Here are some helpful and energy efficient tips on how to ready your home for your time away against burglars and high energy bills.

 

Protect your Pipes: Especially if you live in an area where cold weather is a possibility, make sure that your pipes are protected. In vulnerable areas like the attic, basement, and crawl spaces make sure the pipes are well insulated. In such a situation, if also very important to have a trusted friend, family member or neighbor stop by every so often just to turn on faucets to make extra sure that the pipes do not freeze.

Turn up or down the Thermostat: You do not want to turn the thermostat off completely. In the winter about 55 degrees seems to be the cut off point and 80 degrees is a good setting during the summer.

Water Heater: Almost no one remembers to turn down the temperature on their water heater. This can be an excellent way to save electricity as well.

Control your Social Status: Why broadcast to the whole world that you are not going to be home. Many people cannot seem to wait to let everyone on Facebook or Twitter know that they are about to leave. An even worse move is to upload photos while on vacation. Sure many of these people are your friends, but your friends are not the only ones who see these status updates.

Disable your Automatic Garage Door: If you have a garage it is a good idea to disable the garage door opener. Some burglars have tools to easily decode your garage or use universal garage door openers to get in. Having it disabled will make it a lot harder for them.

Pull the Plug: Unplug your television, computer, toaster oven and other appliances to protect them from power surges. Do this to save power as well. According to the Consumer Energy Center, many appliances use energy even when they are turned off.

 

Protect your pipes