MARCH, 26 2018 Add to Favorites

Preparing your Home for Vacation

Vacation planning can be a bit stressful; you don’t want to forget anything. And then the focus is always on what you need to take, the journey ahead of you, and so on. But you also need to make sure your vacation preparation includes getting your home ready as well!

This doesn’t have to be complicated, and you don’t need a complete internet-enabled camera suite and home automation system to have peace of mind during your holiday. Although if you already have some of those things, congratulations, your home preparation is easier than most!

SECURITY

security

Security

The first thing to think about is security, an empty home can be an easy target for burglars, so the aim here is to make sure your home doesn’t look empty. This means stopping newspapers while you are away if you receive any (a pile of unread newspapers outside the front door is a dead giveaway that no one is there). You can stop the mail too for the same reason, although an alternative is to get a friend or relative to pick up your mail every couple of days while you are away.

With the outside taken care of, now it is time to think about the inside, and here, timers are your savior. While just one light on a timer makes it look like someone is there, several do it more convincingly. Speaking of lighting, outside lighting on a motion sensor is great for putting off nighttime visitors from having a closer look at your home. 

Safety

Next for your vacation planning, take care of safety. I am referring to things that could cause a problem if they malfunction; for example, if there is a power surge, lightning strike, and so on. This means unplugging all your small appliances and electronic devices, you can leave the refrigerator as it is, but to avoid any nasty surprises when you get home again eat or throw out anything perishable before you leave. Another great tip is to turn off all of your circuit breakers in your home that will not be required while you are away (that is to say do not turn off the breakers to any automatic lighting or security systems you may have set up).

Water Heaters

Water heaters

Another part of your vacation preparation should be to turn off the mains water supply; nothing in your house will need water while you are away and it avoids any chance of a leak appearing and flooding your home. Turn off your water heater too; it will save you money while you are away.  To make sure you remember to turn the water supply back on when you return home, put a post-it note to remind yourself on the water heater controls.  

Air Conditioners

Air conditioners

You can also turn your air conditioning thermostat to off, you will be surprised at how much energy you save while away when you do that. Alternatively, to reduce your heating and air conditioning bill while you are away, simply set your thermostat temperature to 68 in the winter or 80 in the summer.  This will cause your heater/AC unit to run much less than normal but still keep your home reasonably comfortable for when you return.  However, turning off your AC unit totally will also prevent any problem from causing a disaster when no one is there to deal with it.

Preparing yourself

Have you ever sat on the runway as your plane is ready to takeoff and deliver you to your vacation destination and suddenly you have this idea that you left the oven on? If that is you, then like me, you are a worrier. Once I get that idea in my head, it bugs me all through the vacation. Did I turn the thermostat down? Is the oven on? These are questions that can spoil my enjoyment, but if you are the same way as I, don’t worry, there is a solution for this too. Your phone!

Take some pre-vacation photos

Take some pre-vacation photos

During your vacation preparation, before you leave your home, take a quick snap of the thermostat, oven controls, your bedroom window, anything you may suddenly realize you left on or open but didn’t actually do so. It gives you peace of mind and makes it easy to put those ideas behind you and focus on enjoying your vacation. In fact, taking the photos can be a great part of your vacation planning, as a double-check that you have actually switched off the oven, locked that window, and turned the thermostat down. 

Prepare for your return

If you are really organized, during your vacation preparations you could cook up some meals for everyone and freeze them for when you get home. Then, once your return, you can just defrost them and heat them up. This saves a lot of hassle after a long journey and makes coming home an easier process.

Prepare for your return

Preparing your home is an important part of your vacation planning because wherever you go, it’s the place you always come back to. Don’t forget it, and enjoy your vacation!

For more tips and tricks:

Be sure to visit Timeshare Recyclers' News section.  TimeshareRecyclers.com is chock full of vacation tips, great location destinations to discover, as well as steals and deals on timeshare vacation rentals and timeshare resales!

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