Closing up lanai for the Summer
 

Any issues with a lanai that is closed up without ventilation for the summer months? We recently had our small screened lanai closed with windows. Northern exposure, so no direct sunlight. If we close all the windows and the sliders to the lanai, any problems? There would be no a/c or air circulation if we do that. Or should we leave the sliders open to the lanai slightly?

Good question. Mold would be the main problem. I think you need some air circulation. But no experience with the problem.

We brought the tv in as well as all the cushions. The furniture is the wicker plastic type so we can wash it down in the spring if needed. We left the rug as well as that can be washed as well.

Agreed...

Someone recommended that you put a fan in your garage to help prevent mold if you're away. I bought an oscillating fan and mounted it on the wall in my garage. I have it set (on a timer) to run from 4:00-6:00 every afternoon, when things start heating up...

A tabletop version could help on your lanai...

Interesting idea - but without an open window, doesn’t it act like a convection oven, moving hot air around?

I assume you have someone coming in to check on your toilet water, AC, etc. they can air out the lanai for a few minutes while checking the house. I have a friend who owns a designer in Caroline with an enclosed lanai, he is only here a few weeks a year during the winter and he keeps it closed up, it's been that way since they built the village of Caroline and no problems.

We don’t have anyone checking. Our toilets are covered with plastic and all our drains are taped shut. As for AC we hope for the best and guess if the electric bill went down we could have an issue.

I bring in the cushions and TV, leave everything else out, never a problem with windows left closed.

We have our courtyard villa enclosed. We open the sliders from the master BR, as well as the living room. We lock and secure the exterior doors from the lanai. It allows AC from the interior to reach the lanai, as well as more air circulation. Never had a problem.

If you’re going to be a snowbird, or away for weeks or months at a time, then you should do things like have a security system installed that can alert you on your cellphone if there are problems. Install Blink cameras outside and inside the house to monitor the house better on your cellphone. Replace the dumb thermostats with a smart thermostats that can be controlled and monitored from the cellphone. Replace the dumb irrigation controller with a smart Orbit B-Hyve controller, so you can monitor and control the irrigation from your cellphone. The Orbit B-Hyve sprinkler controller knows about the weather too, so you’ll save money on water because the controller automatically rain delays, which pays for the controller. You can also change out the light controls with Lutron Caseta controls. Then you can make the house lived in from outside, since the lights can be programmed, controlled, and monitored with your cellphone. You can also add water sensors to the security system that could detect water leaking.

It’s also a good idea to hire a company to periodically check on your house. If you don’t have them periodically check on your house, then you could have the relationship set up with that company to check on your house with an “on demand” schedule, if and when you get an alert on your cellphone. Then you’d already have someone setup that could physically check your home, instead of having to scramble and find someone to set up your home at the last minute.

There’s a lot of things you can do to keep better track of what’s going on with you’re unoccupied home from a distance. If you can afford to be a snowbird, which costs more, then you can afford to properly set up your homes to be unoccupied for long time periods. Those things you do to prepare for your home being unoccupied will give you more peace of mind, instead of knowing nothing about your unoccupied home, and blindly hoping for the best.

My hubby said mold and also cracks in the ceiling wall because no air flow. He is a Pipefitters from Chicago so really knows the heating/ air conditioning business

Well that makes it much harder then.

What temp to you set your a/c at, and what is your electric bill like over the summer?

We have only been gone one summer from our CYV. Our lanai is enclosed, and we didn't open any sliders into the house. We had no problem.

Ohiobuckeye
 

I would think most people that do close up their lanai’s with some kind of protection from thieves & weather. We have a family member in Napel, FL. that have remote control metal walls or curtains that come down from the top of their screens to protect their home from one thing or another. It’s like that for 6 months a yr. & no problem at all. I never heard anybody ever say that they’ve had any problems just to leave as is. It might be cheaper to hire someone to do a walk around once a week. Or have cameras put in or TV police would probably be more than happy to check on your house while you’re not there. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

When I had my lanai enclosed, I asked the contractors, who confirmed my air conditioner could handle the extra floor space in my home when the doors were open. Eventually, I permanently removed one set of doors in order to better see the beautiful view behind my home, and made a kid of archway in place of the doors. I've had no issues with having an open lanai 100 percent of the time - it is now a "sun room" and open to the rest of the house like many sun rooms.

We have 2 ceiling fans in our enclosed lanai and leave them on low all year long for air circulation.

We've left our west facing enclosed lanai completely closed up all summer long (about 5 months) for about 8 years and never a problem. No cracks in the ceiling. No mold. No damage anywhere.

We don't have a television out there, so no worry about that. We do have a ceiling fan, but have never left it on while we're gone.

Lanai closing
 

I close all the sliders in the lanai but leave one slightly open for some ventilation. Worked fine so far for 12 years. No problems with ceiling or mold. It is an East facing lanai.

good to see that their is a brother UA member in the villages like me you must be
 

retired. What you have is correct and a lot more.

You could run the ceiling fan on a schedule if you replaced the ceiling fan wall switch with a modern Lutron ceiling fan wall switch that can easily be paired to scheduled run times with your cellphone. You could then run the ceiling fan without running it 24 hours a day for weeks or months.

Not sure if "smart switches" will run if you downgrade your wifi internet to vacation (away) mode.

Just a word of caution...
 

Just a word of caution...
Check the fine print in your insurance policy. Most policies require that the house be checked periodically! Unless you are only gone for a short period of time.
We were told it’s not the heat but the humidity that causes mold, so we added a humidistat to our furnace. Now the furnace will run as needed.

Why disable your Internet while you’re gone for extended periods? You need the Internet to work if you have a smart irrigation controller, security system, unless it uses cellular, for a camera system, etc. Leaving a house unattended without being able to monitor your unattended house seems like a very bad idea to me. Monitoring your unoccupied home doesn’t mean staring at a video stream continuously for hours a day. Motion detectors cameras send you alerts, your security system could alert you, your remote control thermostat could alert you. All that gives you much more peace of mind about your unoccupied house, instead of being blind about what could be happening at your unoccupied home, and simply hoping for the best!

A lot of damage can occur to your unoccupied home if there’s a water leak. Damage could occur if your AC fails. Damage and loss could occur if someone breaks in. For the home in the snow belt, if the furnace fails without an alert, the water pipe can freeze and break. Your basement could flood with multiple layers, feet of ice. The ice breaks the house foundation and destroys the house as the water turns into a massive ice block.

It’s a compromise how much you should try to monitor remotely. But the technology is available today to be able to monitor your unoccupied home. That gives you much more piece of mind, instead of pretending that those risks don’t exist. The remote monitoring of the unoccupied home does require an Internet connection, in most cases. The Internet costs and costs to monitor the unoccupied homes is very tiny compared to the extra costs you have to own and maintain two properties that could be over a thousand miles apart from each other.

That’s my opinion about unoccupied homes. Some people don’t feel that way. They just lock the door and leave. To me, that’s way to risky living that way.

We keep our northern home on the internet. Cameras, smart switches, etc. Down here "vacation" mode internet is only $8 /month. Cheaper just to have a neighbor look over the place. Water shut off, things unplugged. Not much going on. No problem.

Please let me know who did your closing of the Lanai. We want to get estimates. Any words of wisdom also. Just getting educated on lanai enclosures

Windows of Central Florida enclosed our lanai. Built up some walls, added quality windows and doors. Good workmanship and easy to work with. But be aware that it currently takes a lot of time for contractors to get windows and supplies these days. We contracted back in December and just got the job completed mid April. Be prepared to wait.