Leaving home for a few weeks in winter - what precautions (Detroit: crime, house)

[Jomz]

As the title said, we are leaving the home locked for a few weeks. I was wondering what all precautions do people take in metro Detroit.

Some things which I could think was

1, Turn main water off to the house
2, Turn down water heater temperature
3, Turn down the thermostat to maybe 60.
4, Arrange friends to collect mail/ junk papers
5, Contract snow blowing to a company


..... anything else which I missed?

[djmilf]

Originally Posted by Jomz

As the title said, we are leaving the home locked for a few weeks. I was wondering what all precautions do people take in metro Detroit.

Some things which I could think was

1, Turn main water off to the house
2, Turn down water heater temperature
3, Turn down the thermostat to maybe 60.
4, Arrange friends to collect mail/ junk papers
5, Contract snow blowing to a company


..... anything else which I missed?

Just spitballing here...

Lights on timers set to turn on/off between 5:00 PM thru 11:00 PM so that the house doesn't appear dark/unoccupied?

Ask a neighbor to park his/her car in your driveway, again going for the illusion that your house is occupied?

Ask a neighbor to throw a bag of his trash on your curb on trash pickup day?

Let the local police department know that you're going to be away for a few weeks?

Or...have a friend stay at your place for those weeks that you aren't there?

[Coldjensens]

If you are going to turn off the water you should drain the lines. Simply turning the water off does nothing. The water is only a concern if you lose heat. You can also just leave everything on a slow drip but that is wasteful

[Coldjensens]

If you are leaving any cars behind make sure they have antifreeze in them. Might also want to put a float charger on the battery but for two weeks that shouldn't be an issue

[Jomz]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

If you are going to turn off the water you should drain the lines. Simply turning the water off does nothing. The water is only a concern if you lose heat. You can also just leave everything on a slow drip but that is wasteful

My thought was in case of a pipe burst, I don't have to come back to a flooded ( and probabaly iced over) basement. I'm confused though, I'm trying to figure out what shutting the mains will do to the water heater in the basement.

I agree with everything else. I need to get some timers. Our cars are garaged most of the time- but I need a buddy to throw some trash on our trash pickup day.

[Coldjensens]

Your water heater tank will remain full unless you drain it. I am not certain, but I believe that if you partially drain pipes and WH tank and leave on top hot and cold open, it will allow the ice to expand without bursting the pipes. What kind of pipe do you have? PEX is resistant to busting from ice, not immune, but resistant.

Personally If I were going away for two or three weeks, I would just leave. Maybe ask a neighbor to run over if the power goes out and and make sure the generator started and/or set up some kerosene heaters. However it is pretty unusual for the power to go out. It seems a lot of effort for a remote risk. As for the other issues, we do not really have crime to speak of, I would not worry about anything else. I might lock the doors when I left. When we lived in the city in California, we just had someone stay while we were gone. there was always a young adult around who was ahppy to get out of mom & dads house for a week or two. Sometimes we paid them, usually there was no need.

[DTWflyer]

Originally Posted by Jomz

As the title said, we are leaving the home locked for a few weeks. I was wondering what all precautions do people take in metro Detroit.

Some things which I could think was

1, Turn main water off to the house
2, Turn down water heater temperature
3, Turn down the thermostat to maybe 60.
4, Arrange friends to collect mail/ junk papers
5, Contract snow blowing to a company


..... anything else which I missed?

Yes on 1,2,3,4.

Find a good neighbor to just check on the house. We have a high school kid handle that, take in the mail, mow the lawn/shovel/plow snow when we leave for extended periods. Have them come in to make sure utilities are fine.

Even if they don't plow, just have them fun a car in/out of the driveway to make some tracks so the house looks occupied. Be careful of sidewalk clearing ordinances if you live in an area that tickets if you don't clear the sidewalks.