First Long Time Trip - Montana Owners Club

epask · 08-20-2009, 03:11 AM

We are leaving Michigan and our stick house the end of the month for an extended road trip 4- 6 months, In our 3400RL. We have covered phones, mail, cable,dialing down and unplugging any unsued appliances. Dialing down the thermostat to 50. Hiring a handyman to check on the house bi-weekly. Any other tips from you pro's?

Waynem · 08-20-2009, 04:38 AM

I'm not an expert, but:
Water turned off at outside meter (I do not drain the lines in the house. There is not enough water in there to create a lot of damage as far as I'm concerned. Our plumbing lines are all in the attic. If there is a pipe leak from a rodent, I want to see evidence when I come home and be able to fix it before turning the water back on.)

Water heater off (If you leave the water turned on you can just place it in vacatin mode)

We have a cheap timer that we set to turn a light on and the off at our bed time. Makes it look lived in. You can also set up a radio on a timer, or program your tv to come on and off at a specific time. It just makes it seem like some one is there.

We also have motion sensitive security lights on the outside. (Theives do no like light)

Get rid of the food in the refrigerator. (Don't ask how I know this) And maybe even the freezer, but that could be a lot of food. Two weeks of house checking will not keep things from smelling should the power be disrupted for a long period of time.

Those are just a few I can think of off of the top of my head. DW takes care of a lot of the inside items when we pack up and travel.

Happy trails.

Mrs. CountryGuy · 08-20-2009, 06:35 AM

Leaving a home in Michigan for that time, that weather, I would and we DO,

1.) Drain water out of the pipes, if they freeze, they burst, if they warm up, and water is on, they damage thousands of dollars of drywall. We turn water OFF.

2.) Drain hot water tank.

3.) Pink the toilets, and dishwasher and washing machine pumps.

We have done heat to 47, no ill effects.

I have a long long check list that we use, I would be happy to share with you, EMAIL me, NOT a PM.

Enjoy that 3400 and your time away from the coolish climes!

Red939 · 08-21-2009, 11:48 AM

I have five timers I put around the house turning on and off lights and radios at different times. Gives the house a lived in look at night.

Bill and Ann · 08-22-2009, 02:00 AM

Ditto on what Carol posted and also Red939

sgtpp214 · 08-22-2009, 02:48 AM

We leave WI for TX and other Southern climes right after Christmas. In addition to those excellent suggestions I use a Watchman set at 45 degrees. It is plugged into an interior wall socket connected to a red light in the front window. A neighbor looks out for the stick house and if the light comes on checks on the house. Saved large expense when it came on and it was discovered our time of use panel failed and the electric storage units were not working. Neighbor started up and kept the wood stove going until a replacement was installed. As a fellow long timer have a safe enjoyable trip.

epask · 08-24-2009, 03:00 AM

Thanks for all the GREAT suggestions. I'll go through them all.

Ed and Marie

richfaa · 08-29-2009, 05:08 AM

Good advise from all. We do have a "service contract" with a local company that will perform maint and repairs while we are gone..It fact all year round. One phone call and every thing is covered.

epask · 09-16-2009, 08:42 AM

Tell me more about the service contract. That sounds like a good idea. We made it to Port Richey 10 day's ago and are getting setteled in!...Long trip but worth the ride !

Lambchop · 10-16-2009, 04:18 AM

In the past, we would leave our home st at 45 degrees, with a freeze alarm & a neighbor who check house twice a week.
That was Ok if we would stay in FL for a couple of months.

Now, we stay down there for 6 1/2 months! Last year was the first time we fully winterized the house. NO electric; no water; no nothing. We have the police check our home along with our daughter & the neighbors. I winterize it myself, since Im handy. No problems last winter. We save about $2,000 a winter doing this. Even the phone's are turned off.

Work's for us

Roy & Kay

boylanag · 04-02-2011, 02:34 AM

One of the things that we try to keep in mind as we travel long time and retired is that we no longer have to travel fast or long in one day. Slow down and enjoy the journey. We set a MAX of 200 miles or 4 hours a day of travel. That way you can leave late and arrive early. Try to stay away from Interstates as much as posssible too. Much of what you see and do then will be even better than the destination, more often than not. Enjoy your journey!

ragdoll · 04-14-2011, 02:16 AM

What has been posted covers about everything which we have done. After 9 years we decided to go wireless with our home phone and computer.We had our home phone w/Vontage & hi-speed w/Quest plus cell phone w/Verison. We would pay a small amount each mouth to put the 1st 2 on stand by for 5-6 mo. Then double our min. on cell phone and a wireless card for computer. So now Verison has a plan like Vontage except it is wireless $20 a mo. and we take our home phones and Verison unit with us all we need is 120v it works on the road like cells do. (canceled Vontage) Verison has a credit card size about 3/8in thick wireless card that plugs in to your usb port and you get 5 gig-bits a mo. for $50 (canceled Quest $60 a mo) and now we don't have to up our min. on cell phone more savings but how nice it is to take your home phone and talk as long as you want w/o worrying about how many min. I have left this mo.So we have lower our costs for more bennys thats great, something to think about. Good Luck Jack

timandsusan · 04-17-2011, 03:09 AM

You might want to look into a device called "Fake TV". It projects lights that mimic a television. It works off a timer and light sensor.

Jdrobone · 05-28-2011, 11:36 AM

Last winter we were gone six months - winterized everything. Pinked everything, blew out all water lines and turned heat off!
We have a lot of 3/4" solid hardwood floors - about 3000 sq ft of them. Wide plank select red oak, brazilian walnut, brazilian cherry and bird's eye maple. Not a hint of damage to any of them. That was a bit of concern for us but we had read on the forum about peeps from the far North, Wisconsin I think who had left their hardwoods unheated over the winter with no damage so we went for it. Turned out okay. Not so lucky with a few shingles but what can you do?
Jerry

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