Scenario - a house in the far North of the lower 48 states, normally heated only with wood, but there are electric resistance heaters in the bathrooms and kitchen. It is slab on grade, and moderately well insulated. This house will be effectively "abandonned" for three months in the depth of winter, and I am seeking advice to share with the owner. The owner is going to turn off the water, drain the water lines, turn off the water heater, drain it, and put RV antifreeze in all the sink, tub and shower drains (and washer drain), as well as the toilets. They will leave the heaters on low, I have no idea what temperature they will come on (anyone know this?) They are Broan/Nutone heaters. Going to leave the fridge and freezers on, there is too much food there. Electricity is fairly reliable at the location, and it has a smart meter, so the electric company will know if it goes off. Going to dump a couple cups of household bleach in each of the 1000 gallon cisterns. They are heated. Security wise, obvious it is going to be locked up. Other measures will be taken, that I would rather not mention here. Mail will be forwarded. Garbage pickup paused. Anything we might be forgetting? Any advice welcome.
Here in snow country, when my parents left their house unoccupied for a winter, I made sure the snow was plowed and there were fresh tire tracks in on any dusting of snow. Despite mail being held at the PO, it would still occasionally get delivered, so someone to check for that.
This house was part time before we bought, then another year after bought it, pretty much the same MO with the water here when leaving it. The one they missed on our first trip up here were the pvc lines to the clothes washer, they froze/cracked, flooded the house when we turned the cistern pump on, woops. Except it went without electricity for a couple years and months at time. We turned the electricity on Dec. 2012, moved in a year later. During that something happened to one of the old fuse boxes. We arrived after it being empty for a few weeks, could still smell the electrical burn in the air, and pantry door to the fuse box had black smoke/soot on it. Spooky, we just got lucky.
About as close as you can get to a total loss situation right there. Yikes! I've replaced jct boxes that had scorched wood behind them. Just lucky as well.
No doubt! Hopefully bushpilot 's friends house has newer and safer wiring. Curious, if it's way up north/cold does that owner need electricity to keep the food frozen in the winter?
I can understand leaving the freezer going, but the fridge? Catsup and mustard isn't that expensive so I would just chuck that stuff and leave the fridge door open so it doesn't get moldy. But, it's not my place and not my electric bill (or potentially smelly fridge if it fails while the door is closed), so not even worth 2 cents. Regardless of how you make it look occupied/taken care of on the outside, if there are never any lights, that will be tell tale. They make timer light bulbs that as long as the switch is in the "on" position, will stay on for several hours. Although I used this for a couple of days (I was away for 4 days), the timing can be really messed with if a person checking on things forgets and flicks the switch (it times the lighting by when it was last turned on). So it may not be good for long term. Also, I have no idea how a power surge or outage would affect it (besides the timing thing). Or, place plug in mechanical timers on table lamps in a couple of rooms. I've used this type, as well as this type, for grow lights and they worked well. Of course all they can get off track time-wise if there is a power outage - but easy enough to rectified if someone checks every once in a while. The mechanical timers would be less affected and most reliable.
Clean the ash out of the stove real good and close all dampers. 3 months of moisture with the ash can cause alot of rust. May want a shoulder of wood inside so when they get back the first fire is with dry wood. Leave kitchen draws and cabinets empty as possible and open so the mice are less likely to nest in them. On the spooky electrical topic. One Christmas my wife and kids were staying at my parents. We had gone to midnight mass and put the kids to bed. Mom started setting up breakfast for the morning. Dad and I thought we saw a wisp of smoke in the kitchen and thought it was the stove just bring a spill off from supper. Dad and I stayed up late a talked a bit while Mom put out presents. I caught a flash of light that wasn't from the decorations. I went to the kitchen and fresh smoke was present. I started looking around and saw a flash of flame shoot from behind the fridge along the wall and trash can. When ever the fridge turned the compressor on it would arch and shoot flames. It had burnt the insulation off wires and blackened the wall and plastic trash can. Why the breaker didn't trip or why the trashcan or paper kids drawings didn't catch on fire I don't know. If we hadn't stayed up the damm thing could have burned the house down. Dad and I put the fridge outside the front door for the night. It was below freezing so food stayed good. Mom got a new fridge for Christmas...late.
Off grid house in Baja for reference. I personally wouldn't leave any heat producing devices on while no one is there. People aren't the only things that like heat, and if they die on said device, or chew the wires, fire is possible. Wires create heat also. On that same note, flip any circuit breakers that aren't being used. Especially water pumps, been there and suffered for that. Turn off the water mains valve for sure. Any and all gas valves get shut, not just the main. Propane cylinders are moved outside the house. We put large automotive pans under the fridges and freezers that are left on, and/or make sure any drains are plugged before you leave. Softens the blow when you open the door to an entire fridge/freezer full of nastiness. The electricity co doesn't care if your power isn't being used, as long as you're paying the bill everything is fine on their end. Keep all food up and in an enclosed area. Mice and rats will chew through just about anything given enough time. Keep an inventory and date all boxes/bags of food to know when they can't be eaten. We put out about 100 roach and bug bait traps out before we leave and collect them when the house gets opened up. I'm not sure what the bug problem is up north but it's sure saved us more than a 100 invasions throughout the years. Just my 2c.
I was also going to suggest turning off all heat producing devices...more because of the malfunction or fire hazard. When my grandparents winterized (snow birds) everything but the alarm.system went off at the breakers...maybe the sump pump stayed on... Sca
Great advice. I also drain the water heater and put RV antifreeze in the toilet and all plumbing traps if not already mentioned.
If you don't mind the smell I would put some mothballs in the place in little buckets or containers. Mice don't like the smell. Better to keep them away than have them die inside.
