Pre-Travel CheckList of Things to Do

Here's my list of things I always do before leaving on vacation:

In advance of leaving:
- Ask a friend or neighbor to check in periodically. They can make sure the walkway and driveway are clear of newspapers and other deliverables, and can water plants if you are away for an extended period
- Stop the newspaper and hold the mail

On the day of travel:
- Turn off the main water. Water is one of the biggest dangers to your home and possessions. Don't even think of leaving your house vulnerable to pressurized water in your pipes! This applies year round but especially in the winter when pipes can also freeze and crack. Also, every toilet loses some water over time so you will also be conserving water.
- Set back the temperature on your thermostat(s) to conserve heat or A/C.
- Set back the temperature on your water heater. Why heat water when you're not using it?
- Pack the freezer. The freezer will run much more efficiently when it's jam-packed.
- Put the refrigerator in vacation or energy-saving mode. Many refrigerators now allow you to stop the automatic defrost cycling that consumes extra energy. Defrosting is unnecessary when nobody is opening and closing the doors that would usually allow humidity to enter and freeze inside the unit. Alternatively, manually move the freezer temp up to 5 degrees F and the refrigerator temp to 40-45 degrees F.
- Unplug transformer bricks, TVs, computers, cable set-top boxes and other energy-consuming devices. Remember most modern electronics draw significant power even when they are "off". For example, a 65-inch LCD TV can draw 76 watts even when it is "off"!
- Prep your cars. If you're going away for awhile, disconnect your car's batteries or, if you don't want to lose your memorized radio and seating positions, keep them on an intelligent battery charger. Many modern (especially luxury) vehicles draw plenty of amps even when parked so an extended vacation can leave your battery weak or drained by the time you return.
- Set-up timers for lights in different rooms that closely simulate your "normal" home occupancy patterns
- Turn off all lights not on timers
- Relocate plants susceptible to temperature extremes to other parts of the house, and water them well.
- Close all windows
- Empty the trash. Your salmon from last night's dinner ain't gonna smell so good two weeks from now!
- Arm the security system

And for me, most of the above applies anytime we are away from the house for even 24 hours. Hope this helps!