Winterize House Checklist: How to Close Up an Empty House for Winter

Every burst-pipe story starts the same way: the house was fine when everyone left. Water is the whole game — a supply line that freezes and splits will run for days into an empty house before anyone notices. This checklist works through the shutdown in order, from the main shutoff to the last walk-through, and it prints cleanly if a paper copy in the kitchen drawer is more your style. It covers both versions of winter: the house that keeps some heat on, and the north-country cabin that goes fully cold.

First decision: heat on, or heat off?

Everything else on the list depends on this choice, so make it first.

The trap in the middle: leaving the heat on and the water on, and calling that winterized. A heated house with pressurized plumbing and no one checking on it is one furnace failure away from the worst version of this story. Whichever column you pick, the water section below still applies.

Step 1 — Water: shut it off and get it out

Do this part carefully and slowly; it is most of the protection you are buying.

1. Shut off the water at the main valve — where the line enters the house, usually near the meter or pressure tank. If the house is on a well, switch off the pump breaker too.
2. Open every faucet, starting at the top floor and working down, hot and cold sides both. Leave them open so the lines can drain and any residual freeze has room to expand.
3. Drain the low points. Open the drain valves or remove the plugs at the lowest spots in the system — often near the water heater, the pressure tank, or a basement utility sink. Supply lines that sag or run through crawl spaces hold water; if the system has a compressed-air blowout fitting, blowing the lines clear is the thorough version (irrigation systems in freeze country are almost always blown out — most owners hire this done).
4. Flush every toilet until the tank and bowl stop refilling. Sponge or plunge remaining water out of the tank, or pour RV antifreeze into both tank and bowl.
5. Pour RV antifreeze into every drain trap — sinks, tubs, showers, floor drains, laundry standpipe. A cup or so per trap. Use only non-toxic propylene-glycol RV antifreeze (the pink jugs sold for potable systems), never automotive antifreeze, which is poisonous to kids, pets, and septic systems.
6. Washing machine: shut its valves, disconnect the supply hoses, and let them drain. For a full shutdown, running a brief drain cycle with RV antifreeze in the drum is a common practice to protect the pump.
7. Dishwasher: the sump under the filter holds water year-round. For a full shutdown, a cup of RV antifreeze in the base is the usual protection.
8. Refrigerator water line and icemaker: shut the little saddle valve, disconnect and drain the line, dump the ice bin. This quarter-inch line is a classic spring surprise.
9. Outdoor spigots (hose bibs): disconnect and drain every garden hose, shut interior shutoffs feeding exterior spigots if the house has them, then open the outside taps and leave them open. Foam covers are cheap insurance on non-frost-free bibs.

Step 2 — Water heater

• Heat staying on, gone a few weeks: set a gas water heater to its vacation/pilot setting; switch an electric one off at the breaker. No need to drain.
• Full shutdown: turn off the gas or the breaker first — an electric element that fires in a dry tank destroys itself — then connect a hose to the tank drain, open a hot tap upstairs to break the vacuum, and drain the tank to a floor drain or outside.
• Tankless units have their own freeze-protection and draining procedures; follow the manufacturer's manual rather than improvising.

Step 3 — Heat, thermostat, and power

• If heat stays on, hold at least 55°F. That figure comes from insurer guidance for vacant homes, not from comfort — and note that for an occupied house in a cold snap, the Insurance Information Institute's recommendation is a minimum of 65°F, because the air inside exterior walls, where pipes run, is substantially colder than the room.
• Open cabinet doors under kitchen and bathroom sinks on exterior walls, so room heat reaches the pipes.
• Have the heating system serviced before departure, and top off propane or fuel oil — a tank that runs dry in January turns a setback plan into a full-freeze event.
• A smart thermostat with a low-temperature alert is genuinely useful here — but only if it has power, working internet, and a person who will actually respond. It reports the emergency; it does not fix it.
• Power: for a full shutdown, many owners switch off the main breaker but leave circuits for the alarm, sump pump, heat tape, or cameras. Remember that a sump pump without power cannot run — if the basement takes spring melt, that circuit stays live, ideally with a battery backup and a water alarm.

Step 4 — Kitchen and appliances

• Refrigerator and freezer: either leave them running (only if power is dependable) or empty, defrost, clean, unplug, and prop the doors open so mold cannot take hold.
• Pantry: remove or seal in hard containers anything a mouse would want — which is nearly everything. Take out all trash.
• Unplug small appliances, TVs, and anything with a standby draw or a lightning-strike risk.
• Canned goods and liquids freeze. In a cold-shutdown house, cans, bottles, and cleaning products will burst; take them home or store them somewhere that stays above freezing.

Step 5 — Exterior

• Clean gutters and downspouts so meltwater drains instead of refreezing at the eaves — clogged gutters feed ice dams, and ice dams push water under shingles.
• Roof and snow load: have the roof inspected for loose shingles and flashing before winter. For high-snow country, know who will rake or clear the roof after major storms — snow does not wait for spring, and a roof rake in a locked garage helps nobody.
• Trim branches overhanging the roof and power line; ice-loaded limbs come down.
• Chimney: close the damper once the flue is cool, and make sure the cap and screen are intact — an open flue is a heat leak and a raccoon door.
• Seal pest entries: walk the foundation and soffits for gaps; steel wool and caulk now beat a squirrel in the attic in February.
• Stow or secure deck furniture, grills (close the propane cylinder valve), docks, and anything wind can throw.
• Snow removal: in many towns an unshoveled walk earns fines, and an undisturbed driveway announces an empty house. Line up a plow contract or a neighbor before the first storm.

Step 6 — Security and monitoring, honestly

Two separate problems get blurred here: making the house look occupied, and making sure someone knows when something goes wrong.

