You’ve worked hard to earn your summer vacation. When you’re heading out on vacation this summer, don’t forget to program your air conditioner before you leave. You have a programmable thermostat; take advantage of it. Here are some tips to make sure that your house stays safe and secure while you enjoy your time away from home.
- While you’ll probably want to have someone checking in on your home from time to time to make sure everything’s okay, keeping the air conditioning on will maintain the appearance of someone being home, so potential burglars will be deterred from invading your space. This is the same principle underlining taking steps to stop mail and newspaper delivery, and leaving a few lights and possibly a radio or TV on a timer system.
- Consider setting the thermostat at 82-85 degrees while you’re away. If you’re leaving any pets at home, you want to make sure they’re comfortable. Additionally, plants can wither and electronics can become unusable if they’re exposed to too much heat and humidity. Keeping your space at a reasonable (but higher energy-saving) temperature will keep all of your creature comforts (and creatures) functioning properly. Program the thermostat to go back to a comfortable temperature a couple hours before you get home, so you’ll walk into a space that’s ready for you. If your house has a zoning system, go ahead and turn off the cooling to rooms or areas where there’s no chance of heat and humidity damaging anything.
- Remember to give the person looking after your space the phone number of your heating and cooling professionals. When you’re away on summer vacation, you don’t want any unexpected situations to arise in your home that can’t be attended to. It’s imperative that you provide the Ernst Heating and Cooling contact info to your house-sitter. If you have a particular technician whom you’re used to working with, provide that number, since he or she likely already knows the intricacies of your home’s system.
For more expert advice about keeping your house safe and secure while you’re away and other questions about home comfort, please contact us at Ernst Heating and Cooling. We know the Alton, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon and Troy areas, and we’re here to help.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Hamel, Alton, Glen Carbon, Highland, Greenville, and Troy, Illinois and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about keeping your home safe during summer vacation and other HVAC topics, visit our blog.Â
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