Winterizing homes in between guests

[Jennie170]

Hi Everyone,

We are fairly new to hosting and this will be our first winter having guests at our mountain cabin (not our primary residence).  For those of you who rent out homes in colder climates, how do you handle winterizing your homes in between guests?  We need to shut off the main water valve and turn on all faucets before leaving to prevent freezing and bursting pipes, but this seems like a lot to entrust to a guest.  Any tips would be greatly appreciated!  

Thanks!

Jennie 

[Till-and-Jutta0]

The situation you describe sounds quite familiar to me.

In the past we closed the listing in the low season, for about 2 months. And we had to deny any booking requests for this period. Open only for the high season (skiing).

Three years ago we installed a SmartHome system to control the heating remotely and to check the temperature in various parts of the house. Since then we just close the main water valve, but we don’t empty the pipes and faucets. We keep the electric water boiler on frost protection.

Thus we are more flexible and have less work. The additional heating cost is compensated by a one week’s rent.

Worked fine even during the pandemic. But you need a fallback system, in case of a system breakdown.

[Jennie170]

Thank you for your insight, @Till-and-Jutta0 !  Much appreciated 🙂 

[Kia272]

@Jennie170  it sounds like you need a local co-host who is familiar with your house and what needs to be done to winterize it between guests. Smart systems aside, there are always things to be checked on and monitored during the winter, particularly if you get a really cold snap. 

I'm in a bit of a similar situation, and I don't think I'd rest easy unless I knew with certainty that the systems for my house had been shut down or adjusted properly. 

I spent the time and effort to have the pipes at my cabin wrapped with heat tape (it's small, so just a run from the basement to the kitchen and bathroom), and I have no central heat, so I keep the heat at a bare minimum (50 degrees) between guests. 

My own little house on the same property has no heat other than a wood stove, so I have to drain the water from the plumbing system when I leave in the winter. It's not rocket science, but I don't know that I'd trust guests to do something like that, nor would I ask them to.

A local co-host can handle all this for you, check on the place during or after a big storm or cold snap, and prepare for incoming guests. Yes, it will cost money, but it's entirely worth it to alleviate the worry and also to provide a great guest experience. 

I'm assuming that you'll need someone anyway since it's not your primary residence and it seems to be some distance from your home. 

Absolutely make it worth your while by charging enough to justify opening, shutting down, and cleaning the house. 

Cold snaps are always a bit nerve wracking for me, but I'm lucky enough to either be on the property or have someone check on things when that happens. 

I have yet to find a competent co-host, but I'm ever hopeful.......

Good luck, Kia

[Jennie170]

Thank you, @Kia272 ! We ended up taking your advice and asking a trusted neighbor to do this for us in between guests. We are going to charge a little bit more during the winter so that we can pay our neighbor per stay (after all, it’s a job).  My husband checked and we have heat tape on the main pipe and insulation on the rest.  Appreciate your thoughts! 

[Dimitar27]

If there is not enough bookings to keep everything on, it will be better to close your calendar for the winter months.

[Emilia42]

@Jennie170 Is winterizing really necessary? Your cabin looks newly constructed and well insulated. Can you ask guests to turn the central heating to 55 when they leave? Wouldn't that be enough?

[Jennie170]

Hi @Emilia42 , I wish that could be the case but that would use up a lot of our propane which is fairly expensive (about $800 per tank).  Hopefully one day we’ll have enough guests during the week so that we can keep the heat on and offset the propane costs! Thanks! 

[Dimitar27]

Check the "smart" solutions, also. If you are using propane for heating, it will be probably possible to control the temperature remotely and very precise. For example- to keep the temperature just high enough to avoid pipes freezing. And when somebody makes a reservation, you can rise the temperature back to comfort level, using a computer or even your phone.
Electricity and 24/7 internet will be required.

I have no idea about the solutions, available near you. Heating cables for pipes will also be very helpful. I'm using a self-regulating heating cable at our villa to protect the water meter and pipes from freezing. Works great and costs nothing. Very cheap thing, but very effective.

[Till-and-Jutta0]

I fully agree, @Dimitar27 !

A smart solution helped me to control my "old" oil-driven single stove remotely.