Is your home ready for your holiday travel?

11/2/2021 (Permalink)

With the holidays quickly approaching, many people will be traveling to see friends and family. SERVPRO of Morris/Ottawa has prepared a few tips to help prepare your home for your trip.

- Throw away and food in the refrigerator or pantry that may go bad while you are gone. 

- Freeze a cup of water and put a coin on the top. Leave it in the freezer and check it when you return from vacation. When you return if the coin is not easy to remove from the cup, the chances are high that the freezer lost power during your trip resulting in your freezer items to thaw and refreeze. 

- Set the thermostat for vacation. Do not turn the thermostat off as during winter months the house needs to stay at a minimum of 55 degrees. 

- Turn the water off in the home. If you are not turning the main water line off, at least turn valves off to the toilet and faucet. 

- If you will be out of town for long periods of time, consider turning the hot water heater off or on vacation mode to save energy. 

- Lock all doors and windows including the ones in the garage. 

- Give a trusted neighbor a key so they can access the home if there is an emergency. 

- Set lights on timers to make it look like you are at home. 

- If you have a fireplace close the flue so animals cannot get into your home. 

Following these steps will help you enjoy your vacation more and have less worry while you are away.