main water valve off;
shut the water heater breaker off;
shut off the ice maker;
make neighbors aware we will be gone for x amount of time and leave our contact information in case of anything suspicious or in case electricity goes off in the neighborhood;
if we are going to be gone for more than a month we have our mail forwarded to our TV address. If less, we have our mail held for us to pick up when we return;

[njbchbum]

We do the same things as eweissenbach except we leave the hot water heater on because of things we have stored in the basement. We also pay for the USPS premium mail forward service because it is so convenient to only have to pick up mail once a week! And we have our house checker check our up-north mailbox to make sure a substitute mail delivery person didn't screw up! When they do the house checker just has to run the mail over to the P.O and it comes down in the next batch.

[Rapscallion St Croix]

My version of snowbirding, upon which I am now embarked, is to motorhome it to the mountains to escape Florida summers. Therefore, my process involves putting my Villages home in hibernation. Pretty simple...I just stop my mail, adjust the thermostat and have my nephew check the house once a week. We come home for a couple of days every six weeks or so.

[Fredman]

In our home in Missouri we:
turn the thermostat to 55 degrees;
shut the main water valve off;
shut the water heater breaker off;
shut off the ice maker;
make neighbors aware we will be gone for x amount of time and leave our contact information in case of anything suspicious or in case electricity goes off in the neighborhood;
if we are going to be gone for more than a month we have our mail forwarded to our TV address. If less, we have our mail held for us to pick up when we return;

Good advice except if u are able shut the water off at the curb. That way u don’t pay a minimum water bill or sewage bill.. also if u have cable tv put it on vacation hold

[dewilson58]

Up North........when you shut off the water main, open a couple faucets to allow for expansion in case you lose heat and the water in the pipes start to freeze.

[Barefoot]

In our home in Missouri we:
turn the thermostat to 55 degrees;
shut the main water valve off;
shut the water heater breaker off;
shut off the ice maker;
make neighbors aware we will be gone for x amount of time and leave our contact information in case of anything suspicious or in case electricity goes off in the neighborhood;
if we are going to be gone for more than a month we have our mail forwarded to our TV address. If less, we have our mail held for us to pick up when we return;We basically do the same as Old Coach.

[justjim]

Up North........when you shut off the water main, open a couple faucets to allow for expansion in case you lose heat and the water in the pipes start to freeze.

Excellent point. And we do all, Old coach posted. Of course, we stop newspaper, trash,cable, etc. We found it useful to make a checklist for both houses including important items we want to take and you just adapt it to your personal needs. :ho:

[Tom C]

If you loose heat in your house and it gets cold enough inside for the pipes, you can expect: All P-traps to break (under every sink and behind every water fixture that has a drain), all the toilet tanks (the back part) to crack, the toilet trap will probably shatter the bowl, the pipes in your walls (the last place to freeze) will split open (if copper pipes for sure, if you have the new plastic tubing, they MAY not crack open, but you will need to check all your fittings for leaks ... or just follow the puddles backwards ...

In short, turning off the water to your house will NOT protect your pipes unless you use compressed air and blow them all DRY. You will need to empty all your p-traps, but when you do that, sewer gasses will enter your house...

Essentially, it is all a mess...

The best you can do is to have a VERY GOOD neighbor check your home on a regular basis when the temps get cold.

Signed,
Been There, Done That.

[Barefoot]

We found it useful to make a checklist for both houses including important items we want to take and you just adapt it to your personal needs. :ho:
I'm a list person, I love lists, makes me feel organized. I have 3 or 4 lists.
Personal things to pack, What I've done in Lagoon City, What to do when I get to The Villages, etc., etc. Here is one of them.
http://thegaffneygroup.net/gaffneygroup/document/snowbird_s_checklist_for_off-season.pdf

P.S. I also have a professional company check my home weekly.

[dewilson58]

If you loose heat in your house and it gets cold enough inside for the pipes, you can expect: All P-traps to break (under every sink and behind every water fixture that has a drain), all the toilet tanks (the back part) to crack, the toilet trap will probably shatter the bowl, the pipes in your walls (the last place to freeze) will split open (if copper pipes for sure, if you have the new plastic tubing, they MAY not crack open, but you will need to check all your fittings for leaks ... or just follow the puddles backwards ...

