leaving for 2 months??

Everyone does it a little different. Here's our routine:

Leave the electric on. AC at 90 deg. (our bill is only $13/m) High heat is not good for furniture and art work. Naturally, close all window coverings.

Leave the refrigerator on and put some cases of water or whatever in it so it has something to work on. We were told it's harder on a refrigerator to turn it off and on than leaving it on. Turn OFF the icemaker.

Turn the water off outside.

Do the oil thing for drains and saran and a little bleach in the toilet.

Do a little oil in the garbage disposal and dishwasher, also.

For a house, you'd have to set out a LOT of buckets of water to make a difference. We did that with our RV but not the house.

Honestly, for only two months you won't have any problems if you forget to do something.

Next time plan to leave for high country in June and July and come back for the monsoon light shows in August. :) It'll be a little cooler, too. We're enjoying the cool White Mountains of AZ right now - along with many, many from the 'valley'.

LOTS OF GOOD IDEAS and it seems to be the consensuses to leave the A/C on but turn temp up to 85 or 90. i don't have a programmable one so will just have to leave it turned up.
will do the saran wrap since thats easy. have a alarm system already,just have no neighbors to watch the place so will hope for the best.

if any other ideas keep them coming and thanks for all the input

Live in Az. same as you. Have 2nd home in warmer part of state. Do not go there from June thru most of Sept. Upon leaving in late spring everything (electric, gas, and water) is turned OFF. No Saran wrap, close the lids on the toilets, refrigerator empty of course and the doors propped open a little. Other than neighbors keeping an eye on things around the area, nothing else is done. During that time frame toilets do not dry out, drain traps stay full. Upon return everything comes right back to life and things go on as usual.
It's not a big deal; So no need to make it one.

Turn off water at the main.

Closing the toilet lids and placing an object over your drains should help prevent evaporation and subsequent sewer gases. The oil suggestions are probably better options though.

If you are concerned about air conditioning inside the house, I might suggest you program your thermostat to come on at night to cool the house down to a reasonable level. Cooler temps outside means your AC isn't working as hard. Electric rates are typically lower at night than the day as well.

I would contact your local law enforcement agency and speak with their community services officer. You could request someone just check the property from the exterior every couple of days.

If this is going to be a regular thing, why not install an evap cooler and take care of the temp problem and dry air at the same time without the power bill and cracked wood??

We have friends that have a winter place in Palm Springs that did the evap cooler, cover the toilets with Saran Wrap, sun shades on the windows, IP cams, and leave

With IP based home automation monitoring your home is easier than ever. You can put a camera(s) at key locations and view online but absolutely change the default passwords to strong passwords. You can also install an IP thermostat relatively cheaply where you can monitor the temp in your house even kick the temp down a few days before you return.

Agree with turning water off. 3 months? Not sure you will have a problem there with evaporation. When we do leave in the summer we still keep the AC 80 - 85, we have lost things (plastic decor) when we use to shut off the AC. To qualify this, our home was built in the 60's cinder block construction no outside facing wall insulation, single pane windows, no trees. So it gets hot in there. When we get back it can take the AC as much as a week 100% to get the temp back down having to cool all the inside furniture and walls.

We cover every drain with saran wrap including the toilet bowl and tank tops. I guarantee water will evaporate out of every tank and drain if not covered with wrap or oil. First time we were gone for three months everything was dry including the tank flapper seals as well the seal between the tank and bowl. Water ran through tank and some right out onto the floor. Not what anyone wants to come home to. Last thing we do is shut water off and cover every drain.

Turning off the water to the house would be a GREAT idea as others have previously mentioned. At an absolute minimum, turn off the valves going to the washing machine. It's one of the most common causes of flooding. Here's an article about it: http://www.nolansinspections.com/pdfs/White-Paper_Washing-Machine-Hoses-Disaster-Waiting-to-Happen.pdf

When we leave Texas for the summer, we put RV antifreeze in all the drains and toilets. The toilet then we cover with saran wrap. Works good, flushes easily away and everything has always been fine when we return seven months later.

Dale