Smart Home Maintenance Tips For Homeowners

Many homeowners today enjoy holidays and travel with peace of mind by employing smart home maintenance tips. In this article we offer the top tips that are most effective for helping you get a property ready for your absence, from setting up water sensors in areas at risk of flooding or finding a housesitter to occupy and care for your home. Read on to learn more.

Homeowners Planning a Trip Need These Smart Home Maintenance Tips

If you are planning to go on an extended trip, the little things at home can turn into big problems when you are away. Because of this, it is a good idea to use smart home tools. Check all things at your house before you leave. You should set up some simple automation and do a few important things yourself. These steps will help your home stay safe and work well, even when you are not at home.

This guide offering smart home maintenance tips helps homeowners keep the house safe while they are away for a long time. It has easy tips you can use to look after the home. Some parts talk about people in Central Oklahoma City. The weather in this place can change fast. A storm can hit and leave. A home may get damage if they are not there to check on it right away.

You do not have to make all parts of your home smart. You can put smart devices in the most important spots. A fast look around before you go out will help keep your home safe for a long time.

Why Extended Trips Need More Prep Than a Quick Weekend Away

A weekend trip means problems have less time to get bigger. Small things like a leak, a bad sensor, or the garage door not working right stay small. But an extended trip, which is a week or more, gives these problems more time to get worse. There is no one at home to see what happens or fix any issue during an extended trip.

If you notice a problem with your garage door, it is a good idea to fix it before you go on an extended trip. Do not wait or hope that it will keep working while you are away. Just call a Garage door company in Oklahoma City. They can check the garage door for you. They will let you know if it needs a small fix or something bigger.

What Changes With a Longer Absence

Preparing for an extended absence draws into sharp focus the need or smart home maintenance tips to ensure you minimise an chance of ‘things going wrong’ on your property while you’re away. Here are some specifics to note and action ahead of your extended absence:

• Small leaks can lead to water damage if they are not fixed. It may take time, but the damage will be there.
• Machines, like garage doors, may stop working if the leaks get worse. A door that sticks will get worse when you do not fix the problem.
• When you leave things on and do not change the way they work, you will use more energy.
• If you stay away longer, the weather can bring trouble to your home while you are not there.
• Always find a good housesitter from a trusted source, like a respected housesitting platform to be resident in your absence. Having a presence in the home will ensure your home insurance is validated (some insurance policies are invalidated if the property is unoccupied for more than 4-6 weeks – please check the terms of your particular policy.

Automate Lighting and Presence With Smart Devices

Smart lighting helps make it look like people are home, even when you are not. It’s one of the most frequently recommended smart home maintenance tips. You do not need to do much to control these lights from far away. A few lights in good places can stop others from thinking you are gone. These tools help your house feel lived in.

Most of these devices are simple for homeowners to set up on their own. You do not have to change any wires. You will not need to get help from someone else. This is a good way for people who do not know much about this tech to get started.

Smart Lighting Setups Worth Using

• The smart plugs you have use in your lamps work well. The lamps will turn on and off at different times each day.
• The lights outside by the doors turn on when they feel someone move.
• You can set or change the smart bulbs from far away with an app.
• A porch light on a timer is better than one that stays on all night. A light that never changes can make people feel unsure.

Monitor Your Garage Door Remotely

The garage door is the main spot where most people go in and out of their home. You can keep an eye on it when you use the right smart device. A garage door might not close all the way sometimes, and this can happen often. You do not have to worry about it, even if you are away for a long time.

Garage Door Monitoring Options

One of the frequently overlooked but essential smart home maintenance tips is garage door monitoring options:

• A smart garage door sensor sends a message to your phone when the door opens.
• A camera watches who goes in or out of the garage.
• The opener works with an app. You can use your phone to close the door.
• A quick check by hand before you leave is a good idea. You should not just rely on the tech to keep us safe.

If people cannot see your opener from far away, you may want to get a new one. Upgrading your Garage Door Installation is not hard. It will not take much time. A smart opener lets you open and close your door with your device. You will feel safe. You get a better door and better safety too.

Set Up Leak and Water Sensors

Water damage can be common in homes, especially in Winter with dramatic changes in temperature. The cost to fix it can be high. Leak sensors do not cost much. You can use them to get quick alerts if there is a leak. This lets you know about water damage before you see it.

A slow leak at home can be found in just a day or two. But if you go on an extended trip, you may not see the leak fast. Then the water will have time to mess up the floor, walls, or cabinets.

Where to Place Water Sensors

• Under the kitchen and bathroom sinks
• Close to the water heater
• Behind the washing machine
• Next to any sump pump, if there is one in your home

Adjust Your HVAC and Thermostat Settings

Leaving the hvac system on full power when you are not home takes up a lot of energy. You do not get much value from it. A smart thermostat helps you make the best balance between comfort, cost, and keeping your home safe from big swings in temperature.

