Most people look forward to their summer vacation all year. However, if you don’t prepare your home for the vacation, you may end up with high energy costs and other problems while you’re away. To give yourself maximum peace of mind and to reduce your home’s expenses while you’re gone this summer, take some of the following steps:
- Turn off your air conditioner: This will lower your energy bills by a significant amount. If you have a programmable thermostat, set the thermostat to the vacation setting. However, if you have house-plants that don’t do well in the heat, or fish or other pets that someone’s stopping by to care for, leave the A/C on, but perhaps several degrees higher than usual.
- Turn off your water heater: There is no need to keep heating your water while you’re away. Turn off the water heater at the circuit breaker to ensure the appliance remains off while you’re gone. If the water heater has a “vacation” setting, use that.
- Unplug appliances: Appliances like your TV and computer can still siphon energy while turned off. Unplug the appliances to ensure they do not absorb any energy while you’re gone.
- Consider turning off your refrigerator: If you’re going on a short vacation, simply raise the temperature in your refrigerator a few degrees to save energy. If you will be gone several weeks, clean out the refrigerator and unplug it. Keep the door open to prevent mildew from forming.
- Turn off pumps and sprinklers: If you have a pool, turn off the pump while away, or control the pump with a timer. Turn off sprinklers or use a timer to prevent energy waste.
- Control lights with timers: Many people leave a few lights on in the home to reduce the risk of theft while they’re away. Use a light timer to turn the lights on and off during specific times of the day. This will look more realistic, and will prevent energy waste.
For other ways to save energy dollars while on vacation, contact us at Donald P. Dick Air Conditioning. We have served the San Joaquin Valley with expert HVAC service for over 40 years.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about saving energy dollars and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Donald P Dick Air Conditioning services the greater Fresno area in California. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!