Columns
Green Thumb: Closing your house for the season
By Bettye Jo Preis
Master Gardener
Most all of our winter visitors have an elaborate check list already in place for their departure in April and May ... but for you newcomers who are leaving for the first time, here are some tips for your check list.
For much more information about closing up your home, come to our seminar Thursday at the East Center at 9:30 (coffee is on at 9 a.m.) where Donna Thiel of “Donna’s Property Management” will give us more tips and answer a multitude of questions!
Be sure that your house looks “lived in” and is uninviting to trespassers by doing some of the following:
Suspend mail and newspaper delivery: Contact the post office to hold or forward your mail. Do the same for your newspaper delivery or ask a trusted neighbor to collect mail, packages and newspapers while you are away so they don’t accumulate in front of the door, a sure sign you’re not home.
Set timers: To keep your house from sitting dark each evening, install plug-in timers on lamps in a couple of rooms. Set them to turn on and off at different times. Some folks put a radio on a timer also.
Discard all perishables: Don’t return to a smelly refrigerator. Toss dairy products, cold cuts and produce (possibly some could be donated to the Food Bank.) Empty ice cube trays (even they get stale tasting over time).
Adjust the refrigerator temperature: A closed-up house can raise the kitchen temperature, thereby increasing a refrigerator’s energy use by up to 50 percent in summer.
Adjust shades and blinds: Leave them partially open so your house looks lived-in. Nothing looks more like “they are gone” than tightly closed blinds in every window.
Leave a car in the driveway or carport: If you are taking your car with you, ask a neighbor to park there occasionally.
Set the air conditioner: Set the thermostat about 10 degrees below the average outside temperature. (In Green Valley we set ours at 80 degrees). But don’t turn it off.
Unplug appliances: Toasters, coffee-makers, radios, computers,clocks, dryers, TV’s and other small appliances can be unplugged which will save electricity and avoid power surges.
Turn off water and gas: Optional. If you have gas powered appliances (water heaters, or dryers for instance) and you want to turn them off, turn off the pilot light first which will shut them down.
Remember that many drip systems in the garden depend upon electricity to function as well as a supply of water.
You might ask a neighbor to check your system if its battery operated.
For much more information about closing up your home, come to our seminar Thursday at the East Center at 9:30 (coffee is on at 9 a.m.) where Donna Thiel of “Donna’s Property Management” will give us more tips and answer a multitude of questions!
Green Thumb is written by Green Valley Gardeners with assistance from seminar speakers. It runs Wednesdays in the Green Valley News.
Most all of our winter visitors have an elaborate check list already in place for their departure in April and May ... but for you newcomers who are leaving for the first time, here are some tips for your check list.
For much more information about closing up your home, come to our seminar Thursday at the East Center at 9:30 (coffee is on at 9 a.m.) where Donna Thiel of “Donna’s Property Management” will give us more tips and answer a multitude of questions!
Be sure that your house looks “lived in” and is uninviting to trespassers by doing some of the following:
Suspend mail and newspaper delivery: Contact the post office to hold or forward your mail. Do the same for your newspaper delivery or ask a trusted neighbor to collect mail, packages and newspapers while you are away so they don’t accumulate in front of the door, a sure sign you’re not home.
Set timers: To keep your house from sitting dark each evening, install plug-in timers on lamps in a couple of rooms. Set them to turn on and off at different times. Some folks put a radio on a timer also.
Discard all perishables: Don’t return to a smelly refrigerator. Toss dairy products, cold cuts and produce (possibly some could be donated to the Food Bank.) Empty ice cube trays (even they get stale tasting over time).
Adjust the refrigerator temperature: A closed-up house can raise the kitchen temperature, thereby increasing a refrigerator’s energy use by up to 50 percent in summer.
Adjust shades and blinds: Leave them partially open so your house looks lived-in. Nothing looks more like “they are gone” than tightly closed blinds in every window.
Leave a car in the driveway or carport: If you are taking your car with you, ask a neighbor to park there occasionally.
Set the air conditioner: Set the thermostat about 10 degrees below the average outside temperature. (In Green Valley we set ours at 80 degrees). But don’t turn it off.
Unplug appliances: Toasters, coffee-makers, radios, computers,clocks, dryers, TV’s and other small appliances can be unplugged which will save electricity and avoid power surges.
Turn off water and gas: Optional. If you have gas powered appliances (water heaters, or dryers for instance) and you want to turn them off, turn off the pilot light first which will shut them down.
Remember that many drip systems in the garden depend upon electricity to function as well as a supply of water.
You might ask a neighbor to check your system if its battery operated.
For much more information about closing up your home, come to our seminar Thursday at the East Center at 9:30 (coffee is on at 9 a.m.) where Donna Thiel of “Donna’s Property Management” will give us more tips and answer a multitude of questions!
Green Thumb is written by Green Valley Gardeners with assistance from seminar speakers. It runs Wednesdays in the Green Valley News.
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