You’re fortunate to have a vacation home — a getaway in the mountains or even by the ocean — where you can go when you need a change of scenery. Perhaps you have a property manager who checks on it to make sure everything is OK, or perhaps you rent it out for short periods to help pay for the upkeep. Chances are, you are leaving on the cooling or heating to ensure a consistent temperature indoors.
You aren’t? Well, you should be doing just that. Here are some of the problems that can arise when you don’t maintain a consistent climate in your vacation home.
Mold.
Humidity can become trapped in a house and spur the growth of mold, mildew, or fungus — even during the winter. An HVAC system not only maintains a consistently lower temperature during the summer so that these microorganisms are not as inclined to flourish, it also helps to filter spores through the return air so they are not distributed into the supply air. Be sure that if you’re not nearby, you have someone change the air filter regularly in your vacation home.
Frozen pipes.
Turning the heat off or even turning it way down during the winter can leave your vacation home vulnerable to frozen pipes. Don’t set the thermostat lower than 50 degrees. You might also wrap pipes on an exterior wall with heat tape or insulation and leave the cabinet doors open during the winter so the heat can keep them warm. You don’t want pipes to burst and flood your home while you’re away.
Extra heating and cooling costs.
Turning the heat or AC off and then calling a property manager to rush over to turn on the system when a polar vortex or a heat wave threatens isn’t efficient. You’ll waste money as the system works overtime to reach set temperature points. You’d be better off installing a Wi-Fi thermostat that you can operate from afar, raising or lowering the temperature in the vacation home a few degrees as needed.
For more on cooling or heating your vacation home, contact Hansberger Refrigeration and Electric Company of Yuma.
