Tips on Your Home When You are Out of Town

Save Money 
and
Don't Make it Easy for a Burglar

When leaving your home for extended time such as vacation or extended time away, there are both financial saving as well as safety tips that you can try.

•       Turn down your water heater to low or some heaters say vacation mode if it is a short time away or turn the heater, the gas valve, and the recirculating pump to the off position if you will be away for an extended period of time. Why pay to continue to heat your water if you are not using it. When you return, it does not take very long to heat up the tank. 

Example of temperature setting

•       If you have a water softener, you can easily disengage the program so you system does not continue to run when you are gone. Many systems just shut the water off to the system to disengage it. In this example, the blue dial is a shutoff

•       Turn your heat down by 10 degrees or so.  In winter we only are concerned with freezing and in summer we want to control the cool. Adjust your thermostat and remove from program mode to a hold temperature mode.

•       Consider turning your house water supply line to the off position. (Usually located in the garage)  Most sprinklers systems bypass the water off position and will continue to water shrubs and plants.  The risk of water pressure is that a hose inside your home can burst and with no one home, damage and flooding can occur. Dishwashers and your clothes washer have pressure in the hoses even when the appliance is in the off position. (Some folks like stainless steel reinforced hoses rather than the standard rubber hoses).  If you are gone for extended times and have someone flushing toilets, running water in the sinks, showers, and tub drains to eliminate sewer smell, this will not work if the water is off.

Shutoff in a SCA Home

•       Use a timer for some light in the house.  Random on/off timers or multiple on/off are available.

•       If you have landscape lighting, make sure your system is on when you are not there with the start portion programmed to begin when it gets dark. Many systems use a photoelectric cell for turn on time.  The off switch can be programmed either to stay on for a designated time or a designated number of hours. (If your system is older and does not have these type options, you can have them replaced at minimal cost)

•       Needless to say, lock all doors and windows.  For your sliding doors, it is prudent to use a lock bar or piece of wood to secure the sliders.  A one-inch dowel rod can easily be cut to fit the door and just lays in the track.  Doors cannot be forced open with the lock bar or dowel rod blocking the track.  Most forcible entries are thru the sliding doors in a home.

•       Place a hold on your mail and newspapers and do not have packages delivered to your home when you are not there.  Sounds basic but it is important. 

•       Ask a friend or neighbor to check your house and driveway for any papers or advertisements that are randomly thrown on your driveway. They need to be removed.

•       Contact SCA Community Patrol to provide random house checks while you are away.

•       Common sense should dictate what you do.  If you are not comfortable or do not understand the above suggestions, you should contact a professional to get another opinion.  As you can imagine, the above are suggestions and not guarantees of results. Create a checklist that works for your particular situation.