Heading south for the winter? How to close up your Fairfield house

Leaving Connecticut for the winter is the easy part. The hard part is the house you leave behind. For three or four months it sits through nor'easters and cold snaps, and nobody notices when something goes wrong.

Most winter damage to an empty house isn't dramatic. It's slow. A pipe freezes in January, splits, and runs for days before anyone opens the door.

Here's how to close up the house before you go.

Two weeks before you leave

Call your insurance agent. Many homeowners policies have conditions for a house that sits empty for a stretch, such as regular checks or the water turned off. Ask what yours requires, and get the answer in writing.
Have the heating system serviced. A furnace or boiler that quits in February is the start of most frozen-pipe stories.
Pick your key holder. Someone local who can get in fast, knows where the main water shutoff is, and will actually answer the phone.
Set up mail forwarding or a hold, and pause any deliveries.

The heat and the water

Leave the heat on. The Red Cross says not to set the thermostat below 55°F while you're away in cold weather. A smart thermostat that alerts your phone if the temperature drops is worth having.
Decide about the water. Shutting off the main valve and draining the lines limits how much water a burst pipe can release. Ask a plumber whether that suits your house, especially if you have a boiler or a fire sprinkler system that needs the water on.
Shut off and drain the outside spigots, and disconnect the hoses.
Open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls so warm air reaches those pipes.

Inside the house

Empty the fridge, or at least clear out anything that will spoil if the power goes out.
Unplug small electronics and anything that doesn't need to stay on.
Test the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and put fresh batteries in.
Take the trash out on your last day. It sounds obvious, and it's the one people forget.

Outside

Clean the gutters once the leaves are down.
Line up snow removal so the driveway and walks get cleared. A snowed-in driveway tells everyone nobody's home.
Put a couple of lights on timers.

While you're gone: someone has to look

All of this lowers the odds of a problem. None of it tells you when one happens. That's why someone needs to walk through the house regularly while you're away. They check that the heat is running, look under the sinks and in the basement, run the taps, and let you know how it looked.

My House Guardian does the fall close-up before you leave, weekly home checks while you're away, and the spring open-up before you come back. If something goes wrong, we call the right vendor and get them in the door.

If you ever smell gas or see smoke, don't wait for us. Get out and call 911 or the gas company first. We coordinate the repair after that, but we never replace emergency services.