Winterizing our home

[Perk]

We live in central Vermont and for the first time will be leaving here in the late fall and not returning until spring. We still have our house and are looking for help in how to winterize it durning the cold season. Of courese our heat will be left on and the house locked and someone will check it from time to time. Many of you snowbirds must have methods of doing this and any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Perk

 

[gdauth]

Do not rely on your furnace to keep your pipes from freezing. The igniters often fail, then you will be out of luck. Turn off the water, then drain the entire system including the water heater and the toilet tanks. Put RV antifreeze in the sink traps and in the toilets. I would leave the thermostat at its lowest setting, usually about 55 degrees.

gwd

 

[D2]

Open under sink doors where there is plumbing (especially if they face an outside wall).  This will allow heat to circulate around the pipes.

 

[Terry A. Brewer]

Perk

We used to blow out the lines in our cabin in Idaho & each year I would spend a week repairing freeze damage. Seven years ago I started pumping RV anti-freeze through-out the whole cabin & haven't had a problem since. We turn off all utilities & haven't had a problem with any of the inside electronics or furniture even in the cold years of -20/30 temps for days at a time.

 

[Shayne]

Terry? ? just think You can now save a couple of bucks a year on Antifreeze on the house Iin Yuma? Won't take qujite as much.

 

[Perk]

Hi All, Thanks for your responses, however the thing I forgot to tell everybody is that my our home has radiant floor heat so draining the water is not an option. Is there some type of system that if the temp. drops below 50 degrees it will call someone, like the heating company or the plumber to make a house call? I guess I should have asked this question this way the first time.

Thanks for any information.

 

[Phil]

Hi All, Thanks for your responses, however the thing I forgot to tell everybody is that my our home has radiant floor heat so draining the water is not an option. Is there some type of system that if the temp. drops below 50 degrees it will call someone, like the heating company or the plumber to make a house call? I guess I should have asked this question this way the first time.

Thanks for any information.

My alarm system includes low temperature sensors.  If my house gets cold, the alarm company gets a signal.  Also, my weather station has an indoor temperature sensor so, I can check the house via the internet.

Phil

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

Hi All, Thanks for your responses, however the thing I forgot to tell everybody is that my our home has radiant floor heat so draining the water is not an option. Is there some type of system that if the temp. drops below 50 degrees it will call someone, like the heating company or the plumber to make a house call? I guess I should have asked this question this way the first time.

Thanks for any information.

Another option is to get a line voltage thermostat (like this one) and set it for 50 degrees and plug a lamp into it. Have the lamp in a window so that a neighbor can see it. If the lamp is on then the neighbor knows to call you or who ever phone number you gave them.

 

[Perk]

The line voltage thermostat sounds great.............thank you.

Perk

 

[Phil]

The line voltage thermostat sounds great.............thank you.

Perk

You can get a temperature monitor that will dial your cell phone or a neighbors phone to alert you.

http://www.omega.com/guides/AlarmDialers.html

PhilB

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

The line voltage thermostat sounds great.............thank you.

Perk

I forgot to mention that you have to have a neighbor close enough to see the window and is willing to look and see if the lamp is on a couple times a day.

 

[Clay L]

Plug in temp alarms are also available at Home Depot. They had them in an area that seemed like an unusual place keep them to me and I had to ask for help to find them.
As I recall it was less expensive at Home Depot than Northern  - maybe $20 ( four years ago).