Your complete guide to vacation smart energy savings
When you leave town, your home doesn’t stop using energy. But with the right setup, your home can use far less energy while you’re away, helping lower your bill. Plus, you can keep your home more secure until you return.
Your complete guide to vacation smart energy savings
When you leave town, your home doesn’t stop using energy. But with the right setup, your home can use far less energy while you’re away, helping lower your bill. Plus, you can keep your home more secure until you return.
This guide shows Texas homeowners how to reduce vacation energy use by adjusting smart thermostat settings, managing HVAC and water heater efficiency, unplugging unnecessary devices and using smart home automation to control energy remotely. Whether you’re golfing with friends, taking your kids to the beach or on a romantic getaway for two, you can lower electricity costs and protect your home without making major changes to your lifestyle.
Before you start adjusting thermostats or disconnecting devices, the first step is to figure out where your home might be secretly wasting energy.
Depending on the size of your home, you should start by conducting a room-by-room energy assessment. Start in one room and walk through your home to look for hidden energy drains, often called “vampire loads.” Take note of:
The top 10 most common power‑hungry appliances and systems that can use energy even when they’re "off" or in standby mode are:
One of the simplest energy-saving tips to cut vacation energy waste is to turn off or remove anything plugged into an outlet that doesn’t need to run while you’re away. Even small appliances draw power in standby mode, which can add up over time. So, before you leave, remove high‑use electronics and appliances from their power supply to prevent unnecessary standby energy use while your home is empty.
If you have a smart meter or an energy monitoring app, check your typical daily usage before leaving your home. Understanding your daily energy use gives you insights into:
For Texas homeowners, it’s especially useful to flag energy spikes during peak electricity hours and document your biggest energy drains now so you can compare your savings when you return from your trip.
Your heating and cooling system is almost always the number one source of vacation energy waste. Depending on the length of your trip, you typically don’t want to turn your HVAC off completely. But you do want to cut any unnecessary runtime while keeping your home comfortable.
Running your HVAC while away to maintain reasonable, comfortable temperatures and humidity is important because extreme heat, cold or moisture can:
What’s the best thermostat setting for vacation energy savings? According to the U.S. Department of Energy, setting your thermostat 7°F to 10°F higher or lower than normal while you’re away can reduce heating and cooling costs by up to 10% per year. Making this adjustment is especially helpful in Texas homes where long, hot summers and sudden cold snaps make HVAC systems one of the highest energy users.
If you keep your home at 78°F in summer, for example, you would raise it between 85°F to 88°F before leaving for a one- to three-day trip. If you set your temperature to 68°F in winter, you would then lower it to 58°F to 61°F before leaving for a shorter vacation. For longer trips, use full "Vacation Mode" settings for weeklong getaways, and consider deeper temperature setbacks with humidity control for vacations lasting two weeks or more.
Trip-length guidance:
Smart thermostats are among the most powerful tools, especially in Texas weather, for cutting and managing energy use while you’re away. With a smart thermostat, you can:
Water heaters can use more energy than you may realize, even when no one is using hot water. Managing your water heater while you’re away can lead to noticeable savings on your electricity or gas bill.
A shutdown stops the water heater from using energy altogether, while a temperature reduction lowers energy use without fully turning the system off. Before leaving for your trip, adjust your water heater based on how long you’ll be away:
Tankless systems, which are common in newer homes in Texas, usually allow scheduled temperature adjustments with the use of an app or control panel. During winter, don’t shut off water heaters completely in case your pipes freeze. Instead, reduce the temperature to prevent potential damage.
Smart water heaters make it easy to manage settings even if the weather in Texas flips from warm to freezing while you’re gone. Common features include:
Combined with HVAC and appliance strategies, taking these actions can contribute to meaningful energy cost savings, even while you’re away.
Not every device should be disconnected. Some should stay on to keep your home safe, secure and functional, such as:
For extended getaways, consider emptying the fridge and pulling the plug on any secondary refrigerators or garage freezers to save additional energy.
Smart home devices make it easier for Texas homeowners to save energy while on vacation without the need for constant check-ins. Automated scheduling and smart scenes let you manage multiple devices at once, helping reduce energy use while supporting home safety and security during your trip. For homeowners who want an all‑in‑one approach, systems like Vivint make it easier to manage energy, security and automation together while you’re away.
Most smart home platforms, like Alexa, allow you to create a “Vacation Mode” automation that adjusts key settings automatically while you’re away. Instead of managing each device individually, a single scene can help your home run more efficiently and securely until you return. Typically, “Vacation Mode” can help you:
Helpful smart home device tools include:
To set up a simple “Vacation Mode” routine, you can:
Once set up, these automations work in the background, helping you save energy, monitor your home and enjoy your vacation with fewer things to worry about.
Saving energy on vacation is important, but home safety should come first. Smart energy strategies should never compromise security or the integrity of your home.
Before you leave, make sure your home stays protected. Ensure that:
Smart lighting schedules help prevent energy waste and keep your home secure by deterring potential intruders.
Take extra steps to protect your home from cold snaps while you’re away:
Surge protectors can safeguard sensitive electronics during Texas storms, protecting both your devices and your energy investments, just in case.
Vacation energy savings don’t stop the moment you walk through the door. How you restart your systems can help you protect your home, maximize your energy efficiency and track your savings.
Give your home a gentle wake-up before you arrive:
Avoid cranking the HVAC to extremes immediately, as this can stress the system and unnecessarily spike your energy usage.
Once you’re back, you can create a quick energy report by comparing your baseline daily usage to your vacation-period usage and measuring the actual savings achieved.
If the numbers aren’t as high as you expected, check for common culprits such as:
Use what you learn to tweak your strategy for next time.
When you leave town, your home doesn’t stop using energy, but with the right setup, it doesn’t have to waste it either. By focusing on a few high‑impact areas like smart HVAC settings, water heater management, unplugging unnecessary devices and simple automation, you can lower your energy use and protect your home without changing how you travel. This way, you can travel with peace of mind and return to lower energy use.
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For the best vacation energy savings, you can set your thermostat 4-6 degrees higher in summer or lower in winter than your normal setting. For trips longer than 3 days, consider turning your HVAC off until you return. Both options can help reduce unnecessary household cooling or heating while you're away.
Switching your water heater to “Vacation Mode” or a lower-heat setting is an easy way to cut energy use while you’re on vacation. This reduces standby energy consumption without the hassle of fully shutting down your water heating system.
You can keep essential devices, like your refrigerator, security system and Wi-Fi router, plugged in while you're away from your home. However, other appliances, like your TV or game consoles, can be unplugged to reduce standby power usage.
Adjusting your thermostat, disconnecting nonessential electronics and using smart home settings can significantly lower your electricity use while you’re gone. Many households see noticeable reductions on their energy bills during extended trips.
