Whether you are heading north for August or closing up a holiday home until the autumn, ten minutes spent on the electrics before you lock the door is worth it. Knowing what to unplug before leaving your home empty, and just as importantly what to leave running, is the difference between returning to the house you left and returning to a defrosted freezer, a dead router or a bill you were not expecting.
None of this requires shutting the property down completely. It is about removing what serves no purpose while you are away and protecting what genuinely needs to keep working. Here is how we would do it on a Costa del Sol property in the middle of summer.
Why it matters more than it sounds
An empty home in August combines three things at once: weeks with nobody checking anything, very high indoor temperatures, and the late-summer storms. Individually none of them is dramatic. Together they explain most of the call-outs we get in September.
The two classic problems are an appliance sitting there heating up for a month with no reason to, and a power surge taking out whatever was still plugged in. Neither gives you any warning, and both are avoided in the time it takes to finish packing.
What to unplug before you go
1. Anything that generates heat
Coffee machine, toaster, air fryer, iron, hairdryer. You do not need any of them connected, and they are among the appliances most likely to cause a problem if something fails. Always pull them out by the plug rather than the cable, which is how the internal connections get damaged.
2. Sensitive electronics
Television, computer, games console, printer, sound system. These are precisely what suffers in a power surge and precisely what costs most to replace. If you do not depend on them while you are away, unplug them.
3. Chargers
Phone, laptop, e-bike and scooter chargers. A charger left plugged in with nothing attached draws very little, but it contributes nothing over a month and it is one more warm point in a closed-up house. Pull them out.
4. The electric water heater
This is the one you will actually see on the bill. An electric water heater (termo eléctrico) spends all day keeping a tank hot, and if nobody is going to use that water for three weeks, the whole lot is wasted. Switch it off at its own isolator or at the consumer unit before you leave.
What NOT to unplug
This is where people tend to overshoot and kill the main breaker, assuming that must be safest. If you have any of the following, they stay on:
- The fridge and freezer, if there is food in them: switching them off with a full freezer is the fastest route to a ruined homecoming. Use holiday mode if the appliance has one.
- Alarm and cameras: these are exactly what you want working while you are away. And with them the router, because without internet they cannot alert you to anything.
- Automatic irrigation: if you have a garden or pots on a timer, leave it be. Coming back to a dead garden is no bargain.
- The pool pump: three weeks of unfiltered water in August becomes a far more expensive problem than the electricity the pump uses.
- Any medical or assistive equipment: if somebody in the household depends on it, it does not get touched.
How this plays out in Málaga
The province has a very specific overlap: August is when the largest number of homes sit empty, and it is also the run-up to the late-summer storms. The DANA systems (the cut-off lows that bring sudden, heavy storms) of late August and September arrive with lightning, and with it surges and area-wide power cuts.
If that storm hits while you are at the beach or back home abroad, nobody is going to unplug anything or check whether the diferencial (RCD, the safety switch in your consumer unit) has tripped. Whatever is connected stays exposed, and whatever depends on power (fridge, alarm, irrigation) could sit dead for days without you knowing. It is the same situation we describe in what to do in a power cut, with the added problem that you are not there to act.
If the property is a holiday let rather than your own home, the exposure multiplies: constant arrivals and departures, air conditioning running hard, and guests who know nothing about the installation. In that case the specific list you want is the electrical requirements for a holiday let.
Practical recommendations before you lock up
Test the RCD before you leave. Press the test button on the diferencial in your consumer unit: it should trip immediately. If it does not trip, or if it will not stay reset, do not leave with that outstanding. An RCD that is not protecting anything is a problem waiting for a storm.
Protect the installation against surges. This is the only measure that carries on working when you are not there. A surge protection device fitted in the consumer unit acts before the spike reaches your appliances, and it costs far less than replacing them. We explain it in surge protection.
Use smart plugs for anything you want to control remotely. A couple of app-controlled plugs let you switch something on or off from wherever you are, and put a lamp on a schedule to suggest the house is occupied. It is the most useful and cheapest end of home automation.
Leave a key and a phone number with someone local. A neighbour or a friend who can get in if something trips or if the building manager reports a leak. It is the simplest measure and the one that prevents the most damage.
Do not leave known faults for later. If the electricity has been tripping, a socket has been getting warm or the lights have been flickering, sort it before you go rather than when you get back. An installation already showing symptoms, left alone for a month, is how most of our September call-outs begin.
Frequently asked questions
Should I switch off the main breaker if I am away for a month?
Only if you have emptied the fridge and freezer and you have no alarm, cameras or automatic irrigation running. If any of those need power, leave the main breaker on and unplug individual appliances instead. Killing the main switch with a full freezer is the quickest way to come home to a mess.
Do I need to unplug the fridge if I am away for two weeks?
If it is empty, yes: unplug it, clean it and leave the door slightly ajar so it does not develop damp or smells. If you are leaving food in it, keep it running and switch on holiday mode if it has one. Emptying and switching it off also saves a useful amount, because the fridge is one of the biggest consumers over a full month.
Does unplugging appliances actually save money?
Yes, though standby alone is modest: appliances left on standby are commonly estimated at around 5-10% of a home's consumption. What really shows up over a month away is switching off an electric water heater, which would otherwise spend weeks keeping a tank hot for nobody.
What happens if there is a storm while I am away?
A power surge can damage anything still plugged in, and nobody will be there to notice. That is why it is worth unplugging the television, computer and router if you do not depend on them, and considering surge protection in the consumer unit, which keeps working whether you are there or not.
I only use the property a few months a year. Does that change anything?
It raises the stakes rather than changing the advice. A property that sits empty for months goes through several storm seasons unattended, and small faults have longer to develop unnoticed. If that is your situation, surge protection, a working RCD and someone local who can get inside are worth far more than the electricity you save.
Want to leave with peace of mind?
At VLR Instalaciones we have over 20 years of experience as electricians authorised by the Junta de Andalucía, covering the whole province of Málaga. We check the consumer unit and the RCD, fit surge protection and leave your installation ready for the summer. And if something does go wrong while you are away, we handle emergencies 24 hours a day. Ask us for a no-obligation assessment before you pack the car.
Reviewed by VLR Instalaciones, electrician authorised by the Junta de Andalucía.