Eggertsville is older suburban housing with a lot of long-term owners and a fair number of student rentals near the campus, and the two behave completely differently in winter.
Owner-occupied homes get noticed quickly. A rental that empties out over a winter break is where a small failure runs for days.
What we deal with in Eggertsville homes
Frozen pipes in properties left empty over the holidays, and the resulting water once the thaw arrives. The damage is proportional to how long nobody was there.
The older housing also brings ice damming, because insulation and ventilation in a house of that age are rarely what a modern roof assembly would have.
The house will be empty over winter break. What should I do?
Leave the heat on at a reasonable setting rather than off, and have somebody check it. If nobody can, shut the water main and drain the lines. A thermostat is not a plan on its own.
There is a brown ring on my upstairs ceiling in February.
Almost always an ice dam rather than a roof leak. The shingles are fine; meltwater is backing up under them. Do not go up there with a hammer.