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Old 12-06-2016, 08:47 PM   #1
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2006 16' Safari
El Dorado , Arkansas
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Leaving Home for a Month

Leaving home in July for a month in Colorado.

Tell me the things I need to do and how to return home without foreclosure, grinnn!

Stop the paper, hold the mail! What about utilities! Guess I can pay most online.

TIA!
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Old 12-06-2016, 08:53 PM   #2
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Turn the water off.
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Old 12-06-2016, 09:44 PM   #3
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Try to change everything to paperless.
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Old 12-06-2016, 09:50 PM   #4
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The post office will hold your mail for only a month. When we travel I set up a UPS mailbox and forward my mail there. The Post Office will forward for up to 6 months, I think. You can call the UPS Store and see how full your mailbox is. They will mail your mail to your current location. They can receive and sign for any packages. I got the biggest box they had, I think it was $30 a month plus $10 setup fee. The longer the time, the cheaper the deal

Set up all your bills for email notification, use the eCheck feature if they allow it. That lets you pay your bill by checking account instead of snail mail. I mailed a VISA payment at the RV park office, it didn't reach VISA for 3 weeks and caused me to get a late fee. eCheck is the way to go, no fees. Pay the bill when you get the email notification, don't let it get lost in your emails. I created a special Outlook folder for BILLS so when they arrive I can see them, pay them.

Set up online accounts for everything you can; bank, mortgage, insurance, brokerage... everything. Focus on the mail you get in the mailbox and confirm that you're getting very little, just junk mail.

Some mail cannot be forwarded. Our trailer license renewal wasn't forwarded and got lost. I had to file again when we returned. Some banks don't allow statements to be forwarded. If you have online banking that will eliminate that problem. If you have something coming from state or Federal (including VA), you can sometimes switch to a temporary address.

Get timers for your lights; some random, some at fixed times to mimic your habits. Tell your neighbors you're going and aren't going to have anything delivered or picked up. You might tell your local police department.

Turn off the water, turn off the water heater, but leave the pilot light on if it's gas, stops rust. Turn off the water lines to your washer. If either hot or cold rubber hose bursts you're out some big dollars and your insurance may not cover it.

Put your cable on "seasonal hold" but keep your Internet connection if you have security cameras. With Time Warner, when you return, you have to negotiate your new price. When we came back after being gone 3 months, they doubled our cable bill and took away all of our "encouragements" to stay a cable customer.

Turn off your home delivery newspaper, but know that some won't give you a credit without a fight. I had to finally write a letter (you remember those, don't you?) to the publisher but I did get my 3 month credit.

You may have to line up someone to shovel your drive or cut your grass.

That's all I can think of tonight. I've got my ice cream sandwich and I'm going to watch the Late Show now.
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Old 12-06-2016, 11:05 PM   #5
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We haven't ever turned off our water, but in winter we've just kept the furnace at a low setting (about 65F) and gotten one of our friends in the neighbourhood to check the house a couple of times per week. The main thing in winter is just ensuring the furnace does its job, as our pipes would be in trouble if we didn't get a plumber to blow them out, in this climate, if the furnace conked out, even if we turned off the water.

Then we have house plants that she waters. She also checks our mail box periodically.

(We're lucky to have good neighbours, and try to reciprocate.)

We try to tell others in the neighbourhood we'll be away, so that if they see something suspicious from the road they can notify us or the police.

You don't mention if you have a yard that would need some kind of lawn care. Would someone water it for you, for example?

If we can find a reliable house-sitter, that's a good thing, also.

Most bills can be paid on-line, and there is also telephone banking.

I assume you've got a good list of what to take with you, which should include some kind of back-up for anything you really count on. Extra meds, possibly, stashed in a separate location, in case prescription meds go missing from their usual place. Emergency phone numbers, which should include your insurance agent, if the unthinkable happens and you have a traffic accident.

There are several threads here with helpful packing lists and suggestions.
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Old 12-07-2016, 04:18 AM   #6
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What everyone else said...and, yes, turn off your water.


