Vacation Home Indoor Temperature Settings help (hardwood floors, sale, mover)

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by thegamer36

I have a gas water heater, I was thinking of just turning it down to low while not there.

Drain it and shut it off. The last thing you want is a WH to spring a leak. Your house water should be off. You do not want any pressurized lines inside the home..

[JoeC]

Some of the smell is caused by the water in the drain traps evaporating, allowing sewer gases to vent into the house. Closing the stoppers in the bathroom sinks & tubs, and stoppering the kitchen sinks helps. Not sure what to do about the toilets; I read something about using plastic wrap over the bowl to minimize evaporation - just remember to remove the wrap before use...

[ReadyFreddy]

I've heard of people that have someone go open up their house and turn on the frig and flush toilets and stuff, a day or so before they arrive. I think there are people who do it for a fee in the retirement communities, or the communities themselves offer some summerizing/de-summerizing services for snowbird residents.

[madmmac]

I run no heat or AC when gone.

I turn my gas water heater to pilot.

I can't shut my water off because I have a pool.

I leave out 5 Home Depot large orange buckets of water placed about the house.

I put about a cup of RV antifreeze into all the sink drains, shower/bath traps, close the stoppers and use painters blue tape to really seal them shut. I cover the toilet bowls with saran wrap.

If you have bugs in your house when you return, you had bugs in your house when you left.

[Jkgourmet]

Uu

Originally Posted by S. Chris Webb

You don't need it on heat at all. And as much as I condone saving energy, if you have carpet it is not a good idea to turn off the air completely. If a room with wall-to-wall carpet gets hot, it could warp/ripple, leading to having to stretch it. Close all of your blinds so sunlight can't enter. An over-heated house could also have other damage besides carpet, depending on what materials are in your home.

You don't need to make the home comfortable. I'd set it to around 85-90. This is also what APS recommends. More vacation tips from APS here.

Exactly correct. And until last week, I had the carpet to prove it. Now I have the credit card charge to show I had it fixed

And yes, we used buckets of water, etc. As much as we could.

[thegamer36]

The water heater is a Bradford White with a Honeywell control on it. There is no vacation mode on it, but it has the following OFF, PILOT, LOW, HOT, A, B, C, and VERY HOT. I was thinking of turning off the water at the main, then setting the water heater to PILOT. Thoughts?

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by thegamer36

The water heater is a Bradford White with a Honeywell control on it. There is no vacation mode on it, but it has the following OFF, PILOT, LOW, HOT, A, B, C, and VERY HOT. I was thinking of turning off the water at the main, then setting the water heater to PILOT. Thoughts?

Why would be my thought. Do you know how to relight it? You are just wasting gas and shortening the life of your thermocouple.

[ReadyFreddy]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

Uu

Exactly correct. And until last week, I had the carpet to prove it. Now I have the credit card charge to show I had it fixed

And yes, we used buckets of water, etc. As much as we could.

How much did it cost to re-stretch the carpet? I had it done long ago, to hide some dog damage by a door and I thought it was really cheap. I hate to say it but I think I'd be tempted to chance it rather than spend $200/month on cooling a vacant house to 85 all summer. After a few years, you use the savings to pick out new carpet! Or tile!

[thegamer36]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Why would be my thought. Do you know how to relight it? You are just wasting gas and shortening the life of your thermocouple.

I believe it is easy to relight...just a turn to pilot, hold in and hit the button. So you would turn it off completely?

[S. Chris Webb]

How much did it cost to re-stretch the carpet?

The least expensive I found it was around $60/room. In a house with six rooms it adds up! Cooling a house to 85-90 for the summer should not cost you $200/month - if it does, you must have a huge house that is not very well insulated, or you are not taking advantage of time-of-use savings plans from the utility supplier. You may be damaging other materials besides carpet as well if your house is hot for too long.

Save more by unplugging the fridge (leave it empty, clean, ice dumped out, and the door wedged open) and other appliances/electronic items.