Thermostat Settings for an Extended Trip

• In summer, make the temperature a little higher than you usually do. In winter, turn it down a bit.
• Do not shut off the whole system. If the house gets too hot or too cold, it can be bad for the pipes, wood, and appliances.
• If your smart thermostat has away mode, turn it on.
• If you want, you can change the smart thermostat settings from anywhere while you travel.

Schedule Maintenance Before You Leave, Not After

Any work that you have not done yet, such as fixing things or checking them, will be on your mind when you start packing and getting ready to leave. One of the best smart home maintenance tips is to prepare for an trip, short or long.

Fixing things last minute or while you are away is far from ideal. This is not the best time to try to fix things. You should make a plan for repairs and other things to do at least a week or two before you go. This gives you more time to spot problems and solve them.

Maintenance Worth Scheduling Ahead of a Trip

• Change your HVAC filter and check the system. This will help your system run well.
• If your garage door moves slowly or makes more noise than it should, give it a tune-up.
• Clean out the gutters if you are away and it has rained a lot.
• Check the batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Routine Garage Door Maintenance is one of the things you need to do before you leave for a long time. If the garage door is old or not working well, it might break when you are away. There will be no one there to fix it if it stops working.

Use Smart Locks and Access Control

Smart locks make things easier for you. You can let your neighbor, pet sitter, or anyone who comes to fix things inside get in even if you are not home. There is no need to hide a spare key. You do not need to worry about someone else finding it.

Benefits of Smart Lock Systems

• You can create a fast code for a house sitter or a neighbor you trust.
• You can see logs that show the time when the doors open or close.
• If you forget to lock the door when you leave, you can use your phone to lock it from any place.
• You do not need to keep a spare key outside where someone may find it or copy it.

Keep an Eye on Energy Use While You’re Away

Smart home devices let you see how much energy you use in your home. They help you spot trouble early. When you see energy use get higher while no one is home, that can mean there is a problem. A device might be on when it should not be.

Using Energy Data to Catch Problems Early

• Check the apps for your smart plug or thermostat often. Look for anything that does not seem right.
• Set alerts if your system lets you for big changes in energy use.
• Look at your energy use. Compare it to what you use on a normal day. This helps you see if something could be wrong.
• If you see energy spikes you can not explain, get someone to check the property.

Prepare for Oklahoma’s Seasonal Weather Swings

Central Oklahoma can have fast changes in the weather. There may be strong storms, high winds, and alerts for bad weather at any time of year. It is smart to get your home ready for these times. You should keep your home safe when bad weather comes. Treat it like you do when you leave your house or go away for some time.

Weather Prep Specific to Central Oklahoma

• Be sure to tie down or bring in any things you keep outside, so they do not blow away if the wind gets strong.
• Check if the weatherstripping on your garage door is working well. A storm can push water in through small gaps.
• Cut back tree branches that go over your roof or touch power lines.
• Make sure someone you trust knows how to get in touch with you when bad weather comes near your area.

Build a Pre-Trip Tech and Maintenance Routine

Using smart home tools and a simple checklist can help you get ready for an extended trip. You will not have to remember each step every time you go. Write down all the things you need one time and save time later. This will help you make sure you do not forget anything important.

Putting It All Together Before You Leave

• Be sure that the smart devices, sensors, and cameras are working.
• Finish any maintenance jobs you did not do before.
• Walk around your home. Check the doors, windows, and garage.
• Give access and emergency info to a neighbor or a person you trust.
• Bring in a housesitter from a trusted housesitting platform, and prepare them well for the care of your home.

Use These Smart Home Maintenance Tips to Get Ready to Travel With Confidence

Smart home devices help the home stay safe. A little early upkeep can help things work well. Using both together is a good idea. You can check the home, fix small things, and do repairs before you leave. This way you will have fewer problems. It also makes coming back feel easy.

If you need to fix your garage door before an extended trip, CCM Overhead Doors is here for you. The company offers Garage door repair in Oklahoma City so you feel safe leaving your home.

If you own your home and want your door to be smart, or you want to feel sure that the door is safe when you are away, you should call a trusted Garage door company in Oklahoma City. They will give you a clear and honest answer before you go.

FURTHER READING

At Housesit Match we like to offer our readers articles related to the blog they have found online like this one on smart home maintenance tips. Please find a selection of blogs on similar topics on home maintenance. These articles have been curated for you in our list below:

Common garage door problems and what to do 

How to choose the best garage door materials

Housesitters keep pets safe at home and save money

Preparing a home for a house or pet sitter

What is House Sitting?