Regina Winter Checklist for an Empty House

If your Regina house will sit empty this winter, the two things to get right are the heat and the water. This checklist puts every job in the order to do it, from your first call to your insurer to the day you come home. It works whoever ends up looking in on the house, whether that's a relative, a neighbour or our home watch in Regina.

Why a Regina winter changes the list

Environment and Climate Change Canada's climate normals for Regina International Airport, 1981 to 2010, put the average January overnight low at about minus 20°C. A typical year has 43 nights below minus 20°C and 12 nights below minus 30°C, along with about 19 days of blowing snow and 11 days of freezing rain or drizzle.

An empty house depends on its furnace in that kind of cold. When the furnace quits in January, the temperature inside starts falling and nobody is there to see it. A frozen pipe may not show itself until it thaws, and then water runs until someone walks in and shuts it off.

Four to six weeks before you leave

• Call your insurer or broker. Ask how long the house can sit empty and how often someone has to go in. Our article on how often someone should check an empty house lists the questions.
• Book a furnace inspection and replace the filter.
• Decide who will go in while you're gone, and how often.
• Arrange snow removal, so that person can reach the door.
• Clean the gutters and downspouts to help prevent ice dams.
• Insulate exposed pipes in unheated areas.
• Disconnect and drain the outdoor hoses.
• Check your fuel supply if your heat depends on a tank.

The week before

• Hold your mail and newspapers, or arrange for someone to collect them.
• Clear perishable food out of the fridge and pantry.
• Put valuables in a safe or a safety deposit box.
• Set timers on a few lights.
• Hand over a key or an access code, and walk that person through the house.
• Write one page they can keep: where the main water shutoff is, who services the furnace, your plumber's number, and how to reach you.

The day you leave

1. Set the thermostat to 13°C (55°F) or higher. Don't turn the heat off. Your insurer may have its own number, so use it if they do.
2. If you've decided to shut off the water, close the main and drain the lines by opening the faucets and flushing the toilets. Add non-toxic antifreeze to the toilet tanks and bowls. If you've never done it, ask a plumber to do it for you.
3. Set the water heater to vacation mode. If you drained the water, turn it off.
4. Open the cabinet doors under the sinks so warm air can reach the pipes.
5. Unplug small appliances and empty every garbage bin.
6. Close the blinds and check that the timers are working.
7. Lock every door and window, and the garage.

While you're gone

Preparing the house lowers the odds of trouble, but somebody still has to go in to know how it's doing. Whoever does it should look at these things on every visit:

• Is the thermostat reading what you set, and is the furnace running?
• Is there water or staining under the sinks, around the toilets and near the water heater?
• Has wind or blowing snow done any damage outside? This is worth an extra look after a storm.
• Are the doors and windows still closed and locked?
• Is mail or a flyer pile showing at the door?

If you'd rather not ask a neighbour to do this in January, we can. You get a report after every visit, and you can see what each schedule costs on our pricing page. A visit every two weeks is $129 a month and a weekly visit is $219 a month, before GST. Our article on what home watch is explains how the service works if it's new to you.

The same list works in Saskatoon, where the climate normals are a little colder, with 47 nights a year below minus 20°C at the airport. Our page on house checks in Saskatoon has the local details.

Before you come home

• Tell whoever is checking the house what day you'll be back.
• Have them turn the heat up a day ahead, so you don't walk into a cold house.
• If the water was off, turn it on slowly and run each faucet, then look under the sinks for leaks.
• Ask them to stock the fridge if you won't want to shop the first night.

Leaving for the whole season? Our snowbird guide goes through the bigger decisions. If you want someone to handle the visits, read about our house checks in Regina and send us your dates.