Replies

1. 
   Mongo | Jan 12, 2010 08:28pm | #1

   Are you draining the plumbing too? To include the water heater?

   Leaving the taps open?

   Flushing the toilets and using a sponge to dry out the toilet trap?

   Don't forget any hoses or tubing like washing machine hoses, fridge ice maker copper supply tubing, etc. If it can hold water and freeze it could cause problems.

   Anything with a condenser can be toyed with in cold cold temps, so consider unplugging fridges and freezers.

   An option is to leave the traps wet and just add RV antifreeze to them.

   Shutting a house down completely in freezing weather can open a can or two of worms. Sometimes it's better to just turn the t-stat way down.

1. 
   strugglingman | Jan 12, 2010 09:27pm | #2

   FWJ,

   Any chance of having someone stop by to "pick up the mail" every day.

   This gives you maximum piece of mind while your away.

   H

2. 
   DanH | Jan 12, 2010 09:59pm | #3

   Don't dry the traps, as that
   Don't dry the traps, as that will allow sewer gas into the house. Use the RV antifreeze.

   Don't forget the washing machine and the water softener.

1. 
   Mongo | Jan 13, 2010 09:30am | #6

   Good catch, I meant to write "use a sponge to dry out the toilet tank". Brain fart.

2. 
   DanH | Jan 12, 2010 10:00pm | #4

   You can buy a device to go on the phone that will phone you if there's a problem or a different device that will answer the phone and tell you the temperature.

1. 
   DickRussell | Jan 13, 2010 09:29am | #5

   FreezeAlarm is one brand of monitoring/callout device. I use one. When I'm worried about how the place is doing when I'm away, I can call in and see what the temperature is, status of power and the little 9v battery that provides monitoring when the power is out. You can program yours to call your mother-in-law if the heating fails in the middle of some night. Actually, you do have a fair amount of time from heat failure to the point where something freezes, due to the heat capacity of the house and contents. At least a day, depending on the house and the outside temperature, wind, etc.

3. 
   Stuart | Jan 13, 2010 10:13pm | #7

   I saw this on the local news tonight:

   A Chaska home was severely damaged by a massive ice buildup after water filled the house while the homeowners were away for several weeks.

   No one was injured, but icicles could be seen inside the home and a sheet of ice covered large portions of the back porch and back walls.

   http://www.startribune.com/local/west/81392837.html

1. 
   Mongo | Jan 14, 2010 08:48pm | #8

   Nothing like a water leak when you're away in the winter. But all should be well as it appears they have Triple-A

   View Image

1. 
   rich1 | