Taking a summer vacation is a good way to relax and leave behind the hassles of everyday life, but it can be an expensive proposition, as well. Your travel expenses, vacation rentals and dinners at the restaurant can add up. One way to ease the cost of summer vacation is to make sure your home isn’t wasting energy while you’re gone. Tend to the following before you take off. 

• Air conditioner: Leave your air conditioner set at 80 to 82 degrees. This way it will run less often but still provide some dehumidification. If you have a programmable thermostat, set it to kick on shortly before you return home. But if your pets are staying behind — with someone checking on them regularly — turn up your thermostat only a few degrees.
• Lights: Turning off the lights before you leave for vacation is a no-brainer, but some homeowners like to leave the lights on for security purposes. If you prefer to leave some lights on, select just a few and hook them up to a timer or motion sensor. That way, the lights will come on only when you need them to, rather than blazing away 24/7.
• Freezer and refrigerator: Get rid of highly perishable items such as meat and dairy products before you leave, and put your refrigerator and freezer at the highest temperature setting while you’re gone. If you plan to be out of the house for a month or more, completely empty your fridge and unplug it. Leave the door propped open so you don’t come home to mold and mildew.
• Water heater: Shut your water heater off at the fuse box or circuit breaker panel before you leave to avoid heating water unnecessarily while you’re away.
• Swimming pool: Set your pool pump so that it runs just a few hours each day instead of around the clock.
• Household electronics: Devices like stereos, computers and televisions draw power even when they’re turned off, so eliminate this needless expense by unplugging them before you leave.

To learn more about energy savings during summer vacation, contact Conditioned Air. We’ve been serving Naples, Fort Myers and all of Southwest Florida since 1962.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.