If you resolved to travel more this year, it’s high time to get your house ready before you go.
Traveling is more fun and relaxing when you don’t have to worry about whether your home is safe and secure. Here are five ways to prevent mishaps—and save some energy—during your absence.
- Create the illusion that someone is home. Ask a trusted neighbor to pick up newspapers, mail and deliveries that might arrive while you’re away. A pile of newspapers in the driveway is an invitation to an intruder looking for an empty house to break into.
- Connect your outdoor lights to timers. Instead of leaving them on day and night while you’re gone, install a timer that will switch the lights on when it gets dark and off when the sun comes up each day.
- Plug indoor lamps into programmable timers set to “random” so the lights turn on and off throughout the day and evening. That will make your home look lived-in. You also can plug a TV or stereo into a timer so your house sounds lived-in, too.
- Motion detectors not only light your property when your neighbor stops by to check on it but also serve to deter to intruders. They save energy because you won’t have to pay for light that no one is around to benefit.
- Unplug electronic devices such as your TV, computer, printer and small kitchen appliances before you leave. Left plugged into a wall socket, those items continue to draw small amounts of electricity that show up on your energy bill.
