Heating a vacant home
jwestlake
| Posted in General Questions on
Hi,
We live in Halifax Nova Scotia and planning to leaving for a 5 Month stay in Florida. Ouir house will be vacant. We have a mini heat pump installed and our home is very well insulated and tight.
I lke to leave some heat on so I plan on leaving the heat pump running at 65f in the basement backed up by our electric baseboard heat set at 50F. All other thermostats will be turned off. The house is 3 story about 2700Sq Ft.
We also have a HRV.
Should we leave our HRV on?
Can you advise be on my overall plan?
Thank you
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Replies
Jim,
You can turn off the HRV while you are away. That will save energy.
As long as you don't have an old, leaky house that has had problems in the past with frozen pipes, your plan should work.
In some older homes, vulnerable pipes near holes in the building envelope might freeze when a thermostat is set to 50 degrees F.
In a situation like that it's probably setting up a low-temperature alert that will automatically call or email you should something happen, which might give you time to call somebody to check up on the place. There are probably several ways to go about that.
Thanks,
I am draining the pipes so they won't freeze if the power goes off or the temps drops.
Appreciate you answer
2700 sq ft could turn in a nice profit for you without the worry of frozen pipes by leaving it in the hands of a good real estate agent who focuses on vacation homes. I'm sure you have some great ice fishing up your way. ;)
Thanks Richard, but it's not for sale. Our kids live near by and between them and the neighbors they keep a watchfull eye. Jim
Oh yeh, the ice fishing is great in Feb. Come on up. I could rent you the house. :)