Community Forums

Dentkimterry · 09-11-2019, 06:11 PM

Never gone more than 2 months. Interior lights on timers. Exterior lights that come on at night at every entrance. Water off. Mail forwarded to daughters house. WiFi thermostat so we can keep an eye on house temperature. Simple!

Easyrider · 09-12-2019, 11:18 AM

We have our furnace checked and serviced every year before taking off. Fill plastic bags with water and cover all sink and tub drains with them. Plastic wrap toilet bowls to prevent evaporation. Shut off water. Got one of those thermostat controlled outlets and plug in bright red light aimed at front window, ask neighbors to call if light comes on as it means house is getting too cold. Tape note by furnace thermostat with emergency 24/7 phone number for furnace service. Give neighbors our cell phone numbers, kids numbers, and furnace repair number.

Ray,IN · 09-12-2019, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by winniman

I always shut off my water and drain it down to the basement. Unfortunately, my daughter got home last week from a two week vacation, and found their washing machine had bypassed the valve somehow, and flooded their house. I shut mine off so no such thing can happen.

Yep, washing machine inlet valves are a weak point. We returned home to a flooded basement once. After that city water is always turned off at meter.

radioman42 · 09-16-2019, 04:33 PM

We are still trying to figure out the water issue. We have hot water baseboard heat so we cannot shut off the water. We are on a well. Possibly we could install a shut off down stream of the furnace so the rest of the house is off.

Does anyone have any other way they handle it?

twinboat · 09-16-2019, 05:08 PM

Some hydronic ( Baseboard ) heat systems us antifreeze.

NXR · 10-26-2019, 09:29 AM

As I'm creating my checklist I'm wondering what people do with their water heater, if anything.

Ours is natural gas, 50 gallons and ten years old. I'm thinking about turning the water heater gas valve off just in case the pilot goes out (which it never has) but don't know if I should drain it. 50 gallons from even a drip-drip leak would make quite a mess in the basement. The main water valve will be off. The entire natural gas piping system was tested for leaks by the gas company this summer and that valve was exercised by them with no leaks.

Unfortunately the water heater is about twenty feet from the floor drain. I suppose I could get some of the hazmat "snakes" used to contain spills and build a channel around the water heater over to the drain.

I do have a camera in the basement that could alert us to a massive leak after ti happened, which I suppose is better than nothing...

Thanks,

Ray

chuckbear · 10-27-2019, 09:47 AM

for those that have remote monitoring cameras, etc. how much are you paying for the internet service to be able to connect to these devices and who do you use for internet service? Chuck

Cat320 · 10-27-2019, 03:53 PM

Stop the paper and the mail, tell the neighbors (ask one close by to walk around the house every few days), put out eight or so timers turning on lights at night and morning and one turning on/off a radio in the evening.

NXR · 10-27-2019, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckbear

for those that have remote monitoring cameras, etc. how much are you paying for the internet service to be able to connect to these devices and who do you use for internet service? Chuck

We cut the cord. The monthly Wowway bill for 100 down and 10 up is a touch under $30 because I bought my own cable modem. That's more than sufficient for several cameras, the thermostat and a few light switches (to better illuminate some areas for better camera detail, like the basement).

They're all connected to a dedicated Guest network on the router to keep them away from the PCs.

I also bought exterior light switches that get programmed with our latitude and longitude in addition to the date and time. They switch the exterior lights on at sunset and off at sunrise. I never have to mess with adjusting manual timers.

Ray

scooterbob · 10-28-2019, 02:42 AM

ADT alarm, shut off and drain water, Good neighbors, and son checks house several times a week.

reubenray · 10-28-2019, 03:52 AM

Most of our neighbors are retired police or military and they all have guns. I also have SimpliSafe security. I have a tankless water heater, so I just turn it off. A neighbor also has a key to the house if I need something checked on.

van-gogh · 10-28-2019, 04:38 AM

Like many of you, we also live in Florida. So we set up the MAGIC QUARTER in case of power loss to the house. Water Heater and Water off. GATE Codes and instructions emailed to local authorities for Fire or Police emergency access and Knox BOX. Lawn Service is kept up and maintained. Hurricane doors closed up and a neighbor who keeps an eye on things like our Butterfly and Hummingbird habitat we both share and alerts me to any down trees or branches for quick removal. NO Mail or deliveries are ever made to the Home as this has always been done through the post office. Wind Chimes hang in the trees throughout the yard. Two of the larger ones are lowered and put away until our return. House is cleaned inside and out and all waste is removed.

Eastham · 10-28-2019, 05:27 AM

We had a lawyer tell us if the house is vacant for a extended period of time. That the home owners insurance company could refuse to pay the claim.we ended up putting unoccupied insurance on it.at a lot more money.he also said if you lie to them they will find out because they look for a way out of paying the claim and was it worth. Loosing a few hundred thousand dollars for the difference in the premium. He also said who knows if they would catch it or not but just cover your own butt.

Solo_RV_Guy · 10-28-2019, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eastham

We had a lawyer tell us if the house is vacant for a extended period of time. That the home owners insurance company could refuse to pay the claim.we ended up putting unoccupied insurance on it.at a lot more money.he also said if you lie to them they will find out because they look for a way out of paying the claim and was it worth. Loosing a few hundred thousand dollars for the difference in the premium. He also said who knows if they would catch it or not but just cover your own butt.

If one intends to return to the house from travels, it is considered occupied *in most cases* but ones insurance policy may have exclusions or limitations of coverage. As with most insurance questions it's a good idea to call up the agent and ask.