When you leave your home for a holiday getaway, you shouldn’t have to feel stressed about the systems you left behind. However, you don’t want to return home to a broken heating system or a frozen or burst set of pipes. We have a few maintenance tips that can help you gain some peace of mind so that you can clear your head, relax, and enjoy your holiday vacation.

• Protect your pipes: During the winter, a frozen pipe can result in a disaster. Water expands as it freezes, so freezing within the pipes can cause extremely durable materials to break apart. Insulate exposed portions of piping by purchasing insulating pipe sleeves, or you can even wrap several layers of newspaper around your pipes.
• Leave the heater on: It’s also important that you keep the heater on while you are away, even at a very low setting, in order to prevent freezing and bursting pipes. In addition, leave your doors and cabinets open so that heat can reach the pipes underneath the bathroom and kitchen sinks.
• Upgrade the thermostat: We recommend that you have a friend or neighbor check on your home from time to time if you plan to be away for many days. However, if you decide to upgrade to a Wi-Fi thermostat, you can keep tabs on your heating system and ensure that it is running while you are away, right from an app on your smartphone.
• Consider a maintenance visit: If you have time to squeeze in a heating system maintenance visit before you leave for the holidays, we recommend it. Regular heating maintenance visits help to restore efficiency to the system and prevent problems and sudden breakdowns from occurring through the rest of the season.

Happy holidays from APC Plumbing & Heating! We have someone in your neighborhood today. Call our friendly team for heating and plumbing services in Aurora, CO.