4 Tips for Preparing Your Home Before a Trip
If you’re planning that lifetime trip across the world for a couple of weeks or more, make sure your house is still in good shape when you get back. Before hitting the open road, check out the following four tips for preparing your home before a trip. With these steps, you can be sure the house is still standing and you won’t face any financial pains upon your return!
Clean!
Before you leave, make sure the house is in perfect and pristine condition. Your exhausted and homesick future self will appreciate coming home to a house that doesn’t require any immediate cleaning or upkeep. Clean and put away all the dishware. Do all the laundry, and not just what you intend to bring with you. Cut the lawn and trim the landscaping. Change cat litter and other pet supplies. If you have someone stop by to watch the house, they’ll appreciate a clean space as well.
Secure the Property
Locking the door should be the last thing you do before you leave, but security goes beyond one door lock. Lock the doors and windows, of course, and activate the alarm if you have one. Notify the alarm service that you’ll be gone, just in case there are false alarms or real ones. Use timers to turn lights on and off while you’re gone to simulate your daily activities. There are multiple apps that you can use to control your home’s lighting from a distance as well.
Adjust the Thermostat
You don’t need to keep your home at a perfect 72 degrees while you’re gone, but you should maintain levels that prevent pipes from freezing or mold from forming inside. Adjust your thermostat for the length of the trip, keeping in mind factors such as your region’s climate or the expected forecast. Some thermostats can connect to apps, allowing you to monitor levels from elsewhere. If no pets are home, consider temperature ranges that won’t activate your HVAC system beyond what’s necessary for your home’s well-being. That way, you can save money while away!
Energy Vampires!
Here’s the last of our four tips for preparing your home before a trip: unplug any nonessential electronic devices. This is a good tip in general, but it especially applies when you’re away. Leave the fridge and freezer on, but unplug DVD players, televisions, alarm clocks, computers, microwaves, and other appliances. Many electronic devices slowly draw electricity even when doing nothing. This can cost you money. It’s also a good way to protect them from surges that can fry their inner workings. Happy trails!
9 Comments
lesley opheim
Yes it’s always good to be prepared!!
Rose
I suppose in condos there might be more. A woman at my complex bought a condo in March last year and hasn’t been able to move in because after the closing she went back to her other place for over a month, and when she got back, a leak had started and it was flooded, with a ton of damage.
Connie: The Head Peanut
OH my gosh. How frustrating for her. Gesh!
Tamra Phelps
I’d like to take a trip somewhere…anywhere, lol. And I promise to do all these things first, really!!!
Connie: The Head Peanut
I agree! I want to go somewhere. Could it be warm, sunny and toes in the sand kind of place?
gloria patterson
That is a lot of good information. My brother & sister in law did a Christmas cruise last year with a LOT of other people. They had to get a house sitter the one from the last cruise say no dogs were to much. So my brother’s good buddy (lost his wife almost a year) said he would take care of the animals. Brother said stay here lots of food, satellite tv, make your self at home. They have 3 dogs, cat, big parrott name ruby, chickens, duck, all kinds of birds.
He did and said he enjoyed doing and would NOT take any money.
Connie: The Head Peanut
WOW!! That’s a long list of pets. I could do that… free food… tv… pets. I’m in.
heather
These are really great tips to do when you’re going on vacation. To be honest though… the las thing I want to do when I finally get back home from a vacation is run around plugging things in and resetting clocks and resetting alarms. Guess it depends on how long your giong to be gone.
Tamra Phelps
I turn the heat or air so it won’t kick on much even if I’m only leaving for a day, lol. Why waste it on an empty house, right?