While your friends and family who remained up north might not believe it, there are only a few weeks left of the winter season. In the next couple of weeks you’ll probably be thinking about your own northern trek.
Before you leave, make sure your home is prepared for your absence. While forwarding the mail and switching to seasonal service on things like cable are no brainers, there are maintenance concerns that need to be addressed before leaving a home in a hot, humid climate.
Think Twice About Turning off the Air Conditioner
In a humid climate with very hot temperatures, turning off your A/C for the season is inviting a forest of mold to invade your home. A much better solution is to keep it at 80-82 degrees, allowing the A/C to minimize the humidity in the home. If you’re worried about your electricity bill just check out the cost of mold remediation.
Get Your A/C Serviced
To the end of needing A/C during the summer, you need to make sure it’s running well and efficiently before heading back north. After all, if you don’t have the A/C checked out and you assume all is well, you might be in for a sad surprise when you return.
Secure a Lawn Service
You’ll want someone to make sure your landscaping doesn’t grow out of control during the wet months. Don’t forget to give mention you’d like them to keep landscaping trimmed around the foundation of the house and your air conditioning unit. Excessive growth around the foundation can invite insects and other critters who are more than happy to watch (and enter) your home while you’re gone. Vegetation within 2-3 inches of your A/C unit can keep it from running efficiently and cooling properly, causing it to work harder than it needs to and place excessive wear on the system.
Don’t Turn Off the Water
While it’s tempting to turn off your water when you leave, and it’s probably something you do in your northern home before coming down here, turning off the water to avoid mold in your toilets can invite rats and other creepy crawlies. If you turn the water off, your toilets might drain or have very low water levels. Rats have been known to enter homes in this way and can set up quite the party in your absence. Instead leave the water on and the toilet seats up (to avoid mold). Use chemicals in the toilets and hire a property manager or a good friend to check on your home periodically.
Find Someone You Trust
Your best bet for peace of mind while you’re away is hiring a property manager or making arrangements with a friend. Give them a checklist of things you’d like them to keep an eye on, like the grass, landscaping, mold situation, and A/C. You may also want to consider setting your lighting on timers.
Many people select an ongoing maintenance program with an A/C company like our EZ Breezy Club. Programs like this save you money, give you priority appointments, and make things easier when you’re managing home maintenance concerns from a distance.
If you’re getting ready to head back up north, let us give you the gift of peace of mind. Call Easy A/C today at 813-COLD-AIR (265-3247) and we’ll make sure your A/C system is running efficiently and will get you through another of our sweltering summers.