How to Minimise Heat Loss at Home - Top Tips

Many homeowners need housesitters not just to care for pets but to minimise heat loss at home when they travel. In the winter if you go on holiday you may find that sometimes your heating makes dramatic changes in your absence to accommodate external temperature changes or indeed new areas of heat loss in your home. Your housesitter can help you manage that situation to ensure you have better control while you are away. Read on to learn our top tips.

Ways to Minimise Heat Loss at Home When you are Traveling

Traveling out of town in winter for several weeks involves a completely new type of challenge from traveling for only a weekend. The cold environment may reveal some minor defects that may appear in the heating system, water supply, insulation, or settings of thermostats, as no one will be around to spot these changes right away. When leaving pets at someone else’s home during their absence, proper heating of the apartment will become necessary as well.

minimise heat loss at home to prevent sky rocketing bills in winter

Finding ways to minimise heat loss at home when you travel is important for your property and bills

Photo credit – Jeffry Surianto

The heater should always be inspected in preparation for a long period away from home instead of running it without inspection. In case the equipment is old or fails to keep a consistent temperature, it could be a good idea to consider fixing the problem before embarking on such a journey. Sometimes, it is possible to arrange heat pump installation in certain residences as one of the methods used to enhance the control of temperatures and reduce chances of experiencing temperature problems when the owner is away.

Check the Heating System Prior to Traveling

A well-functioning heating system may have some problems when the owner leaves the house. There can be many reasons: the filters could be dirty, the settings on the thermostat could be incorrect, or there could be other problems. These problems can be more easily solved prior to traveling rather than when someone informs you about decreasing temperature.

Maintenance must be performed several days prior to leaving. There would be plenty of time to observe whether the system is working correctly following any kind of work on it. Checking for strange noises, observing whether the temperature in all heated rooms is correct, as well as observing the thermostat’s operation are also very important.

A simple pre-travel check to minimise heat loss at home can include:

replacing or cleaning heating filters
checking thermostat schedules
confirming that vents are open and unobstructed
testing heating in rooms that are not used every day
checking for unusual noises or smells
arranging service if the system has shown recent problems
find a trusted housesitter to help you manage the home while you’re away.

If the house has individual heating zones, each zone must be considered separately. Although an unoccupied cold room is not a significant problem under usual conditions, it is more likely to result in burst pipes.

Keep the Temperature Stable

While lowering the heating can help save money on utilities, it can bring additional hazards in cold conditions. The indoor temperature must always be kept at a level sufficient for protecting plumbing, household items, and animals that might be staying inside the house.

A consistent temperature is generally less challenging for a house sitter to control than an elaborate heating system. It is not easy to tell if a reduced temperature is intentional or not if there are a number of thermostat adjustments done on a daily basis. This helps in avoiding problems due to the complexity of a heating system.

Managing to minimise heat loss at home while you’re away keeps your pets in a safer environment too

Photo credit Vitaly Gariev

It is equally vital to understand that pets will face less difficulty if indoor environment is more or less predictable. For instance, the dog or cat may be lying down for long hours when the house owner is away from home, and the cold floor will make it difficult for the pets, particularly the old ones.

Smart thermostats are handy if the homeowner travels because he or she can check the temperature of the house online. It is important for one to note that it is important for the house sitter to have instructions on how to handle a situation where the house gets too cold.

Pipe and Cold Area Protection

The problems that can cause heat losses during the winter season are not only related to the heating systems. Pipes that go through garages, attics, basements, utility rooms, and walls of the houses may have direct contact with cold air. Should some parts of the house be colder, water in the pipes may freeze.

People need to determine the cold spots in their houses before leaving. Doors connecting warm rooms and those where there is plumbing might need to stay open. Also, cabinets around sinks can be left open when temperatures become very low if pipes are near exterior walls.

The outdoor plumbing deserves some attention too. Garden hoses should be removed from the taps, and exterior taps must be insulated where needed. Irrigation systems need to be made ready according to the prevailing conditions of the winter climate in that area.

In addition, it is necessary for the house sitter to be aware of the location of the main water shut-off valve. This will come in handy in the event of burst pipes and leakages. Access to the valve location is also important as it should not be obstructed by boxes or any other items.

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Give the House Sitter Clear Instructions

Technical details of the heating system may not be important for the house sitter at all. The best instructions describe how the heating system usually works, possible problems, and what to do about them.

Instructions on paper should be preferred to mere conversation before going away. In the first couple of days during a sit, there would already be lots of information about the animals, feeding times, security measures, mail, and home procedures to remember. The heating details could be easily overlooked.

Such instructions should cover what is the regular setting of the thermostat, if some areas require special treatment, and how much of the equipment the sitter is authorized to use. Pictures of the equipment used for heating are quite useful if the system is kept in a basement or garage.

Housesitter’s emergency information should include:

the number of a heating technician
contact details for a nearby trusted person
the location of the main water valve
the location of the electrical panel
instructions for reporting temperature changes
information about any backup heaters that are safe to use
how the housesitter can reach you in an emergency.

However, such portable heating units need to be installed only when appropriate for the property and the pet sitter is aware of their proper use. Also, they should not become the primary means for solving the problem of failing heating system; it is not the way to minimise heat loss at home, just to temper the effects.

Ensure your housesitter knows who your emergency contacts are just in case – it may help minimise heat loss at home when you travel

Photo credit – Darina Belonogova

Final Thoughts on How to Minimise Heat Loss at Home When You Are Away Traveling

Winter traveling for an extended period of time becomes easy if the heating system is considered within the broader context and responsibility of the house sitting rather than just as a technical issue. A reliable heating system, steady thermostat settings, protected pipes, and proper instructions will minimize the cases requiring quick action. And having a housesitter there to oversea any dramatic changes helps you manage the control and cost.

It seems obvious when you are planning how to minimise heat loss at home when you are traveling, but all that is needed is that the house becomes manageable and predictable for its owners when they are away from it. With properly working heating and knowledge about what to look for, pets stay comfortable, pipes are safe, and minor issues can be identified before turning into major ones.