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Old 12-07-2016, 04:46 AM   #7
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Same as everyone else plus: I tried to save electricity by turning off my AC completely. Mistake, ended up with mold. Not sure about July in your area but some dehumidification from the AC is necessary if you leave the house buttoned up that long. Some sophisticated thermostats have a dehumid capability but you can just set it at a temp that assures it will run periodically.

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Old 12-07-2016, 05:15 AM   #8
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In summer, I close blinds to block the sun, and set the AC to 80 degrees.

In winter, I leave the blinds open, and set the heat to 55 degrees.

Starting now, make a list of what needs to be tended to in your absence...then be sure everything is covered.


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Old 12-07-2016, 05:46 AM   #9
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Consider a wi-fi thermostat. I work in the industry and this is what type we havee Ecobee model.https://www.ecobee.com


This lets you view the temperature in your home, and change the setting from your smartphone or laptop.

And if your system isn't working as expected, it will actually send you an email.

"you may have a problem with your furnace. It has been calling for heating for 4 hours but the space temperature has fallen 3 degrees."

We had a customer with a lake house and they got an email like above. The problem wasn't the furnace, but that someone had broken in by breaking a large window in the patio area. So these are very useful in my opinion.

Added bonus is that if your plans change, you can re-set your schedule from the road. No more coming home to an 80 degree house in August.
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Old 12-07-2016, 06:00 AM   #10
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I agree, everyone makes them now. I have a Honeywell with access on my laptop or phone. Beware, however, at least for mine. If I set it in Vacation mode from the thermostat, I cannot change the settings via the internet. I must simply change the setpoint or turn it off, at the thermostat, when I leave the house.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Piggy Bank View Post
Consider a wi-fi thermostat. I work in the industry and this is what type we havee Ecobee model.https://www.ecobee.com


This lets you view the temperature in your home, and change the setting from your smartphone or laptop.

And if your system isn't working as expected, it will actually send you an email.

"you may have a problem with your furnace. It has been calling for heating for 4 hours but the space temperature has fallen 3 degrees."

We had a customer with a lake house and they got an email like above. The problem wasn't the furnace, but that someone had broken in by breaking a large window in the patio area. So these are very useful in my opinion.

Added bonus is that if your plans change, you can re-set your schedule from the road. No more coming home to an 80 degree house in August.
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Old 12-07-2016, 08:27 AM   #11
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We do our monthly bills by auto pay or on line. In summer I must leave the water on for the sprinkler system but winter it can be turned off. We forward the mail to our sons address. By forwarding it eliminates ALL of the junk mail. Makes for a pretty small amount of actual mail. Works well for our style of travel.
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Old 12-07-2016, 11:25 AM   #12
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Live in cold southern Ontario..
turn of water and drain lines as much as possible ( open taps upstairs and in basement)
Turn off hot water heater
Set thermostat to 55 degrees
Have someone check in on your hose in accordance with your insurance policy requirements...usually every 48 hours for most policies. If you have the house checked, then they can likely handle your mail too.
Leave a list of instructions who to call for repairs, and next of Kin and what your approximate Itinerary will be; Cell phone numbers and truck/trailer license numbers
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Old 12-07-2016, 11:45 AM   #13
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for a month travelling with your AS on the road....duplicate spare keys for AS and TV!!! Really.
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Old 12-07-2016, 12:21 PM   #14
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Good neighbors provide security while you're gone. Ask them to keep an eye open for you and call if anything doesn't look right. Type of neighbor matters as well. We've got one that would be of no help, but our daughter's family, a sheriff deputy and the police chief just down the road.
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Old 12-07-2016, 12:29 PM   #15
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I you shut off your water at the meter, you may want to consider turning off your Refrigerator ice maker so it doesn't keep trying to fill.

