What to shut off for extended leaves?
 

When leaving the Villages for extended periods (>6 months), what services to your home is it cost effective to shut down while you're gone? I think cable tv can be shut off and still keep WiFi, but anything else?

Also, I saw a thread offering many good tips about home shut-down procedures for Snowbirds here a few months ago, but can't seem to find it again -- any help? Sorry- still learning how to use these Forums.

We shut off all breakers except for fridge and A/C turn on humidistat set to 60% and set A/C to 80° shut of domestic water,

Water to home. Leave sprinklers on.
Pipes and hoses can break even when you are not using.

Don't wait until the last minute to try to shut off the water valve. The plastic valve handle can stick or even break off. Make sure you can turn it off when you need to.

We are also seasonal residents and I've made a check list on an Excel spread sheet so I can use it every year when leave. Also, it is a good reminder of what I need to re-do when we get back. Here are just a few items on my list. If you would like a copy of my actual list, PM me.

1. Put golf bags and bag chairs into bedroom closet because garage gets too hot and will destroy fabric type materials.
2. Unplug Power to TV & DVD (leave Cable Box & Modem ON if put cable on Vacation).
3. Put Printer ink in Zip Lock Bag and place bag in refrigerator.
4. Run water in tub to fill drain trap, Shut Tub & Sink drain stoppers to minimize evaporation and bugs from getting into house.
5. Put porch/lanai furniture into the garage in case of storm or hurricane.
6. Remove battery from all remotes: Comcast, TV, & sound bar (we had battery go bad and corroded the TV remote).
7. Unplug Coffee Maker, Toaster, & Microwave.
8. Turn off refrigerator Ice Maker and put baking soda boxes in refrig & freezer.
9. Take down anything outside that might get ruined or blown away in a bad storm/hurricane.
10. Check and clean/replace furnace air filter, and add 1 cup vinegar to the A/C drain line.
11. Clean out sprinkler rings and set watering settings for summer.
12. Turn Off Water Heater and Main House water supply.
13. Stop Daily Sun Newspaper Delivery (352) 751-7964 .
14. Set A/C to 79 or 80 (want it to run to minimize humidity) Not worried too much about furnace heat.
15. Begin forwarding Florida Mail USPS.com and stop forwarding mail to Florida (allow 10 days pipeline).
16. Change Billing Mailing Addresses for accounts that you set up with the Florida address.
17. Set up someone as a home watch representative to regularly inspect your home (may be a neighbor).
18. Advise your lawn service company with a local contact number of that Home Watch representative.

Do you need to keep your WiFi available? Comcast has a "Florida" plan whereby you can shut it off once every 12 months and pay a fee of $8 per month. I don't think that there is a reconnection fee (as technically you haven't been disconnected) but you may want to check. Also, there may be a maximum of six months.

Since you'll probably have something electric running while you're away, probably best not to have that shut down.

Anything covered by your monthly VCDD bill - amenities, water, sewerage, garbage - I think you have to pay a monthly fee regardless - not heard that you can "disconnect" these.

Hi there! Turning off breakers for certain appliances is a good practice. However, your home's valuable appliances and electronics are still susceptible to surge damage from nearby lightning strikes or power line issues or damage. It is highly recommended to get a whole home surge protector at your home's electrical panel AND/OR a surge protection on your home's meter through your power company. You can have both!
Read more about surge protection here: https://pikeselectric.com/protection-from-power-surges/
We suggest also having a trusted neighbor, friend, or home watch company to come in and check on things periodically. We offer emergency After Hours electrical service and service calls to your home while you are away if needed! - Casandra, with Pike's Electric (352)748-6251

Mention you saw this comment/post and get 10% off on our whole home surge protection and/or portable generator interlocks and outlets. We want to help all of our friends in The Villages be prepared for hurricane season :smiley:

A broken sprinkler head can costs hundreds a month. Found out hard way. Monitor water usage and check sprinklers condition.

WOW! As a life long snow bird (I learned a lot of these tips from my parents when I was a kid), I have never seen a list as extensive as this. You take some remarkable steps and ones that I shall implement in my own close down of my winter home. Thank you for your thoroughness and willingness to share!

