Property risk
Appliance and equipment failure
A freezer that quits in week one of a four-month absence is a specific and unpleasant discovery.
What happens
Refrigerators and freezers left running during a long vacancy will eventually fail, lose power, or be affected by a tripped breaker. The contents thaw, decompose, and produce contamination and odour that can require professional cleaning.
Power interruptions are the usual cause rather than the appliance itself. A brief outage nobody knows about is enough.
Water-connected appliances — dishwashers, washing machines, ice makers — remain pressurised whenever the supply is on, and their supply lines are among the most common leak sources.
Sump pumps that fail are only discovered when water arrives, which is the moment they were needed.
Why vacancy makes this worse
Every one of these is noticed immediately in an occupied house. In a vacant house none of them announce themselves.
What a visit can observe
- Freezer or refrigerator not running, or warm to the touch
- Odour from a kitchen appliance
- Water at the base of a water-connected appliance
- Tripped breakers
- Sump pump not cycling when water is present
- Error indicators on appliance displays
Reducing the risk
- Empty and switch off refrigerators and freezers for long absences, propping doors open to prevent mould.
- Close supply valves to washing machines and dishwashers.
- Test the sump pump before departure.
- Have appliances checked at each visit where you have asked for it.
Related questions
What happens if the power goes out while I am away?
More than people expect, because a surprising amount depends on it. The furnace stops — even a gas furnace needs power for its controls, blower and ignition. The sump pump stops. Freezers thaw. Any connected sensor or camera goes offline, which means you also lose the ability to find out that any of this happened.
In an Alberta winter the furnace is the one that matters. An extended outage during a cold snap produces the same outcome as a heating failure, on the same timeline.
What helps: knowing outages have occurred at all, which a power-loss alert or a smart thermostat going offline will tell you. A generator or battery backup for a sump pump is worth considering on a property with a known water table. And for a long absence, emptying and switching off the freezer removes one whole category of problem.
A visit after any significant local outage is worth booking, because the failures that follow one are often not visible until somebody walks in.
Need someone at the house?
Tell us what the property needs. Direct services throughout Greater Calgary.