Going on a trip? How exciting! We all need a chance to just get away and escape reality once in awhile, and spring break is a wonderful time to take a vacation.

But, don’t let the excitement of getting out of town keep you from tackling your home “to-do” list before leaving the house. Our team at Guin Service are here to offer you some tips on how you can enjoy your vacation knowing your home is safe and sound.

What to Check Before Leaving for Vacation

If only going on vacation consisted of packing and leaving! While it can, you do want to make sure that you come back to a well-maintained home. In order to do so, there are some housekeeping items you need to tackle first before going on spring break.

Start here:

Number One: Conserve Your Heat

Even in spring, there can be cold days in Birmingham. Therefore, your best bet is to set your thermostat’s heating setting to around 65 degrees. While this will help to conserve your heat and energy costs, it will also help to ensure your pipes do not freeze in case the temperatures do happen to drop to below freezing while you are gone.

Let’s face it. With our weather, you just never know what you are going to get. As a result, it is better to be safe than sorry!

Number Two: Turn Off Water

Turning off your water supply and water heater is a great way to prevent water damage before you leave on vacation. However, if you have never done this before, you are going to want to do a test run before you actually head out on spring break.

All you need to do is turn on a faucet and, when you shut off the main water valve, the water coming out of the faucet should completely stop.

Number Three: Turn Down Water Heater

To turn down or off the water heater while on vacation, it depends on the type of water heater you have in your home.

For an electric water heater, you are going to want to turn it off at the circuit breaker panel. But, on a natural gas water heater, you can put it on “vacation mode,” which is usually at around 50-degrees Fahrenheit.

Number Four: Unplug Your Home

You are not going to be watching your TV, cooking with your toaster oven, or working at the computer—you are going to be enjoying a wonderful vacation!

Unplug all the appliances you are able to before you leave home to not only help to prevent a fire hazard from occurring while away, but to also help conserve and save even more energy while not at home over spring break!

Discover how our team at Guin Service in Birmingham, AL, can help improve the safety in your home!

Contact Guin Service, LLC, serving Birmingham, Hoover, and Mountain Brook, AL, for AC Repair or Replacement as well home generator installation. We’ve been in business for 60 years because we do what’s right for our customers. You can always trust us to be honest and have your best interest in mind. Just give us a call today at 205.595.4846.