[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]

Originally Posted by 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]

Originally Posted by mulligan

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.