By George Haab
There were two lovely homes in a mountain community called Emerald Lakes. Each was owned by families who used them as vacation homes and visited them at irregular intervals. Both homes had alarm systems. One kept his vital information, such as his up-to-date telephone and cell phone information up to date. The other moved several times, changing his numbers and failing to notify his alarm company. The homeowner who kept his information current also gave a trusted full time neighbor a duplicate house key.
One day during a time of extremely low temperatures several transformers blew. Each homeowner lost all power to his vacation home. The power company tried to call each homeowner. They reached the first homeowner and told him he would have to turn off his main breaker before it would be safe to restore power. The homeowner quickly called the trusted neighbor who went to the home and turned the breaker off. He then notified the power company and the power was restored. His furnace, powered by LP by controlled by an electric thermostat immediately went back on – before the house temperature dipped below freezing. But the second homeowner, the one who did not keep his contact information up to date, did not know his heat was off. Soon the temperature dipped very low and all the water in the house froze. The sink traps were split open, toilet tanks cracked, water pipes burst and the water heater was ruptured. Thousands of dollars worth of damage resulted.
The take away from these stories is obvious. Each of these scenarios has occurred many times throughout the Pocono region. Don’t be like the second homeowner. Keep your contact information current with your alarm company and all your suppliers. And think about giving a trusted neighbor a key. That neighbor can look in your home if the alarm goes off or if you’re notified of a power interruption. As the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”