Summerizing. (Preparing your South Florida Home for Extended Leave).

If you own a home in the Sarasota or South Florida area and are leaving it for an extended period of time, this post is for you. Here are a few ideas to help you protect your home. First shutoff the power to the hot water heater, consider unplugging the fridge and shutoff the water main valve. Next lets focus on keeping the house under 50% humidity and below 88 degrees. If you allow too much humidity in your home, it will encourage termites, warping mold and many other problems.

This plan requires a few small electronic items and internet service. To do this most efficiently, you will need Internet service, wifi thermostats, and wifi controlled outlets. You also need a reliable dehumidification system and a backup system. This could be your Central air system and a window air conditioner unit, or dehumidifier. The Window A/C unit and dehumidifier often require a drain tube to send collected water into the drain or outside. The most efficient system is the combination of your central air and a window A/C unit.

I set my window ac unit to full cold and then plug it into a wifi outlet. (It is important that your window ac unit defults to the full cold setting when the outlet goes on and off). The wifi outlet turns the wall ac unit on when the hygrometer reads 50% and turns off when the humidity lowers to 45%. Leave all doors open inside the house. Leave a small fan circulating the air.

The above method is more efficient than using your whole house central air system. It leaves your primary system as a backup system and prevents wear and tear on your primary A/C system. Using your whole house ac system will normally require keeping the house at much cooler temperature to maintain low humidity levels. In all cases, test your systems in advance to ensure that they can maintain proper humidity levels.

SUMMARY:

If you own a home in Sarasota or South Florida and will be away for a while, here are some tips to protect it. Shut off the power to the hot water heater, unplug the fridge, and turn off the water main valve. Maintain humidity below 50% and temperature below 88 degrees to prevent issues like termites and mold. Use internet-connected devices like wifi thermostats and outlets to control your home remotely. Set a window AC unit to full cold and connect it to a wifi outlet, which turns on when humidity reaches 50% and off at 45%. Leave interior doors open and circulate the air with a small fan for better efficiency. This method helps preserve your primary AC system and should be tested beforehand.