Whether you’re vacationing in the winter or summer, there are a few simple steps that you should take to ensure that you return to a clean, dry home. Here are a few tips from our Utah professional drain cleaners and rooters to ensure peace of mind while you’re away on vacation.
Shut off the Main Water Supply
Shutting the valve on the main supply line cuts off water to the inside of house but allows water to outside sprinklers to continue working. By shutting off your main water supply you’ll ensure that in the off chance that a water line breaks in your home while you’re gone, you won’t experience disastrous flooding.
Drain Water Reserves
Now that your water line is off, the next precautionary measure is to drain toilets and other water reserves, starting at the highest floor of your home and working down. This ensures that, again, in the off chance that a water line breaks that your home won’t get saturated with water from reserves within your home.
Check the Sump Pump
Another kind of water-rainwater-can likewise leave a home flooded. In the event that your sump pump falls flat while you’re gone and a storm rolls through, it would be horrible to return home to a flooded basement. Before leaving for vacation, ensure that your sump pump is working.
Unplug Electric Devices
Why pay for power when you’re not using it? Many devices still drain power when “off.” This is called idle load. With electronics becoming more and more “smart,” they are required to still run power to keep in sync, connected to the internet, or do whatever other “smart” things they do. By unplugging devices you’ll ensure that you’re not paying for unused power while you’re gone.
Use Light Timers
We’ve all heard of leaving your outside lights on to scare away home prowlers. However, many people say that the best way to get rid of burglars when you are away from home is to turn on the lights inside the house. However, what if your vacation lasts for weeks and months? Who wants that huge power bill? In this case, you can use timers to light your room. Timers enable your lights to turn on and off on a schedule to mimic someone being home. Don’t want to re-wire your light switches? No problem. You can also find plug-in timers that you could plug a lamp into for each burglar protection.