For those who are not familiar with the term, snowbirding refers to people who live in the north during the late spring, summer, and early fall months, and then migrate someplace south and warm for the winter. For example, I live in Montana, which has brutal winters, from mid-March to mid-September, and then move to Oklahoma to live with my daughter and grandson from mid-September through mid March. However, this is the first time I have left my home unoccupied for six months.
I’ve hired someone to stop by every six weeks to check on the house. I also have given access to a neighbor who is willing to go into my house if I need something checked in a hurry. I have an alarm system installed with cameras both inside and outside the house that will monitor things. I can also monitor the temperature of the house remotely.
While I am shutting down various systems, such as my well pump and on-demand water heater, I will be heating the house to 55 degrees to keep things from freezing while I am gone. Why 55? It was recommended to me that I keep it at that temperature in case there is a power failure, which is not uncommon during the winter months.The house is new and well insulated, and it would take at least a day or two for it to cool down to anywhere near 32 from 55 degrees.
Here’s my question. I have a forced-air HVAC system and it will be programmed so that if the power goes down and then comes back up, the programing will keep the house at 55 degrees. The house thermostat has a battery backup and I installed fresh batteries to ensure the programming sticks around even in a prolonged power outage.
The thermostat has a heating and cooling setting for every day of the week and for four separate times during the day. For each of the days and times I’ve set heat to 55 degrees and cool to 90 degrees. I think that means it will keep the house at 55 degrees and only try to cool it should the temperature reach 90 degrees, which should never happen. It also means the heater will be running on and off throughout the day and night. Is that the way I should have the thermostat set up? I have never done this before and that’s why I’m asking.
First of all, what type of HVAC do you have?
The reason I ask is: if it’s a heat pump, some won’t provide any heating (or won’t work at all, or may be damaged) if the outside temperature falls below -20°F.
I think you did it perfectly. I hope you wrote down your old settings so you can easily reconfigure to normal when you return.
Some thermostats of that general capability also have a “hold” mode. Which doesn’t disturb your possibly elaborate programming. Just adjust the target temp (or temp range) and press [hold]. That’ll apply until somebody presses [resume program] or whatever your stat calls it. If you went that way it’d be worth simulating a power outage while in hold mode to ensure the stat wakes back up in hold mode, not follow-the-program mode.
As to the larger picture ...
I used to run a condo in Florida. 150 units. Of which about 1/3rd were snowbirds and their units were unoccupied half the year. The hot half. Here’s some hard-won general advice on long term vacancies …
From the time a plumbing leak starts until the place is comprehensively destroyed is measured in hours, not weeks. (paging @Tride) Someone visiting at 6 week intervals will be basically useless against that threat. If you can turn off all water supply to the house do so. Ensure any electric water heaters have their power cut off back at the circuit breaker box or nearby switch and any fueled water heaters have their fuel source valved off. In any case do not trust the heater’s own control system to keep it off: disable it upstream somehow.
[aside]
Having endured the frigid conditions in Oklahoma’s winters I find that location a very odd choice for someone trying to escape the cold. I suppose the warmth of family and free housing helps offset OK’s sucky thermal situation.
I thought you were the guy who has had to move out of their house after a water leak just about destroyed the place. So I thought you could provide some feedback to the OP @dolphinboy about how checking on a house every 6 weeks isn’t really adequate disaster prep.
If you weren’t the guy with the destroyed house, I don’t know who it was. Hmm. Time for some challenging searching.
As mentioned in the OP, " I have a forced-air HVAC system…" My last house, which was also in Montana, had a ground-source heat pump, but I didn’t snowbird when I was living there. The energy source for my current HVAC system is propane gas, which fortunately, I have plenty of.
I’ve built 3 houses for us over the years and the sound of running water when there should be none gets me out of bed in microseconds. But it wasn’t me (thanks god). A friend was out of his house for a few weeks and a pressure spike blew the toilet water supply off in the 2nd floor master bath. Pretty much a gut. Maybe that’s what you’re thinking of? I did post about it. Simplisafe is affordable and has cheap little water bugs. You can also relatively cheaply put a smart monitor on your water main that detects abnormal flows and shuts it down. Warning–when the family shows up for Christmas reprogram it!
I did consider this option, but I wasn’t sure what would happen after a power outage if I left is on permanent hold. As you suggest, I could have tested it to see what happens, but for some reason I didn’t trust it to behave correctly. Maybe next year I’ll try that instead.
As mentioned in the OP, “While I am shutting down various systems, such as my well pump and on-demand water heater…”. I’m also going to open up all the taps to release the water pressure in the lines, although I’m not going to drain them by blowing them out. If any water left in the water lines freezes and a pipe breaks, there’s should be no massive leak since the water pressure will be zero.
The on-demand water heater will be turned off and unplugged from the wall, so it won’t automatically go back on if there is a power outage.
I have spoken at length with my daughter about winter in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and while it won’t be as nice as the California winters I grew up with it, I can guarantee you it will be a lot warmer and less snowy than Northwest Montana. This past winter the temperature one day dropped to -30 F without counting the windchill factor. Try walking you dog in that weather. It’s is no fun for you or they poor mutt.
I do have one more question I forget to mention in the OP. I also have a water softener system. I assume I should turn off and unplug it along with the other devices I am disabling. Does that make sense, or do I not have to worry about it? And does it make sense to leave the ceiling fans on, turning clockwise I assume, or is that a waste of electricity?
I used 55F for the winter travel season. Then over the years went to 50F. Since then I have taken a bit more active a role with the heat set to 42F for any time when there is no temp near freezing for the next week or so. I will bring it up to 50F when we get near, at or below freezing. When it gets really cold I will move it to 55F. If a very cold night is expected, but daytime temp is OK I may use the programming to set it at 50 during the day but 55 at night.
Also I use GoVee to monitor for water leaks, and also temperature. Their equipment is pretty economical especially when you want multiple sensors. I have one in the refrigerator crawlspace, heat pump output, furnace output, and in a couple of rooms. Also I have the leak sensors near the water heater/utility room, kitchen and bathroom.
I do know someone who had a basement flood up here in Toronto when they were away in the winter that was high enough to destroy the furnace. The subsequent freezing of all that water resulted in shifting the foundation and the entire house had to be razed and rebuilt.
This is the most important step, imo. We frequently leave our house for a month or more on vacations. Lock, disable, valve or otherwise inhibit everything possible that arrives under pressure. Not sure whether OP’s heat source uses natural gas, but I suppose that would need left on in this case.
The only advice I’d add is either emptying and shutting off the fridge, or leaving some sort of alarm/minder to inform you whether it was running consistently over time. We discovered our power had been off for several days after a long trip, and only noticed it due to dripping red trails from some meat in the freezer. Now I at least leave a coin in one of the ice trays, and the other tray upside down. I assume there are better technical solutions to this, but haven’t tried them.
The usual trick we taught at the condo was put a few loose icecubes into a quart ziplock in the freezer. If you come back and they’re still cubes but well stuck together you had a short outage. If the bag just contains a blob of ice that matches the shape of the bag you’ve had a full melt and refreeze.
Doubtless there are smart monitors available that could alert you anywhere in time for somebody to respond and throw out everything before the fridge/freezer itself is destroyed by the indelible odor of putrefaction.
Assuming of course they’ll work w your power out which may well kill your internet too.
