My husband and I have two homes that we move between.
We have a home up north where we stay from May until November, and a residence down south for the winter months. Our goal is avoid the most severe weather in each location. Keeping up with the demands of two homes is sometimes exhausting. There is constant maintenance at both locations. We need to own two lawn mowers, two vacuum cleaners, two washing machines and two of just about everything. We also worry about whichever house is left vacant. The winter weather up north is absolutely brutal. We experience temperatures down to negative twenty-five with a huge accumulation of snow. The conditions cause all sorts of concerns, including water pipes freezing and bursting. We don’t want to pay to heat an empty house to a comfortable temperature, so we turn the thermostat as low as possible. We then stress over the possibility of furnace malfunction. When we get home in the spring, we never know what kind of damage we might find. This past year, I noticed that quite a few of the seams of the walls had popped. I know this is due to major swings in temperature and the framework of the home expanding and contracting. We have similar problems down south, except the concern is the heat and humidity. We are reluctant to run the air conditioner when the house is unoccupied, but the condensation and moisture lead to mold and mildew growth. Just recently, I invested in a smart thermostat for both properties. The ability to access the thermostat and get alerts through my smartphone is invaluable.