When we were seasonal and gone for nine months, we turned off the fridge too. Emptied completely and propped the door open.

Use a service also.
 

This has a few good pointers in it. I thinks it’s worth having one of the services handy. I’ve used Empty Nest for over 2 years now as I go back and forth from Philly.
http://youtu.be/uQkQF2yaJoA

Plenty of good advice here. If you do nothing else, shut off the water. The lawn sprinklers are on a separate system, so it won't be affected.

Something else I did when I was still between places, based on some research, was to put a thin layer of mineral oil in the toilets and traps. It sits on top of the water, and reduces evaporation, so the traps don't start to get dry and allow sewer gas to come into the home. Don't use petroleum based oils for obvious reasons, and vegetable oils can go rancid.

Once back, just run water down the traps and flush the toilets, clean the toilet bowl, and you are back in business.

A lot of great tips here. I wonder if someone can tell me how to bookmark this thread for future reference?

This is a webpage. You can use your browser options to bookmark any webpage. You can also use the TOTV search function to find threads.

One missing
 

This list mirrors our Seasonal Shut Down list with one missing...open closet doors. There is nothing worse than coming back to to coming back to your Florida wardrobe smelling like a pile of musty rags. Other than that, YOU GOT IT!:coolsmiley:

I usually PDF print good info from these pages to my computer. Or you can screen shoot to save to your phone. Easier to find for me this way.

Excellent point- had mine replaced with a metal ball valve

Most homes north of 466 use potable water for irrigation. If you shut off your water, you shut off your irrigation. Some have a T before the main home whereby if you shut off the house, the irrigation can still run. This is, however, an exception, not the rule.

South of 466 most or all of the homes have a separate Irrigation supply and you can safely turn off the water to the home.

Besides turning off the ice maker it’s a good idea to empty it and put a couple water bottles in the freezer to get through a power outage.

Nobody said turn off gas???

I turn off the gas by calling the gas company and they remove the meter.

It's worth the $40 reconnect fee for the guy to reinstall meter, light hot water heater and make sure the stove and oven pilots all are lit properly.
He also has a gas leak tool that makes sure there is no gas leak.

Need active internet for digital thermostats.

So enjoyable to own a home down here and up there too. :2excited:

As others have stated, there are a few ways to save this info, including bookmarking, depending upon your preference. Another way (my preference) is to use the "thread tools" located at the top of the first page of a thread and using the drop-down menu, select "show printable version", then save as a pdf file or print it.

Fred

I would add to this put Ring Cameras inside and outside of your home. This way you can monitor your home from anywhere. I would not trust any home watch services.

Water Shut off
 

Where is the area that distinguishes whether you are north or south of route 466? We live in Santa Domingo. When you say you shut off the water, exactly where are you shutting off the water? We have a shut off in the garage and we have a shut off by the street. If we shut off the one in the garage will that shut the irrigation off?

Thanks

take a picture with Ur cell phone.

Checklist
 

The list previously identified, was excellent. I would include, consider putting a trickle charge on your car battery, lock the garage doors in case of a hurricane, turn off your garage electronic control devices, remove all trash, put cover on sink drains, I also spray raid along all garage door and home door entry ways. Turn off your electronic water heater if installed. Turn off water treatment systems. I test the water sprinklers a few days prior to leaving to see if they are all working. Based on season, I change the length of time for watering the grass. I also check the charge on my house cameras and electronic front door lock. Turn cameras on as I depart.

