Leaving a house vacant in summer in AZ

[jamies]

I leave mine set at 85-95 degrees. Still cool enough but the ac only runs a couple hours a day if it's 115 out. 95 won't damage anything in my house.

[unit731]

I guess there are a lot of opinions.

I do put AC on at 85 when gone.
I do put buckets of water in every room including bathrooms.
I half fill the trash container with water and leave in garage.
I turn the main water off. But drip system stays on. Drip system is connected in such a way to turn main off but keep drip system on.
The mineral oil/olive oil sounds good also. As does the plastic wrap over toilets.
I have inexpensive timers. And I have lights go ON/OFF in 3 rooms at various times - all night.
My exterior garage lights are on a timer. Exterior garage lights on all night. Low watt LED bulbs.

Obviously, having a neighbor check is an advantage.

It always amazes me that people who go away turn all lights OFF. A couple of ten dollar timers connected to table lights go a long way to make the home appear lived in. And with a 5 watt LED bulb you are not using much electricity. A house that appears unlived in is just an invitation to break ins or vandals.

I also have faux blinking exterior cameras - both front and back. Plus a Alarm Sign in front.

[adventuregurl]

I leave the shades (honeycomb) down and set my AC at 89 and it does fine. I also have someone check it for me every week or two and they run water down each drain, flush the toilets and cone a month run the washer and dishwasher. The person who checks my house says that it's very cool in there as no one is opening the doors etc.

[slowdude222]

I have a home service business that charges $40 a month. Some people don't want that service to save a little money. I just went to one house where owner left drip timer unplugged. How much are those plants worth. Another house had a dripper missing and a small flood was developing and lose of water pressure in the irrigation. Pool filter leak in another and so forth. For a couple hundred dollars for 6 months, I would want my $200,000-$400,000 house looked at once a week.

[Redneck Russell]