Originally Posted by ctmurray (Post 2057872)

If you have someone who can come in, they can flush toilets. Neighbors often do this for free but there are people you can hire. I turn off the water to the house, so I do cover toilet and tank with saran wrap, I even tape the edges of wrap to hold it to the porcelain. This holds water for 5 months while we are gone. The house water on/off is in the garage but this leaves the irrigation on.

I purchased a thermostat that will turn on AC based upon temperature (I set mine to 80) or humidity (60%). The setting even has a name called "Florida setting". I have found that the humidity really never gets that high with the 80F temperature. But I use it anyway.

Having a neighbor to look after your house and have a key is very useful. I have a sensor in the house that measures the temp and humidity that I can see on the internet (some thermostats have this now). And they have had to come over when there were a few issues. They can let the service people into your house. Mine turned on the watering for extra time when my yard looked to be drying out too much.

I do put rubber stoppers in sinks where I can remove the sink plug, or I put box sealing tape over them. I put some mineral oil in the washing machine drain tube to keep it from drying out.

I unplug most things and use the circuit breaker to turn off electricity to the stove and laundry. I keep the refrigerator on, we leave some items in there during the away time. The fear is summer lightening damaging your stuff. The sensor I have knows when the power goes out and will alert me.

Originally Posted by MX rider (Post 2057685)

I've tried searching but couldn't find the answers I need.
We just bought a home in TV. We're not retired yet. But we plan on doing so next fall.

Until then we'll be coming down on and off for a week at a time when we can use vacation time.
I've seen where people say to tape over drains to keep bugs out, and to put saran wrap over the toilets to keep the water from evaporating. just wondering if this is good advice?
Also, what temp should I keep the house at in the summer?
Any other tips or advice is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by MX rider (Post 2057685)

I've tried searching but couldn't find the answers I need.
We just bought a home in TV. We're not retired yet. But we plan on doing so next fall.

Until then we'll be coming down on and off for a week at a time when we can use vacation time.
I've seen where people say to tape over drains to keep bugs out, and to put saran wrap over the toilets to keep the water from evaporating. just wondering if this is good advice?
Also, what temp should I keep the house at in the summer?
Any other tips or advice is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by MX rider (Post 2057685)

I've tried searching but couldn't find the answers I need.
We just bought a home in TV. We're not retired yet. But we plan on doing so next fall.

Until then we'll be coming down on and off for a week at a time when we can use vacation time.
I've seen where people say to tape over drains to keep bugs out, and to put saran wrap over the toilets to keep the water from evaporating. just wondering if this is good advice?
Also, what temp should I keep the house at in the summer?
Any other tips or advice is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by MX rider (Post 2057685)

I've tried searching but couldn't find the answers I need.
We just bought a home in TV. We're not retired yet. But we plan on doing so next fall.

Until then we'll be coming down on and off for a week at a time when we can use vacation time.
I've seen where people say to tape over drains to keep bugs out, and to put saran wrap over the toilets to keep the water from evaporating. just wondering if this is good advice?
Also, what temp should I keep the house at in the summer?
Any other tips or advice is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by jrref (Post 2057913)

You can turn that home/away feature off in the settings on the Nest thermostat and it will work exactly like the honeywell. I've had both.

Originally Posted by Sullys (Post 2057957)

There are multiple references to this subject - check them out. see attached as well. Someone sent the link in the last few days and I saved the form.

Originally Posted by Malsua (Post 2058072)

It's also bad if you're living in someone else's house then you're at the mercy of a stupid thermostat.