Summer is coming up, which often translates into vacations. Or maybe you just want to get a head start on preparing for a winter vacation. Whether you’re taking an extended vacation for a month or two, or taking a shorter vacation for a week or so, you need to ensure your house is secure and properly set up for vacancy. The tips here will help you avoid coming home to a flooded or burglarized home or worse.

The best option for short or longer vacations is to have someone house sit, especially if you have pets and plants that need to be taken care of. This will ensure there is someone to watch the place daily who can handle any possible emergencies that might come up. Ensure they know how to properly lock up and alarm your home when they are not there and ensure they have numbers for all necessary emergency services (plumber, alarm company, pet emergency numbers, etc.)

Leave your A/C on – If you’ll be away for a weekend, set your air conditioner to about 85 degrees to lower air conditioning costs; if you’ll be gone longer, shut it down entirely. An exception to this would be if you live in an area with high humidity, very high temperatures or an area that reaches freezing levels. In either of those cases it is best to leave your A/C on (around 85 degrees in hotter/humid areas and around 50 or 60 degrees in freezing areas) to keep your home dry and cooler, or to keep your pipes from freezing.

Shut off the water – For short vacations this is not necessary but if you’ll be away for a prolonged period of time, it’s smart to shut down your home’s water supply. If your landscape irrigation comes from the same line, arrange for a bypass valve to be installed so watering can continue as usual, or shut off individual water lines. Also, if you will be gone for a prolonged time, drain all toilets and tanks by holding down the flush lever until the water is gone.

Turn the water heater off – If your water heater is electric, turn off the large breaker assigned to it at the main electrical panel. For gas water heaters, turn the valve to the pilot position (usually labeled as “vacation mode”).

Turn the breakers off. To minimize the risk of electrical fires, turn off all nonessential electrical circuit breakers in your home’s electrical box (such as anything other than your heating system, security system and outdoor lighting).

Disconnect appliances. Unplug all appliances including TVs, computers, kitchen appliances, etc. Appliances use electricity when plugged in, even if turned off.

Put your lights on timers – You don’t want to leave lights on for your entire trip as you will run up your electric bill and you probably won’t fool anyone, but you can improve home security by putting lights in main living areas on timers and setting them to simulate occupancy.

Don’t let the world know you’ll be gone on vacation – A burglar can easily be tipped off to your absence by an unanswered phone, so turn off the ringer and keep your everyday answering message in play. Don’t broadcast on social media sites that you’re going on a long vacation (you never know who will be reading your posts).

Secure your valuables – Leave blinds and curtains in normal positions wherever possible (so it’s not obvious you’re not home), but don’t leave any valuables in plain sight. Put valuables in a home safe or safe deposit box.

Set your alarm and lock up – Activate your alarm system; be sure to notify the home security company of your days away and provide interim contact information. Ensure that all windows and doors are securely locked before you leave for vacation.

These are some basic tips for securing your house for vacation. Obviously different circumstances (location and climate of your home, length of vacation, etc.) warrant different steps, but hopefully this will at least give you some direction to help you feel more secure while away from your home. Happy vacationing!