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How to Protect a Home When Away in Winter?
kidMike writes "I have just accepted a new job in another state, requiring me to relocate. I'm going to keep my house in New England. As I watch the winter storm problems and electrical outages across the country, how do Slashdotters protect their houses (or cabins) when they are away in the winter? Is there a device that will call me if the temp in the house drops below a certain level? How about a broken pipe flooding the house? How can I keep advised of problems happening hundreds of miles away? (There will still be broadband at the house.)"
I usually set up a series of pits and snares and then stock secret rooms with orcs and kobolds. It doesn't hurt to circulate rumors of a powerful demon living in the cellar in local taverns either.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
Buy an old P-III tower for 50 bucks, set it up with Fedora Core 6, Apache, and a dynamic DNS service. Add a cron job to reboot the server every Sunday, and maybe enable LogWatch to email you daily status updates. Finally, place the tower on the bare concrete in your basement.
With this set up you can check on your house from anywhere at any time. If the server stops responding, your house has been destroyed.
ENDUT! HOCH HECH!
The most sure fire way is to burn it.
...I'm sorry, what were we talking about again?
Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
Many insurance policies won't cover unoccupied houses. Check with your agent and secure additional coverage if necessary. And hire somebody to look after your house. For money. With well defined responsibilities, like checking the house every k days and keeping a record.
Nice idea but if you are not going to be living there, why heat it at all? If the house is more then 30-40 years old (which is common in the north east), I don't think one small heat source in the basement will cut it either. My moms house (about 90 years old) has pipes that freeze when it gets below about 5 degrees outside and they live in it and maintain the house at roughly 68-72 degrees.
IMHO, I'd call a plumber and have him "winterize" the water and drain systems and have him walk you thorough what is required so you can do it yourself with some confidence the following year.
There are many things to consider for this do be a DIY though. The hot water heater, the drain traps, any supply lines for an ice maker, washing machine lines, toilets, the system may need to be blown out with air like an RV, etc..
As a bare minimum though, if the submitter does nothing else, at least close the water supply to the house, close the first valve within the house (if equipped) and electrically shut off the hot water heater at the breaker panel and open the drain valve on the hot water heater (some heater drain valves may be clogged with muck so make sure it is actually draining, you may have to cycle that valve a few times with water pressure still applied to get water to start flowing and clean it out, on a side note, everyone should clean out their hot water heaters like that at least yearly, I have have well water with a lot of floaties and I do it at least twice a year). Keep that valve open as long as your gone as well so any residual water that leaks through the shut off valves can drain out as well. The hot water heater drain is typically one of the lowest drains in the house so it would be a good choice to use.
I know this stuff sounds like a PITA but a broken water pipe is even worse. My neighbor had those old school water filled radiators and a boiler for heat. Something happened to the boiler while she was away and all of the cast iron radiators cracked when the water froze inside them. It cost her something like 10K USD to get everything fixed.
I oversee the winteriztion of vacant homes 200 times a year or more. In five years I have never once had a problem If the work was done correctly and nobody tampered with the plumbing system. 1. Turn off power to your hot water heater. If you know what you are doing and can do so safely, physically remove the hwh breaker (or fuse). If not, put a piece of tape across the breaker which should now be in the off position. Turn off power to the well (if any) in the same fashion. Leave a reminder on the electric panel to ensure that you turn the water back on BEFORE you turn on the hot water heater. Turn off the gas valve to the hot water heater as an extra layer of protection - if you fire up your hwh before it has been refilled you are out one hwh. 2. Turn off the water supply to the house. Master valves on both sides of the water meters if you are on municipal water. (If you are on a well, once the power is off open a faucet and let your pressure tank run dry at this point - different than opening the valves in the step further down. If you don't do this you run the risk of losing your pressure tank which can cause your well to burn out. My house was sitting vacant for about 2 years before I bought it and this was a problem.) 3. Hook up a hose to the hwh and drain the water to your floor drain, sump pit or out the window. Opening the highest hot water valve in the house will help it drain quicker. 4. Open the lowest and highest cold water valves in the house to allow those pipes to drain 5. Using an air compressor, blow out the supply lines throughout the house. Any decent plumber can tell you how or google up some accurate information. 6. Scoop out as much water from toilet tanks as you can. 7. Get the *PINK* antifreeze (RV/Marine). Pour generous quantities into the toilet tanks, bowls, and down all of your drains. Pour some into your dishwasher and washing machine and run a partial cycle (no rinse) to get the antifreeze into the pumps and internal hoses. If you have a pool or hot tub you will need to take some additional steps, for the most part along these lines. Above ground pools and some in-ground pools without rigid covers get a large, inflatable air pillow floated in the middle to make the cover slope down towards the edges so the water and ice doesn't puncture a hole in the middle, gets some (but not all!) of the water drained and may or may not need plugs for the water intakes. Your miles may vary, consult a pro on these devices. If you have boiler, consult an expert. Draining water and/or filling with antifreeze is a bit involved and entirely inadvisable in some cases - I've seen many older systems go down for winterization then never come back up because of issues with old seals, corrosion and other nasties. If you have steam heat then things can become even more muddled about. Again, consult an expert. Finally, on your way out, hit the power to the master breaker. When you return you will be able to restore power to the house and will be glad of the tape (or removed breakers) that serve as a reminder not to turn on the well or hot water heater until you are actually ready to do so. Turn off the gas/propane at the master valve.
If the g'vt kept the data on you that google does you'd better believe you'd be calling it "doing evil"