Before You Fly South…

As the holidays quickly approach, we enter that glorious season of family vacations, and as the song says “from Atlantic to Pacific, gee the traffic is terrific.” Can you tell the Christmas songs have already started in my home?

Whether you’re driving or flying, chances are you aren’t going to have a house-sitter and will be leaving your home unoccupied while you’re away. Since you’ll be spending money on gas, planes, and hotels, you can do a small part to defray some costs at home by doing a walk-through before taking off.

• Do a full walk-through of your home and make sure all appliances that aren’t required to be on, are turned off. In addition to saving on energy, this will add some increased safety during your time away.
• Turn down your thermostat. If you don’t have animals that will be impacted by a cooler temperature, you can turn your heat down to as low as 50 degrees. This will prevent your pipes from freezing, but also keep you from paying to heat an empty home.
• Close your blinds. Again this helps with safety too, but will also insulate your home better allowing for that 50 degree temp to be kept more easily.
• Turn your water heater down or completely off. Depending on if you have gas or electric, your water heater will continue to do it’s job unless you tell it otherwise. Of course, you’ll want to remember you did this before jumping in the shower after your long drive.
• If you’re gone for a longer vacation, consider emptying food from fridge and freezer. Even if it’s a short trip, removing food that can spoil is a good practice.

Though there truly is no place like home for the holidays, hopefully these tips will help cut some costs if you have to be away. Do you have any tips or tricks that you use while away? Please share them below!