Snowbird procedures for departure
 

After watching approximately 200 different homes over a 6 year period, you'd be surprised at how many people leave windows unlocked! Be sure when locking windows that have plastic keepers (most do) that the keeper is firmly seated in the slot. The aluminum window frames may bend and when you close the keeper it may not seat in the slot.Rather, it will push the aluminum frame out. I estimate that 10% of the homes that I've watched leave something unlocked. Other things that are a good idea:
1. Don't close the toilet seats. When closed there is no circulation thus, mold will build up in toilets. Many people are afraid that critters (snakes, frogs and bugs) will come up into the toilet. I haven't seen it in my 6 years of doing home watches.
2. Don't close interior doors. Leave them partially open. This includes laundry room doors and closets. Again, this is a circulation issue and when air doesn't circulate in the house various odors build up. DO LOCK THE ENTRY DOOR FROM THE GARAGE.
3. Sewer gas is a common problem and hard to get rid of. Make sure that your home watch service (if you have one) runs water from all spickets, toilets and faucets and showers at least once per month. This will help stop the build up of sewer gas and corrosion of internal metal parts.
4. Turn off garage door openers. There have been cases where airplanes generate signals that will open garage doors. This means that if you have a home watcher that they should enter you house via a key through your front door, not using a garage door opener.
5. Have home watchers run your golf cart briefly ( a few block) once per month. Battery tenders are a good idea whether you have a gas or electric golf cart. Older (carburetor) carts will build up shellac when gas evaporates in the carburetor...this is expensive to have services. The biggest issue is running the cart monthly is to make sure all of its parts are working and get exercised, especially the battery.
6. If you leave a car/suv/truck in the garage, have the home watcher start it once per month. Insurance issues abound if a home watcher drives your car. But, starting it and running it in place will keep fluids moving and exercise the electrical system. Low tires are a common problem and if you have a home watcher make sure that he or she alerts you to a low tire. Most newer cars have low tire pressure indicators.

Do a screen shot of the ones you want/ then you can print it out.

I didn't realize that, thanks for the correction. So you would pay the sewer charge for that irrigation water? If so, it might be worth the effort to put in the T to save that cost. Or is it somehow metered separately?

I dont think I saw it but the toilet bowls in palstic wrap and add some bleach to the water

Here is our list when we are out of town for more than a week or more.

1 Set the house thermostat at 80-82 deg F. Leave the air conditioning on.
2 Leave all doors open and fans running.
3 Turn off the gas at the manifold in the attic.
4 Place the water heater selection valve to the off position.
5 Put a small amount of vegetable oil in the garbage disposal, and run (without water) for 1-3 seconds.
6 Place bleach in the toilet bowl ---- not the tank.
7 Cover the toilet bowl and tank with plastic wrap. Draw a large X on the plastic wrap (for obvious reasons).
8 Take outside thermometer sensor indoors.
9 Close all the blinds and draperies.
10 Remove everything from the lanai, porch and outside, and place indoors.
11 Turn off the ice maker. Do this prior to turning off the water to the house. Empty the ice maker.
12 Lock all windows and doors (including dead bolts).
13 Run 1/2 cup of vinegar and water through the Keurig and then run several cups of tap water through to clear the vinegar from the Keurig reservoir.
14 With the exception of lights on timers, unplug everything (washer, dryer, printers, toaster, coffee pot, microwave, wireless phones, lamps, etc.).
15 Turn off the water at the valve in the garage. At one of the sinks, release the pressure for both the hot and cold-water supplies. Be sure to close the faucet value once the pressure has been released.
16 Pour a small amount of bleach in each sink trap and put the stoppers in the sinks.
17 Put some bleach in the shower drain and cover the drain with pliable plastic.
18 Empty and take out all the garbage.
19 After backing the car out of the garage, lower the door, and set the wall pad button to the off/security position. Or, you can pull the plug on the garage door opener.

You can't bypass the meter, if that is what you are asking. You will pay for potable water by the gallon and you will pay for the sewer charge by the same number of gallons, irrigation or not.

I like some of your items and will add them to my Departure Check List. Especially #5 and #16.

When you return run water in all locations for a few minutes - including flushing the toilets to WET the line otherwise using the toilet materials may stick in the dry line. There is a list available FCS3154/HE887: Closing Your Seasonal Home

Pre Departure checklist
 

Custom Home and Marine Watch has a checklist available free on their website. They do not service The Villages area but offer the checklist free.

We have a similar list that we have used for 8 years….we have one for our FL home and one for our MN home.

When we returned this past December after 7 weeks up north, the master bath toilet had a visitor while we were away. There was mud all over the bowl and on the underside of the toilet seat. We could not discern any footprints (maybe a snake?). The toilet directly behind in the guest bath was clean.

Great list. 2 things to add.
1) Put trickle charger on batteries to all vehicles.
2) have someone add water to all drains once a month or put antifreeze to keep traps primed to prevent sewer gas from entering house.