Question for snowbirds
 

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;

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.

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.

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

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.

We basically do the same as Old Coach.

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:

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.

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/gaffneygr...off-season.pdf

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

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...

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.

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

Health Care
 

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