The cottage closing checklist from last fall is still the right baseline. A full year of spring opening calls later, we have added a few items to the closing routine, sharpened a few others, and removed one we used to recommend. None of it is dramatic. The cottages that get closed properly are the same cottages that open without incident, and the gap between "properly closed" and "almost properly closed" is consistently the source of the April call list.
What stayed
The core items from last year are unchanged:
- Drain the plumbing - hot water tank, pressure tank, traps with antifreeze, toilet bowls down. The freeze-up that develops in January is not an electrical problem until the spring melt finds the panel.
- Disconnect and store dock and boathouse shore-power cables. Cable left on the cribs through winter gets crushed by ice and chewed by mice.
- Pull and store batteries on anything that uses one - smoke detectors stay in (sealed), but anything battery-powered that is not life-safety comes out.
- Document the shutdown state with photos, including panel position, breaker labels, and any breaker you intentionally left on.
What we have added
1. Heat trace controller programming for winter mode
Cottages with heat trace cable on pipes need the controller programmed for winter operation - not the year-round set point used during occupied months. The right setup keeps the cable cycling on demand based on ambient temperature, not on a thermostat at the pipe (which never gets cold if the cable is doing its job). The wrong setup either runs the cable all winter at maximum draw (the bill is brutal and the cable ages faster) or has the cable shut off because the controller was set to "occupied mode" and the cottage is not occupied.
We added a 10-minute station to the shutdown visit to verify the controller mode, the ambient sensor reading, and the GFCI test. Cable that nuisance-tripped in October is replaced before shutdown - the post on the heat trace replacement cycle covers the diagnostics.
2. Cellular monitoring decisions
Half our cottage clients now have some form of cellular monitor - SimpliSafe, Ecobee with cellular backup, a dedicated temperature monitor, or a Generac Mobile Link on the generator. The decisions to make at shutdown:
- What stays online? Generator (yes - so we can see exercise cycles). Furnace controller (yes - so we know the propane furnace is keeping the cottage above freezing). Security system (homeowner call).
- What goes offline? Wi-Fi router if the only Wi-Fi devices left on the property are sleeping. The router idle draw is small but the security risk of an unattended internet connection on a residential network for 5-6 months is real.
- What needs cellular signal verified? Anything that has to send an alert. We test signal at the device, not at the property line.
3. Ice-storm pre-cut of overhanging branches
This is not strictly electrical work but it is on the closing checklist now. A heavy ice load on a single tree limb over the service drop is the most common reason a cottage owner gets a Hydro One call in January. We walk the service entrance with the owner during the closing visit and flag any limb that should come down before freeze-up. We do not do the tree work - we just point at it and document it.
4. Dock circuit breaker stays OFF and labelled
This sounds obvious. It is not, in practice. We have arrived at openings where the dock breaker was left ON over the winter because the owner forgot to turn it off, and the dock GFCI tripped in the first cold week and stayed tripped. Every spring we end up replacing dock GFCIs that died sitting tripped under ice for 4 months. Now we tape the dock breaker in the OFF position at closing, with a tag noting the date.
5. Generator preparation for unattended winter operation
For cottages relying on the generator to back up the furnace and well over winter, the closing visit includes:
- Confirmed propane level (full or near-full - a January refill in unplowed conditions is not happening).
- Exercise cycle programmed to a Tuesday early-morning slot (the cold-start argument from our winter 2027 outage prep update).
- Mobile Link or equivalent cellular monitor verified with a real test cycle - we trigger a manual start from the app and watch for the notification arrival.
- Battery load test - if it is borderline in November it will be dead in February.
- Engine block heater plugged in if the unit has one and the cottage is on grid power.
What we stopped recommending
The "leave one heat lamp on in the well house" approach. We used to suggest this on properties with above-grade well-pump enclosures to keep the pump body above freezing. The failure mode caught up with us - over five winters we saw two heat lamps fail in ways that started small enclosure fires. Replaced now with a properly-installed dedicated heat trace circuit on the pipe and a thermostatically-controlled enclosure heater rated for unattended operation. A heat lamp is not the right product for this use case and we should not have been recommending it.
The order matters
The closing sequence we walk:
- Walk the exterior - service drop branches, weatherhead, meter base, mast. Note anything for spring.
- Test every GFCI and AFCI - any that fail get replaced now, not at opening.
- Heat trace controllers verified and set for winter mode.
- Generator service items and unattended-operation prep.
- Drain the plumbing (the homeowner usually does this part).
- Disconnect dock circuit, tape breaker off, store cables.
- Smoke and CO detectors tested - sealed units stay in, battery units get fresh batteries.
- Decide what stays on (furnace, monitor, sump if needed) versus everything else off at the panel.
- Photo documentation of the final panel state and shutdown notes inside the panel door.
When to call us
We do scheduled cottage closing visits across Huntsville, Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Port Carling, and Baysville from late September through late November. Generator service usually folds into the same visit. Book a closing visit before the November weather window closes.