4 Things to Do for your Home Before a Trip

Whether you are going home for the holidays or jetting off on vacation to ring in the new year, many people are traveling in December.  Preparing for a trip is a lot of work: packing, cleaning out the fridge, and making sure someone is around to feed animals or water any plants.  One thing you don’t want to forget to do is prepare your home for your travels.  These simple preparations will help to prevent anything from happening to your home, and they will also save you money (so you have some more cash for your vacay!)

Shut all chimney flues: All chimney flues in your home should be shut whenever the fireplace is not in use, but you want to double-check this before leaving for vacation.  An open chimney flue allows heated air to escape and cold air to enter your home, which means your furnace will be working extra hard to try and maintain the set temperature.  Wasted energy and wasted money.

Set the thermostat back: While you are away turn that thermostat down to generate savings.  Just make sure it does not get turned back past 55 degrees-you want to make sure the pipes don’t freeze.

Turn down the hot water heater: No one is taking a hot shower at your home wile you are out of town, right?  Therefore, turn back the temperature of your water heater a few degrees.

Have a neighbor check on the house: A friend or neighbor can check on the house to make sure everything is set.  They can also see if the furnace is running properly and that there aren’t any frozen pipes.

If you have any other questions about preparing your home’s heating system or plumbing for your time away, contact FLAME.  Enjoy your trip and merry Christmas!