Preparing Your Vacant Home for Winter

Preparing your vacant home for winter is a must. When the temperature drops we start to get ready for the snow. And while there’s lots of fun that comes along with winter, there’s some serious business at hand to make sure your home stays protected. Below are some key pointers to making sure your home makes it through the winter without any major issues.

If your Flagstaff area home is only a summer retreat, here are some key tips to preparing your vacant home for winter:

  1. Adjust your thermostat. Keep your thermostat set at 55 degrees fahrenheit. That’s the ideal temperature to keep your pipes from freezing. 50 degrees will still work, but you really don’t want to keep it any lower than that.
  2. Open the cabinet doors where there are pipes. Usually your sinks have closed cabinet doors that hide the pipes. Keeping these open helps the air to circulate around the pipes, keeping them from freezing.
  3. Clean out gutters. The leaves and pine needles have been falling into them for the past several months. Don’t leave them that way. The gutters need to function properly while you’re away to keep the moisture from damaging your home.
  4. Unplug everything. Don’t leave items plugged in that can cause a fire if there’s a surge or an electrical short.
  5. Close the damper on your fireplace. This prevents cold air, snow, or small animals from coming into the home while you’re away. But don’t forget to open it up again when you come back.
  6. Winterize your sprinkler system: This often gets overlooked as you’re preparing to leave for the season. You can contact
  7. a professional to do this for you, or you can follow these tips to do it yourself if you’re so inclined.
  8. Hire a plumber to professionally winterize your home. If you don’t come back to the home at all during the winter, hire a plumber to professionally winterize your home. It’s worth the extra peace of mind to hire a professional to take care of everything so you don’t miss a step.
Preparing your vacant home for winter

Winterize Your Home

 

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