Holidays are a time most households look forward to. It is a time to relax and unwind far away from home, preferably in a new environment. However, you shouldn’t neglect your home as you pick and pack things for the holiday trip.
Going over your holiday plumbing checklist can save you a lot of money and stress after your holiday. If you don’t already have a checklist, here are six things recommended by the best plumbers in your community.
Holiday Plumbing Checklist
Take care of the outsides
Most homeowners, according to Liberty property management expert, think of their taps and faucets when they think of “plumbing.” However, there’s much more to consider, especially if you’ll be away for a couple of days or weeks during the winter holiday.
Go outside and drain your outside spigot to get started. This should be the first thing on your list because you’re more likely to neglect your home exterior as you prepare for the much-deserved break.
Emptying the outside spigots protects your pipes from freezing, especially when the temperature dips while you’re out of town. By protecting your pipes from freezing, you get to save some money that would otherwise have gone into repairing cracked or leaky spigots upon your return.
Take care of your water heater
As you ease into the holiday season and vacation mode, ease your water heater into the much-deserved rest too. Start by looking for any obvious problems you may have ignored in the past and get them fixed. If there are no problems, put your water heater in maintenance mode, allowing it to rest after a full year of active service.
Modern water heaters often have vacation modes to help keep the plumbing pipes from freezing during the winter. However, you can dial back on the water heater’s temperature if yours doesn’t have the option. Dialing back the temperature or putting your water heater in vacation mode helps save money on heating while you’re away.
Clear out your garbage disposal
It’s easy to leave one last pack of your takeaway meal or trash in the garbage disposal as you hurry out the door for your much-anticipated vacation. However, you may return to a stinky home with a lot of work to do.
Save yourself the stress and hassles of cleaning up after a relaxing vacation by cleaning out your garbage disposal before walking out the door. As an addition, take stock of your refrigerator and determine what needs to be gone and what can stay.
If you can afford it, clear out your refrigerator and turn it off while you’re away to save energy. But make sure all garbage is properly disposed of before you leave.
Shut off the water mains
Shutting off the water mains is an excellent way to save money and prevent nasty surprises after your vacation. This can help prevent the risks of frozen pipes. It can also save you from unexpected water bills.
Please note: Coming home to an unexpected water bill after your vacation can be traced to two main issues. First, you may have an undetected leak which could be costing you money. Second, your water meter may be bad, thus causing wrong readings.
To shut off your water mains, locate your plumbing control panel and turn the mains switch in the right direction. You can also bleed your plumbing lines after this by opening your taps or faucets to allow the remaining water to drain out.
Take care of your sprinkler
Water sprinklers are a great way to rack up some dollars in water bills while you’re away on vacation. Naturally, you should have turned your sprinklers off this vacation period to save costs and also prevent water wastage.
If you haven’t, you could turn off the water mains valve to shut off the water supply. However, you could tinker with the sprinkler system or turn it off if you have other reasons for keeping your water mains running.
Address faucet problems
A complete vacation is one wherein you come back home rested and ready to take on new challenges. However, your vacation experience may quickly evaporate if you have to come home to leaky faucets or other plumbing problems.
Ensure to call your plumber for repairs and replacements before leaving and shutting the lights. You’ll thank yourself for it, especially as it can be financially tough spending such money after extensively enjoying your vacation.
These tips can help you plan a great vacation without worrying about plumbing expenses or problems after your return.