• Looking occupied: a couple of lamps on timers, a held or forwarded mail stream, a plowed driveway, and no announcement of the empty house on social media.
• Knowing when something goes wrong: leak sensors, low-temperature alerts, and cameras are all alarm bells, not responders. A freeze alert at 2 a.m. is only worth what the person receiving it can do about it — and insurer guidance for extended absences is blunt on this point: have someone check the house regularly, because a problem found quickly does far less damage.
• Name the responder. A neighbor or family keyholder with a key, the alarm code, and the location of the main water shutoff — written down, not assumed. If the answer is "nobody within two hours," that is an argument for the full shutdown column above, and for professional help below.

If this is a seasonal pattern — the same house closed every year while its owners winter elsewhere — a paid home-watch service does this as a documented routine. Home Watch Crew's snowbird departure checklist covers the professional leaving-for-the-season version, and its what-is-home-watch guide explains what a documented visit actually includes. The DIY checklist on this page and a professional watch are not rivals; the shutdown is yours either way, and the watch is who notices in week six.

Step 7 — Mail, utilities, and insurance

• Mail and packages: place a USPS hold or forward, pause subscriptions and deliveries, and give the keyholder standing instructions for anything that slips through. A stuffed mailbox is the classic empty-house tell.
• Utilities: if heat stays on, so do gas and electric — put both on autopay and set usage alerts if the utility offers them (a sudden spike or flatline is information). For a full shutdown, ask the utility about seasonal disconnect versus minimum service before assuming which is cheaper.
• Call the insurer before leaving. Most homeowners policies contain a vacancy clause that limits or excludes coverage once the house has been unoccupied for a period — typically 30 to 60 consecutive days — and insurers generally expect proof that reasonable steps (heat, water shutoff, regular checks) were taken. The full insurance side of an empty house — vacant versus unoccupied, endorsements, vacancy policies — is its own topic, covered in the guide to leaving a house empty.

The north-country full shutdown, start to finish

For a cabin that goes cold until May, the sequence above compresses into one long shutdown day. The condensed order of operations:

1. Well pump breaker off (or main valve closed); pressure tank drained.
2. Every faucet open, top to bottom; low-point drains opened; lines blown out with air where fittings exist.
3. Water heater off first, then drained.
4. Toilets flushed dry; antifreeze in tanks and bowls.
5. Antifreeze in every trap — including the floor drain and the shower nobody remembers.
6. Washer, dishwasher, icemaker treated as above; sauna, wet bar, and outdoor kitchen lines too if the place has them.
7. Fridge emptied and propped; food out; cans and bottles out.
8. Heat off; power down to essentials; damper closed; doors locked; keyholder confirmed.
9. Photos of the water heater drain, the open faucets, and the main valve — thirty seconds of pictures ends every "did anyone actually…" argument in March.

In spring, the whole list runs in reverse — close the drains and faucets before opening the main, fill the water heater before re-energizing it, and pressurize slowly while someone walks the house listening for hissing.

For a shared cabin, the real question is not the technique — it is whose job this is. The family whose last-October guest "assumed someone else was closing up" pays for that assumption in burst copper. Shutdown and open-up duty belongs in the family cabin agreement alongside the money rules, and it usually lands on whoever holds the season's final stay — one more reason fair scheduling should make the last slot explicit rather than accidental. The shutdown-day costs — antifreeze, furnace service, the irrigation blowout, the plow contract — are shared expenses like any other; the cabin expense split calculator shows how they divide. And if the empty house is one of two or more places the family runs, the second-home management guide covers the year-round system this checklist plugs into.

Frequently asked questions

What temperature should an empty house be kept at in winter?

Insurer guidance for a vacant house is no lower than 55°F, with the water shut off or the plumbing fully winterized. For an occupied house in severe cold, III recommends at least 65°F, since the space inside exterior walls runs much colder than the rooms. Setting 45°F to save on fuel is a false economy — the savings are small and the margin for a furnace hiccup disappears.

Should the water be turned off in an empty house?

Yes, in nearly every case. A pressurized supply line in an empty house can release enormous volumes of water through a single split fitting before anyone notices. Shut the main, open the faucets, and drain what you can even when the heat stays on. The exception is a fire-sprinkler system, which must stay charged — ask the insurer and a sprinkler contractor how to protect it.

Can the heat be turned off completely in an empty house over winter?

Only if the plumbing is completely drained and the traps protected with RV antifreeze — the full-shutdown column above. A cold house with dry pipes is safe; a cold house with water anywhere in the system is not. Tell the insurer either way: an unheated house that still had water in it is exactly the claim vacancy language exists to deny.

What kind of antifreeze goes in house pipes and drains?

Non-toxic propylene-glycol RV antifreeze — the pink jugs rated for potable water systems. Never automotive (ethylene glycol) antifreeze, which is toxic to children, pets, wildlife, and septic systems. Use it in drain traps, toilet tanks and bowls, and appliance sumps; supply lines are better emptied by draining or air blowout, with antifreeze as the belt-and-suspenders layer.

How long can a house sit empty before insurance becomes a problem?

Standard homeowners policies typically apply vacancy provisions after 30 to 60 consecutive unoccupied days, limiting or excluding certain coverage — but the exact trigger and effect are policy-specific, so read the actual language and call the insurer before a long absence. The leaving-a-house-empty guide walks through vacant versus unoccupied and the endorsement options.

Do smart thermostats and leak sensors mean nobody has to check the house?

No. Sensors report; they cannot shut a valve, relight a furnace, or tarp a roof. Insurer guidance for extended absences still calls for a person checking the house regularly. Sensors shrink the time between failure and awareness — a named keyholder or a professional home-watch service shrinks the time between awareness and repair, and that second gap is where the damage accumulates.