Vacations are often a time to enjoy celebrations and get-togethers with friends and family. If you’re leaving your home to travel during the winter, your house may be empty for days or weeks. Before you go away, you should prepare your home for your departure so that you don’t return to a flooded basement, a large power bill, or a burglarized home.

Save energy, prevent damage, and keep your living space comfortable. Make sure your Celina, Texas, home is ready for your departure before you leave.

Turn Off Your Water Supply

A leaking water pipe causes enough problems when you’re home, let alone while you’re away for the holidays. A water leak can cause thousands of dollars in damage, and if you aren’t around to turn off the water supply, you could come home to a disaster.

Get in the habit of turning off the main water supply to your house before you leave for the holidays. Prevent a leak from damaging your home. While turning off the water won’t stop a leak from happening while you’re away, you can prevent water from a leaking pipe from flowing into your home while you’re away.

Draining the water from your pipes is a chore, but if you don’t make time for this task, your home could be at risk of flooding during the coldest months of the year. Consider draining the water pipes in your home before you leave to prevent your pipes from bursting during a cold snap. While Texas winter temperatures rarely drop below freezing, it’s still possible for your pipes to freeze, burst, and flood your home while you’re away.

Water won’t be needed in the house while you’re away unless you’ve arranged to have friends or neighbors come to your house to collect mail, feed pets, or check on your house. If you’ve arranged for someone to come by when you’re away, let your friend or neighbor know you turned off the water. Leave yourself a reminder so you don’t forget to turn on the water when you return home.

Make Sure Your Sump Pump Works

Shutting off your main water supply can prevent the water from a leaking pipe from damaging your home, but your basement could still be at risk of damage from rain or floodwater while you’re away. Before you leave for the holidays, make sure your sump pump works properly.

To check your sump pump, pour some water in the pit containing the pump. The pump should turn on automatically. If the pump does not, repair any problems before you leave your home. Extra time and effort now can head off coming home to a flooded basement.

Lower Your Thermostat

While you’re away, you won’t need your furnace to keep your home at a comfortable temperature. Lower your thermostat before you leave to save energy, which saves you money on your heating bill.

With a programmable thermostat, you can easily set your furnace to adjust the temperature of your home during the time you’re away. Programmable thermostats allow you to set your furnace to a lower temperature for the days you’ll be away while keeping your home warm before you leave. Take advantage of your programmable thermostat and consider setting it to bring your house up to a comfortable temperature the day before you return so that you won’t be coming home to a chilly house.

Even if you don’t have a programmable thermostat, you can still turn down the heat before you leave. Your home will be cool when you return, but with an efficient heating system, your house should become comfortable in a short time.

Turn your heat down to about 56 degrees Fahrenheit while you’re away from your home. Turn your heat down, but don’t turn off your furnace. Air circulation is important for your home’s air quality.

If pets will be staying in your home while you’re away, you can lower the temperature in your house, but be careful not to make the temperature too uncomfortable for them. Consult your veterinarian to be sure you won’t be causing undue stress for family pets while you’re away.

Unplug Your Devices

Before you leave for the holidays, unplug your TV, stereo, computer, and any other electronic devices that won’t be used while you’re away. These devices use electricity even if they’re turned off or in standby mode. You can save energy and money on your power bill, plus protect your devices from unexpected power surges when you’re away.

Your devices may already be protected with a surge protector or power bar. Shut off the power to the surge protector to ensure your devices won’t be using power.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that unplugging your unused devices can save up to 10 percent on your electricity bill. Unplugging your devices before you leave for the holidays won’t cost you anything.

Use Timers on Your Lights

Having the lights on while you’re away from your home can protect your home from a burglary or break-in. At night, a house without any lights on appears empty, making the space a target for thieves. Use timers on your lights and set them to turn on at night to create the illusion that you’re still at home.

Choose two or three rooms in your house with lights in them, rooms with floor or table lamps. Consider setting lights to turn on in the living room and bedroom, as people usually spend time in those rooms in the evening. Be sure to set the timers to turn the lights on at different times rather than at the same time. Staggering the times the lights in your home come on can further add to the at-home effect.

Timers are easy to use, and you can purchase them at home improvement and housewares stores. When you use timers on your lights, you can leave knowing you’re keeping your home safe by making your house look like you never left home at all.

Lower the Temperature on Your Hot Water Tank

Having hot water for a shower or bath is important for your family’s comfort, especially when the weather is chilly outside. While your house is empty, however, the water in your hot water tank uses energy to stay hot. Keeping your water hot while you’re away for the holidays isn’t necessary. You can save energy and money while you’re away from home by lowering the temperature in your hot water tank or water heater.

Check your hot water heater for an away setting or simply turn down the temperature of your heater while you’re away. During the cold season, don’t turn off your hot water heater completely in case temperatures plummet while you’re away.

Lowering the temperature in your water heater doesn’t mean you won’t have any hot water at all when you return home. You’ll still have warm water, but you’ll need to set yourself a reminder to turn up the temperature when you arrive home. A modern, well-serviced water heater won’t take long to heat enough water for you or your family to use.

Clean the House Before You Leave

Before going away for any period of time, take a look at the items in your refrigerator and clean out anything that could spoil or grow mold while you’re away. Leftovers and fresh foods should be frozen or discarded so you don’t come home to a smelly mess in your refrigerator.

Besides checking the refrigerator, remove any food scraps from your sink trap or garbage disposal. If you don’t clean out these particles before you leave, your entire house could smell when you return.

Cleaning and tidying up might be one of the last tasks on your mind before you leave for the holidays, but taking some time to clean up before you leave is worth the effort. Coming home to a clean house after an exhausting trip or vacation means you have one less chore to tackle after arriving home.

Returning home should be comforting. What you don’t need when you return home is a flood in your basement, a shocking power bill, or a house that’s been broken into. Make sure you prepare your home before you leave for your trip or vacation.

Bill Joplin’s Air Conditioning & Heating can help you make your home comfortable, with preventive maintenance and heating system and programmable thermostat installations. Call us at 888-414-4655 to learn more about our heating and cooling services for your Texas home.