How to heat the house during a long absence?
When we leave our home for a long time for example for Christmas Holidays, it is worth protecting the rooms against freezing, while saving energy. The best solution is to entrust the care of the house to a trusted person, but we do not always have such an opportunity. How to proceed then?
Cool, but not too cold
During prolonged absence of residents, the heating should be set to a lower temperature than during normal everyday use. If you leave your home for 1-2 days, the average temperature at home should be around 15-16 degrees Celsius. A little lower, even up to 12 degrees Celsius, can be set only when none of the residents will use the house for a long period of time. Maintaining such a temperature will prevent excessive cooling of the room, while reducing the costs associated with the operation of heating devices. We should remember that excessively lowering the temperature during our absence will make it difficult for us to reheat the rooms when we return. Excessive cooling of the building can also lead to dampness and mold on the walls.
Only until evening
If our house is not used for most of the day, we should not decide to turn off the heating completely. This solution is only an apparent savings. In this case, it is more advantageous to maintain an average but constant temperature than continuous reheating and cooling.
Thermostats
Thermostats are extremely helpful in maintaining the optimal temperature during prolonged absence of residents. These small devices are mounted on the wall of one of the rooms, constituting a kind of command center. They have a special panel on which we regulate the desired temperature, programming it for a specific time band, which is especially useful when our homes are heated with a solid fuel boiler. The boiler cooperating with the thermostat can be connected to an independent power supply circuit, thanks to which it will be able to automatically resume its operation in the event of a power outage.
What else should be done?
Turn off all standby devices
It’s the bare minimum. Even when I leave the apartment for the weekend, I turn off everything I can. Unfortunately, devices in standby mode consume electricity. Leaving the equipment “running” it’s uneconomical. When we leave for a long time, it pays to turn off all electronic equipment: TV, console, DVD, radio. When I think about it, during my few days’ absence in my house, basically only the fridge and the router work.
Turn off the main water valve
We should also turn off the water before leaving. This will protect us from flooding the apartment in our absence. In addition, it will allow us to avoid water loss in the event of dripping taps or leaking cisterns.
Water the flowers
A good option is to make self-watering bottles. Just make a small hole in the bottle cap, fill the bottle with water and put the cap in the pot. Thanks to this, water will constantly be dispensed into the pot in small amounts. You can also buy such a self-watering system, but if you don’t have time to shop before you leave, this home option should be enough.
