In short
Protecting your home while you’re on holiday comes in three parts. Before you leave, you turn off the water, close the windows and unplug what you don’t need. While you’re away, alarms reach your phone and your neighbour’s. When you get back, you check what happened in the meantime. Besides burglars, an empty home is also at risk from water leaks and fire, and a water leak sensor (37 €) and a smoke detector (56 €) help with those.
- Before you leave: 11 points, about 20 minutes
- While you’re away: alerts to your phone, neighbour added as a user
- When you get back: check the home before you unpack
The summer holidays and Christmas are the two times of year when lots of homes in Estonia stand empty at once. In summer, windows are left open and the garden is full of tools. In winter, there are dark evenings, heated stoves and frozen pipes. Below is a checklist you can go through point by point before you set off. Most points cost nothing, and the rest are one-off costs that also help on your next holiday.
What should you do before going on holiday?
Start the day before, not in the last hour while the taxi is already waiting. The first six points are about the home itself.
- Turn off the main water valve. A leaking washing machine hose or water heater connection can do more damage in a week than any burglar. If your heating runs on water, find out first which valves you can close without stopping the heating.
- Switch off electrical appliances. Unplug the iron, coffee machine, TV and chargers. The fridge and freezer stay on, but clear out of the fridge anything that will go off in a week.
- Close and lock the windows. Go through every room, including the basement window, the bathroom window and the balcony door. A window left tilted open is as good as an open one.
- Talk to your neighbour. Say how long you’ll be away and how to reach you. Leave the spare key with them, not under the doormat.
- Take care of the letterbox. Ask your neighbour to empty the letterbox, pause your newspaper subscription and have parcels sent to a parcel locker.
- Put a light on a timer. A plug with a timer switches a lamp on and off in the evening, and with a smart plug you can switch the lamp on yourself from the app. In summer it doesn’t help much, because the evenings are light, but at Christmas it gets dark in the early afternoon.
The other five points are about the alarm system and sensors. If you don’t have a system, you can skip them.
- Check the battery levels in the app. The app shows the battery level of every sensor. If one is running low, change it before you leave, not in the middle of your holiday.
- Check the users. Every user gets the alarm. Is everyone who should get the alert on the list? Has anyone who no longer should been removed?
- Water leak sensor by the washing machine and water heater. The cable probe sits on the floor, and an alert reaches your phone if water collects there. The sensor costs 37 € or 1,24 €/month.
- Check the smoke detector. On a standard detector, press the test button. A smoke detector connected to the alarm system sounds at 85 dB and also sends an alarm to your phone, so you don’t depend on someone hearing it in an empty home.
- Arm the system. Not night mode, but full arming, so the indoor motion sensors are armed too. Before you do, check that all doors and windows with sensors are closed.
| Risk to an empty home | Device | Buy | Rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| A door or window is opened | door sensor | 30 € | 1,24 €/month |
| Someone moves around indoors | motion sensor | 36 € | 1,24 €/month |
| You want to see who it is | motion sensor with camera | 75 € | 1,86 €/month |
| Water leak | water leak sensor | 37 € | 1,24 €/month |
| Fire | smoke detector | 56 € | 2,48 €/month |
| Smoke, carbon monoxide, temperature | smoke, carbon monoxide and temperature sensor | 82 € | 3,72 €/month |
| A light needs to be on in the evening | smart plug | 29 € | 1,86 €/month |
Prices include VAT. All devices work with the same hub and alerts come to the same app. When you buy, extra devices don’t raise the monthly fee (9,18 €).
How do you keep an eye on your home while you’re on holiday?
When the system is armed, you don’t need to do anything day to day. If the alarm goes off, an alert comes to your phone with the sensor’s name and the time. The motion sensor with camera sends a series of photos, even in the dark, so from your sun lounger you can see whether there’s a stranger in the room or something just fell off a shelf. The hub has a battery and a SIM card, so the alert reaches you even if the power or internet is down at home.
But you’re in another country and can’t get there. That’s why it’s worth adding your neighbour as a user: then they get the alarm at the same moment and can check if needed. Agree in advance who does what: does your neighbour go and look, call you or call the emergency number straight away? The app also shows who disarmed the system and when, so you can see when your neighbour came round to water the plants.
Tip. If your neighbour pops in while you’re away, they can disarm the system on the keypad with their own code or tag. That way you see in the app that it was them, and they don’t need to know your code. If there’s nobody nearby who could go round when the alarm goes off, you can add a partner patrol to your GSMvalve system. The price depends on the area.
What’s different about the summer holidays and Christmas?
Summer holidays
- The windows have been open all summer, so check each one separately
- Ladder, barbecue and garden tools in the shed, and the shed locked
- Ask someone to mow the lawn: long grass says nobody is home
- At the summer house, a water leak sensor and a door sensor on the front door
Christmas and New Year
- Blow out the candles and unplug the tree lights
- Leave the heating on so the pipes don’t freeze
- In a house with a stove, a smoke, carbon monoxide and temperature sensor
- Ask a neighbour to clear the snow: untouched snow on the steps gives away an empty house
What should you do when you get home?
Before you unpack, check in the app whether there were any alarms while you were away and who disarmed the system and when. Then walk round the home: doors and windows intact, no water on the floor, fridge working. Turn the main water valve back on and watch for a few minutes to see if anything drips. Empty the letterbox if your neighbour didn’t, and thank them. Only now is the right time to post your holiday photos on social media.
Summary
The free things make the biggest difference: water off, windows locked, neighbour in the loop. If you’re away for a week or longer, especially from a house or summer house, an alarm system gives you what a neighbour can’t: an alert as soon as something happens, including things nobody can see, such as a water leak. If you want someone to always come out, add a patrol or choose a security company contract.
Frequently asked questions
Should I turn off the main water valve when I go on holiday?
Yes, if nobody will be at home for several days. A leaking hose or connection can do a lot of damage in a week. If your heating runs on water, find out first which valves you can close without stopping the heating.
Can my neighbour get the alarm system’s alerts?
Yes, if they have been added as a user. The GSMvalve alarm system sends the alarm to all users at once, so your neighbour gets the alert at the same moment as you and can go round to check.
Does the alarm system work if the power goes off while I’m away?
Yes. The GSMvalve hub has a battery and a SIM card, so the alarm reaches your phone even during a power or internet cut. The sensors run on batteries and the app shows their level.
What should I do if there’s a false alarm while I’m on holiday?
Check in the app which sensor reacted and when. The motion sensor with camera sends a series of photos that show whether anyone is in the room. If it’s not clear, ask the neighbour you added as a user to take a look.
Read also: 12 tips against burglary · the water leak sensor on the devices page · what the app shows
Written by the GSMvalve team
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