Summerizing my home when we go North

[Joe Bo]

Does anyone know all the steps to close up our home for the Summer? Is there any place or anyone the publishes a list of things to do? Any help will be appreciated

Thanks
Joe

[Becky]

This is the list I went by.

1. Shut off main water valve in garage. Put washing machine water in the “off” position. Turn off ice maker.
2. Turn hot water tank to “low” or “vacation”.
3. Bring all lanai furniture into living room. Put coasters or cardboard under legs.
4. Place saran cling wrap over toilets and lids down to prevent evaporation.
5. Set A/C to 80-82 degrees and activate “cool setting”.
6. Throw out food in fridge that will not keep. Put opened crackers and bread in fridge or freezer.
7. Lock all doors and windows and place dow rods in slider. Also lock screen in lanai.
8. Close all blinds.
9. Close all drains in sinks and utility sink.
10. Put garage door in “lock” position.
11. Open all closets for circulation.
12. Prop open dishwasher.
13. Disconnect computer, TV , cable lines, nightlight, computer.
14. Pour capfull of cooking oil in garbage disposal and turn “on” for a couple of seconds. Put stopper in sinks.
15. Make sure golf cart charger unplugged.
16. Change furnace filter if it is flashing on thermostat. If changed you need to hit the “filter” button on the thermostat to stop the blinking.

Becky

[lightworker888]

I also discovered that I could stop Comcast and then restart again in the fall. Also stopped TECO for the gas stove and gas water heater which can be started up again in the fall. Also stopped the Daily Sun til we go back in October. Figured that I have saved quite a bit even with the small start up charge for Comcast and TECO.

LW888

[getdul981]

Don't forget to remove the Saran Wrap from the toilets when you return.:laugh::icon_wink:

[bluedog103]

We use Safe Home Watch, Mary and Ed Edwards, to keep an eye on our place. They provide you with a check list of things to do before you go, then after you leave they check to see if you did everything. Really provides peace of mind while you're away.
Great deal for $35.00 per month.

[kb8tpw]

Thanks Becky - just what I needed. we just arrived at TV a couple of weeks ago and haven't built a good data base for things such as that and although we are returning to Ohio for a couple of weeks this is good info. Just another reason why TOTV is on my "check it a couple of times a day" list...

[otherbruddaDarrell]

Don't forget to give a trusted neighbor a key to the house and ask them to check it on occaison.

[mulligan]

IMHO, the most important thing is to set your humidistat. I have seen some pretty severe damage from not having one.

[ajbrown]

I also discovered that I could stop Comcast and then restart again in the fall. Also stopped TECO for the gas stove and gas water heater which can be started up again in the fall. Also stopped the Daily Sun til we go back in October. Figured that I have saved quite a bit even with the small start up charge for Comcast and TECO.

LW888

Interesting idea on Teco. Costs me about $18 per month in the summer. Any down side to this?

Does doing this also reduce the threat of complete loss from lightnig strike, as no flowing gas?

[zcaveman]

I was told that if you were going to lock your garage door you should unplug your remote garage opener. A power surge, etc might trigger the remote opener and burn out the device and/or ruin the garage door.

[Rag Bagger]

I was told that if you were going to lock your garage door you should unplug your remote garage opener. A power surge, etc might trigger the remote opener and burn out the device and/or ruin the garage door.

I think the poster was talking about the lock out switch on the bottom of the wall mounted control pad. It will prevent the door from opening by the electric door opener.

[Snowbird]

We also turn off the electric to the hot water heater and stove at the circuit breaker box. This was on a list of recommendations provided by the builder.

[Barefoot]

TECO charges $70 to disconnect and reconnect the gas. As a seasonal resident, it isn't worth our while to turn the gas off. We do unplug our fridge though. And of course our humidistat saves us tons of money (don't forget to turn on the ceiling fans).

Our best investment is a professional housewatch service, Village Watchdogs. The stop by after we've left and finish all the things we meant to do!

[njbchbum]

I also suggest preparing a telephone/address book of all your Florida contacts in the event that you need to call an electrician, plumber, landscaper, lawn mower/weeder, villages district office or for other assistance...and it doesn't hurt to take a copy of the business directory from the Daily Sun in case you need back-up to your 1st choices or a service you never thought you'd need. I have a "Florida bag" the contains my Florida paperwork which I will take with me and copy over the winter so that there are papers in each of my homes for reference or whatever. Some of those papers include receipts for our big ticket items/repairs/improvements that are still under warranty.

[zcaveman]

I think the poster was talking about the lock out switch on the bottom of the wall mounted control pad. It will prevent the door from opening by the electric door opener.

I have no idea what you are talking about but as long as that is clear to anyone reading this post - OK.

[lightworker888]

re ajbrown's questions

We left in April this year and won't be back til Oct. so for us the savings from
TECO was worth it. I like the idea that the pilot light is off and I would think that it would be an advantage to not have gas flowing through the pipes in the attic should lightening strike. We also installed a house surge protect and a dehumidistat so feel quite protected. We have a neighbour coming by regularly and that also give us piece of mind.

Comcast was worth stopping as we have internet and telephone and television with them. I don't know if the vacation plan is available if you have only one or two services with them but it might be worth a call.

LW888

[Hoosierb4]

In response to the comment that they "unplug the fridge"... A strong caution on that one. Unless the door is propped open, leaving a used refrigerator unplugged for a couple of months is likely to ruin it. Evidently, even a relatively "clean" refrigerator has residue in the nooks and crannies that rots and stinks to high heaven. It's impossible to get the odor out. I'd leave it plugged in. The newer ones don't use much electricity anyway.

[Joe Bo]

Thanks for all the great ideas. I thought of all of them except leaving the dishwasher open. I will sent a message for the next time my home watch service goes in to open it

Thanks
again

Joe

[Barefoot]

TECO charges $70 to disconnect and reconnect the gas. As a seasonal resident, it isn't worth our while to turn the gas off. We do unplug our fridge though. And of course our humidistat saves us tons of money (don't forget to turn on the ceiling fans).

Our best investment is a professional housewatch service, Village Watchdogs. The stop by after we've left and finish all the things we meant to do!

When we unplug our fridge, of course we leave the door open. Our Village Watchdog Home Service flushes the toilets and runs the diswasher each time they visit.

We also take a box of Florida files north with us so we can call repair people, pay bills, etc.

[Soon2B]

IMHO, the most important thing is to set your humidistat. I have seen some pretty severe damage from not having one.

If you have a humidistat that turns ON the AC when a certain certain humidity level is exceeded regardless of your preset temperature then that would be of value.

Ours was wired so that the AC wouldn't come on until the preset humidity level was exceeded. That resulted in the inside temperature climbing well into the 90's (and beyond) resulting in slow deterioration of just about everything.