In short, turning off the water to your house will NOT protect your pipes unless you use compressed air and blow them all DRY. You will need to empty all your p-traps, but when you do that, sewer gasses will enter your house...

Essentially, it is all a mess...

The best you can do is to have a VERY GOOD neighbor check your home on a regular basis when the temps get cold.

Signed,
Been There, Done That.

You now how some leave a log in the pool so when it freezes, the expansion will push the log out????...............maybe leave a turd in the toilets.


:clap2:

[CFrance]

You now how some leave a log in the pool so when it freezes, the expansion will push the log out????...............maybe leave a turd in the toilets.


:clap2:
solid advice...

[tophcfa]

In addition to everything already mentioned, it is a good idea to invest in a good inexpensive smart home security/monitoring system such as Piper or Canary. These systems have a motion activated cameras as well a thermostat and will send notifications to your smart phones when motion is detected in your home or when the temperature in your home is outside of a specified range. Many other features can be added to basic systems depending on an individuals needs and the systems do not require a monthly monitoring fee, just a wifi connection.

[asianthree]

We have a house sitter. No worries on mail, power outage, weather.

[ricthemic]

Trying to be a snowbird for 2019, curious as to what people do with their homes up north in regards to the heat, water/pipes, mail, etc. Any suggestions/thoughts appreciated

More important to your home is your healthcare. Don’t give up your northern doctors from the best US Medical Schools to Florida’s, not sure where they came from doctors. I speak from experience

[Barefoot]

We have a house sitter. No worries on mail, power outage, weather.We also use a professional House Sitting Service and they visit our house weekly (Village Watchdogs).
We deactivate our Comcast Wifi so no home monitoring system for us.

[Bay Kid]

All of the above, plus I added cameras. Mainly to look at the sunrise views over the bay. The sunset camera shows anyone coming up the drive. My children make regular visits. I miss home when gone, but I hate the cold and have TONS of fun in my winter home!

[Ed Krik]

In our home in Missouri we:
turn the thermostat to 55 degrees;
shut the main water valve off;
shut the water heater breaker off;
shut off the ice maker;
make neighbors aware we will be gone for x amount of time and leave our contact information in case of anything suspicious or in case electricity goes off in the neighborhood;
if we are going to be gone for more than a month we have our mail forwarded to our TV address. If less, we have our mail held for us to pick up when we return;

We do all of the above plus,

Add RV anti-freeze to all drains, also to all toilets (tank & bowl). Antifreeze is safe for pipes.

Cover toilet bowls with Saran wrap to avoid evaporation.

I have forced hot water heat. To avoid problems, I had a plumber install a separate water line to furnace, and added anti-freeze to the heat pipes. The lines are protected to -36 degrees. With this setup I can turn the water of to the rest of the house, and leave the faucets open in the set tub. Worth the expense for peace of mind.

I have a gas hot water heater, so I turn the water heater to pilot lite, not vacation mode, leaving the pilot lite on prevents spiders from building nests under the water heater. When I return for the summer I drain the water tank, and refill.

I turn in all my Comcast equipment, I do not go on vacation mode. Instead I order new equipment about a week before I return. Packages are waiting for me, and I install it my self. This also puts me on new customer service plan with no contract. Doing this for 5 years, no problems with Comcast.

[asianthree]

We also use a professional House Sitting Service and they visit our house weekly (Village Watchdogs).
We deactivate our Comcast Wifi so no home monitoring system for us.

Op post was their northern house. When we leave our home up north we hire a house sitter that lives in our home while we are gone. We don’t have any worries about what the snow or other issues. We do have a whole house generator, but a live in person in the snowstorm can take care of any problems they may happen.

[justjim]

It is very important to have a person checking on your house on a regular basis. We have a “professional paid person” in The Villages and up north our Son regularly checks on our house. This is very important for a Snowbird”.

[Barefoot]

Op post was their northern house.
When we are away from our home in Canada (same deal in The Villages), we hire professional home watchers that check our weekly, and after a storm.