How to Keep Your Home Efficient While on Vacation

Vacation season is coming up.

While you deserve some rest and a break, don’t take a vacation from saving energy!

It may take a lot of work to get ready for your vacation.

But, it doesn’t take a lot of work to prep your home for saving energy while you’re gone.

Check out what to focus on:

1. Use Your Smart Thermostat

You can set your smart thermostat to vacation mode.

This new schedule simply overrides your regular schedule.

And if you forget, just quickly set the temperature with your app.

85 degrees is about the ideal during summer. You can add another degree or two (each degree increases your efficiency by 2-3%).

Just don’t set the temperature above 90 degrees. That makes your fridge work really hard.

And if you’re going away during the winter, keep your home at 50 – 55 degrees. That’s still plenty warm enough to keep your pipes from freezing, should it get brutally cold out.

Then just pop the temperature back to normal several hours before you return home so everything’s nice and comfy again.

2. Turn It All Off

Ceiling fans, lights, appliances, electronics, smart power strips, pool or spa pumps…either put them on a schedule to reduce running time or turn them off completely.

You may need to set a schedule…such as turning on your lights to make would-be crooks think someone’s at home.

That’s fine. You have to account for safety too.

But, turn off as much as you can to optimize your savings.

3. Put Down Your Blinds and Shades

The sun is your number one energy savings enemy during the summer.

Spend some time in it and enjoy it.

But, don’t let it heat your home any more than it has to.

Put down your blinds, shades, or curtains so it can’t heat your home any more than necessary.

4. Keep Your Fridge Full

Wait a minute! What?

Why on earth would you fill your fridge?

Well, your fridge is actually more energy efficient when full than empty.

Simply fill any empty space with jugs of water.

5. Don’t Forget Your Water Heater

If you’re leaving home just for a couple days, you can leave your water heater on.

However, if you’re going away for longer than that, you will benefit from turning it off.

Just turn it off at your circuit breaker.

Honestly, that’s about all you need to watch for.

Setting your home up for energy efficiency while you’re on vacation is not a large, or difficult project.

So, spend most of your time gearing up for your vacation and enjoying it instead!