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Old 12-07-2016, 01:35 PM   #16
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Definitely turn your water to the house off. We didn't used to do that. Pipes aren't going to freeze in Tucson, right? Wrong. We were at a New Year's Rally one year when we dropped to the high teen temps on New Year's Eve. We came home 3 days later to water gushing from our ceiling in two rooms... and 5" of water on the floor. We had to empty the house for repairs in every room and all the floors, and much of our ceilings had to come down... It was a huge mess. We lived in our Bambi in the front yard for 4 months because the house was uninhabitable during repairs. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. We turn our water off now, as well as setting the water heater to "vacation", turning the ice maker in the fridge off ... even in the summer. You just never know what freak thing is going to happen. In the winter we leave the furnace set at 65 degrees and in the summer we live the AC set to 90 ... that way if the extremes hit, we are covered. Happily we have a neighbor who watches the homestead for us and checks the house periodically ... and brings in our mail.
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Old 12-07-2016, 01:49 PM   #17
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Good Free Advice

Real life stories can make the suggestion to turn your water off (at the meter) a must do.

We made a multi-month journey out West and met up with my Cousins for a week in Colorado [mid-August]. During the gathering, one of my cousins got a call from his neighbor to tell him him there was water running out of his California house and filling the street gutter. The connection to his washing machine on the second floor had burst at some point and run for hours. The damage was tens of thousands to repair (his insurance covered all but the deductible) and they stayed in a nearby motel for 15 weeks until it was completed.

Likewise, a few years earlier, I learned the original builder had used "blue poly pipe" from the meter to my house when our son called to ask, "When did you install the water fountain in the front yard?" Thirty thousand gallons had run through the meter before he turned it off and called. Not nearly as damaging/expensive as my cousin's experience, but the yard was ruined by the sink hole and pipe repair work. I was lucky enough to get the utility company to remove the fine for "excessive consumption during a drought" after a two month discussion.
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Old 12-07-2016, 02:47 PM   #18
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Leaving Home for a Month

Quote:
Originally Posted by B00merang View Post
for a month travelling with your AS on the road....duplicate spare keys for AS and TV!!! Really.

Need an original "master set" of originals. Not ever used. House and trailer and family vehicles. Kept in home safe.

(A good time to update house locks. Locksmith quality, not Home Depot. Same for windows and other entries).

3 full copy sets (TT & TV) to take with you (each adult,plus one full original set in a trailer drawer as travel master set; also, trailer door keys hidden outside TT).

One extra set TV keys, hidden.

1-2 full sets TT & TV keys given to family.

House key sets to family (and or neighbors).

Spare TV entry fobs. Programmed. New batteries.

Also a good idea to key as many travel trailer locks to same pattern to reduce total number.

HD rings sized to each set.
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Old 12-07-2016, 02:53 PM   #19
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We turn off the water to our washer and the ice maker in our fridge. We leave the water main on because our house has a sprinkler system for fire suppression (I know that is odd, but it was required by the city for homes built in our neighborhood which has only one way in/out).

We set randomizer timers on lights and alert our nosiest neighbors to call the cops if a truck shows up and people start emptying our house into it.

In addition to turning off the regular paper, we also call the local "trash papers" and yell at them all over again to make them stop tossing their garbage "rob us, we're not home" papers into our driveway every Thursday and Friday.

For our 8-week trip in 2015, we had friends who were willing to check our mail a few times a week. They used their phones to take pictures of anything that looked important so we could deal with it. If we were going to be doing the 8-week-long trips on a regular basis, we would have signed up for one of those professional mail-handling-forwarding services.

Have a great trip!
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Old 12-07-2016, 04:28 PM   #20
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  • Take photos of the interior of your home just in case you have to make an insurance claim and need to account for what you have.
  • Definitely turn off the water to the parts of your house that can do without it, and especially the washing machine and ice maker as mentioned above. You might not be able to turn off water to the whole house if someone is going to water your lawn/gardens.
  • Empty the fridge, clean it and leave the door open.
  • If you have neighbours close enough ask them to park in your driveway now and then.
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