first year of going to florida for the winter.... what do you do to your house when you leave it for the winter in northern areas... do you drain pipes , turn heat down, put in home monitors ?????

We have been wintering in Florida for 5 years with no problems. Everyone does it differently depending on their circumstances. These are things we do for our situation. In no order.Forward mail.Turn the heat down to 50.Open all cabinet doors under sinks.We shut off the water to the washing machine, refrigerator, outside spigots, and toilets. We leave the house water on due to forced hot water heat.Shut off boilermate. (makes hot water through furnace)Add RV antifreeze to toilet bowls and sink traps. (It appears to help keep the water from evaporating as we have never had a problem.)Heat is monitored through alarm system. Sends signal to central station at 40 degrees. Our oil company has 24 hour service. We have a key hidden outside. We will tell service person where it is located if needed.Have house checked by relative every 10 days to 2 weeks. He just does a quick walkthrough. Turn on security system. Notify central station that we will be away for 4 months.Check security cameras from Florida every day or two.Several lights are on timers.We have driveway plowed. I hope this helps.Paul

We have well water not city water. We use an air compressor to blow out all the water lines, I rigged up a small tank that lets me use air pressure to blow RV anti freeze through the refrigerator, dish washer and washing machine so the water valves wont crack. You may get all of the water out of those valves with just blowing air through them. Maybe Im too nervous but I did crack the ice maker valve one year. I then put windshield washer solvent in all the traps and toilet bowls. I have two aluminum door awnings that I place a 2x4 props under so the snow load doesn't tear them off the house. I turn the propane off at the outdoor tank. I used to shut off the main elec breaker but this year I'm leaving a few circuits on for video surveillance cameras and yard lights. Update. Brother in law is staying there this year. Very easy.

1. All the suggestions from other posts are great. I would add a few more. Stop your daily news papers a week before you leave so as to make sure delivery has stopped, 2. Go to the post office and have all your mail forwarded to you winter address, put a plastic tub undeneath the mail slot to catch all the mail that does not get forwarded to your winter address.3. Measure the height of each of your windows (the channels), cut some pieces of 1x 2 to the exact window measurmet, put each piece in place. A litte more safety from home intrusion.4. Call your local police dept. and ask if they have a volunteer group that will provide home security visits/observations of your home. We have a group called VIPS (Volunteers in Police Service who have to go through about 30 hrs. of training with the police dept.) who will put your home on a list for routine checks. If anything is wrong, they will call you and the police dept. This is a free service but I always give them $100 for a winter season.5. Go to bank and have all your important bills payed automatically, ie. house payment, heat, water, insurance , Dish TV ,internet service provider, etc etc

We forward mail.Have city turn water off, that way we don't get billed for water, sewer, or garbage pickup. turn heat down to 55Put timers on lamps. Unplug tv's & unused lights etc. Change battery in thermostat before we leave. We used to unplug fridge with the door ajar, but now leave it plugged in, as it's a new energy efficient one. Leave the dishwasher door ajar.

what do you snowbirds do when you leave home | Good Sam Community

18 Replies

beemerphile1
Explorer
Jun 25, 2014
Vanislervers wrote:
Might be the wrong forum, if so I apologize. My question is after the house has been taken care of & you're heading south, what kind of food do you take across border? Alcohol? I've tried to read the govt. sites but just get more confused. I really would appreciate some answers from people who head to the USA frequently in their RV's.

You will get much better responses starting a new thread for your question rather than asking in this thread.
MarkTwain
Explorer
Jun 24, 2014
Going south----
1. Purchase a complete house alarm system that is hooked up to a centeral montering system and the police and fire dept.
2 In our town they have an organization called th VIPS, Volunteers in Police service. The volunteers will partrol and check the exterior of your and if any distrubance is present, they will automatically call the Police. The volunteers patrol daily and varies times of the day and night. No charge:):). I donate $200 every year which is a cheap price for peace of mind.:)
obgraham
Explorer
Jun 24, 2014
By far the best is to have someone go in there periodically.

This year we were only away 3 months. Water off, furnace to 50, etc. Nobody going in, and no monitor. There were no problems. However, 2 weeks after returning, the circuit board on my gas furnace failed -- furnace would then not light.

If that had happened while we were away, and we'd had a really cold spell, any number of odd things might have frozen.

Next year I'm installing a temperature monitor which will call/text/email me. Then I can send someone in if need be.
Vanislervers
Explorer
Jun 24, 2014
Might be the wrong forum, if so I apologize. My question is after the house has been taken care of & you're heading south, what kind of food do you take across border? Alcohol? I've tried to read the govt. sites but just get more confused. I really would appreciate some answers from people who head to the USA frequently in their RV's.
rockhillmanor
Explorer II
Sep 04, 2013
I NEVER left my house alone. Always had a sitter for her.

Way too much to go wrong which could cost me big $bucks$ which would totally negate my pleasure of getting away to go south. Just not worth the chance.

snow storms, snow loads, power outages, broken pipes etc., etc. etc.
cherrykiss3
Explorer
Sep 02, 2013
I turner the furnace to 55, turn off the lights and walk out the door.

I live in a small town of 1200 and they are already asking me when I am leaving for the winter.

Cherry
camperpaul
Explorer
Aug 28, 2013
One option is to get a house-sitter.
Mote
Explorer
Aug 28, 2013
Reader1 wrote:
Another freezer idea. Put a bowl of ice cubes in the freezer. If you have a power outage that could result in spoilage of food, you will know it when you return and your ice cubes have melted and refrozen in the bowl.

Excellent idea
ploiselle
Explorer
Aug 27, 2013
Thank you for the response. I had no idea what I had done. In my case it has become a habit instead of using the "view topic", not that I needed to reread the op's post in this case.

Again, thank you for taking the time to explain the edit.

Paul
ploiselle
Explorer
Aug 26, 2013
" * This post was edited 08/26/13 08:50am by an administrator/moderator * "

What was in my post that needed to be edited? If we have no idea what we did, how are we going to avoid making the same mistake next time.

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You posted right after the OP, therefore there is no need to quote the op; just as when you respond to a person posting directly above you there is no need to quote that person; otherwise we get quotes within quotes within quotes within quotes. When you are speaking to some in person we don't repeat what that person has just said before responding....same principle. :) We don't know where this habit got started but it can be very distracting, especially when many people are being quoted. If you are responding to a post made several posts back then it does make sense as that way readers know to whom you are responding. (Mod)