Turn water heater down to the lowest setting.

Turn the air conditioner setting higher in summer.  You'll want to keep the house from getting too hot to protect your pets and any sensitive electronics.

Turn the furnace or heater down in spring or fall.  Be careful to leave the house moderately warm in the winter.  You'll want to reduce your bills, but you need to keep it from getting too cold.  You still need to protect any pets and avoid frozen water pipes.

Don't change shades, blinds or drapes.  Leave them as you normally would.  A drastic change might signal your absence.

Attach a radio to a timer, so that there will be some noise in the house during different times of the day.

Take time to unplug electronic equipment.  Protect your computer in case there is a storm while you’re gone.  Unhook your phone line from the modem.  If your computer is part of the answering machine, you may have to leave it hooked up . Be sure that "surge protectors" are installed and operating.

If possible, pack the car inside the garage, with the door down.  Don't advertise to everyone that you're leaving.

Disconnect the electric garage door opener.  Unplug it if you can, but don’t pull the fuse.  Verify that the fuse isn’t hooked up to something else.  You may have a refrigerator or freezer in the garage on the same fuse.