Whether it’s a relaxing vacation or an extended trip for work, traveling means making preparations for your home comfort system. You won’t be using it if you’re away, so you can make adjustments as necessary to limit your energy use. Just the same, you don’t want to just turn it off for the entire time you're out of the house.

For the most part, it’s better to leave your HVAC system going and just raise or lower depending on whether it's winter or summer. That way you can minimize energy costs without worrying about coming back to an uncomfortable home. We’ll walk you through why you shouldn’t turn your HVAC system off as well as the ideal thermostat settings for summer and winter.

Here’s Why You Avoid Leaving Your Thermostat Alone

While you may be tempted to leave your HVAC system off before a trip, this will sometimes end up stirring up big problems by the time you return. This is particularly true when the weather will be severely hot or cold while you’re away from home.

For instance, shutting the HVAC system down in the summer can produce very high humidity. Not only will your home feel gross when you have returned, but it may have also encouraged mold/mildew growth or pest infestations.

And during the winter, letting your house get cold might lead to pipes freezing up or even bursting. It’s an awful feeling to come home from a vacation only to discover substantial water damage nearby a broken pipe.

Best Thermostat Settings While at Work

You can make temperature adjustments even when you're just going to work. Since you’re not home for 8 hours or more, it doesn’t make sense to keep an empty home heated or cooled as if you were there. In general, it’s encouraged to adjust the thermostat by 5 degrees or so. This means that if you prefer a comfortable 72 degrees, try adjusting it to 76-77 while you’re out.

But you can save even more if you’re willing to further adjust the temperature. As reported by the