FAQ

We suggest hooking up the car battery up to a “trickle charger.” This type of charger supplies a small and steady current to keep the car battery charged. Trickle chargers are inexpensive and can be purchased at discount stores, automotive stores or at select car dealers. We supply trickle chargers for less than $25. If you decide to purchase one yourself, make sure to buy one that shuts off automatically when the battery is fully charged. Unhooking the battery or starting the car weekly actually drains the battery. Unless the car is driven for at least 20 minutes a week, the battery will drain when started.
We inspect homes on a weekly basis. The reason for this, is that most damage to a home is often a result of a water leak such as a roof or window leak or a backed up air conditioner. With weekly inspections, we can usually spot a problem and take corrective action which will minimize and contain any damage. Our job is to facilitate in avoiding major damage to homeowners.

Florida Power & Light recommends setting your thermostat to 82. We suggest that most customers are comfortable at a setting between 78-80, but the final decision is ultimately up to you.

Of course! Just supply us with a listing of your preferred contractors and we will be sure to use them as required.
Logically it would seem that when no one is using the pool then the filter pump should need to work less. The reality is that because of the increase ambient temperature, the filter needs to run longer than in the winter in order to control algae and bacteria growth.

Please read our Water Policy below.

WATER POLICY

As water damage is the number one source of major damages and expensive, Absentee Home Care’s policy is as follows:

  • For residents gone for more than one week but less than a season (summer), we shut the water main off to the house. This provides protection in the event of a broken pip, or running toilet.
  • For seasonal closings (summertime or longer), we shut the water main to the house and shut off all toilets at their base water supply.
  • The exception to this is if a customer specifically requests that the water be left on to their home. Each week during our routine inspection, we verify that the water main is off.

DUE TO THE EXTERIOR ACCESSIBILITY OF THE WATER MAIN SUPPLY VALVE, ABSENTEE HOME CARE CANNOT BE RESPONSIBLE IN THE EVENT OF THE TURNING ON THE WATER MAIN BY ANY OTHER PERSONNEL SUCH AS POOL TECHS, LANDSCAPERS OR OTHER PERSONAL CONTRACTORS.

**Turning the water main off to the house will not shut off the supply of water to sprinkler systems.

Please read our Hurricane Policy and procedures below.

HURRICANE POLICY AND PROCEDURES

Absentee Home Care will guarantee the closing of any client’s home that has the accordion type of shutters in the event of an impending Category 1 or higher hurricane.

Due to the number of commitments (homes) that we are responsible for, our policy is to follow the course of named tropical storms and if our service area is whitin the cone of probability in a 72 hour window for a Category 1 storm or higher, then we will proceed to close homes.

It is our recommendation that accordion shutters be serviced every one to two years and this is a service we offer to insure the shutters are in working order. Should a storm be pending and there are problems with closing the shutters, we will do our best. However we cannot be responsible should a shutter properly close. Keys must be accessible for any accordion shutters requiring keys. If a home has a combination of accordion shutters and panels or electronic openings, then we will secure the home completely as long as all panels fit and electronic openings are in working order. Should a customer request the closing of their home for a tropical storm warning or anything less than a Category 1 storm, it will be their responsibility to call and notify us.

Absentee Home Care will not guarantee the shuttering of homes that have panels. The reason for this is that panels are extremely time consuming and oftentimes the hardware does not function properly. Wall anchors loosen, crew holes do not line up, panels may not have been tested and therefore may not fit properly. There are contractors that provide the service of panels and we can assist in facilitating this, however we can assume no liability.