Lake County offers tips to travelers on how to safely leave their home behind
On Feb. 26, the Minneola Schoolhouse Library hosted a production of Lake County Extension's program "Closing Your Florida Home." Family and Consumer Sciences substitute Julie England hosted the program, aimed at helping residents keep their homes safe from all sorts of intruders: close down, fire, flood, mold, and, as England put it, "Things that go bump in the night."
The emphasis was on mold control, but England did have some identified with suggestions in other areas, such as stopping home newspaper delivery several days in advance of your planned departure, virtuous in case the "stop" doesn't happen, unplugging electrical devices to reduce the "phantom encumbrance" you would otherwise be paying for (England gave the garage door opener as an example) -- and either eating up, giving away or discarding subsistence items that will no longer be good by the time you return from wherever you happen to be going.
The keys to mold control are minimizing moisture and maximizing air diffusion. Assuming someone has an air-conditioned house, England recommends running the AC two hours each night (if programmable), or just now setting the thermostat at 80-85. She also recommends having the AC serviced before departing. If using a humidistat or a de-humidifier, her idea was to test out both in advance. With the de-humidifier, in particular, it is vital to make sure the drain is set up properly. As one library protector noted, the bathtub is a very good place to direct the drain.
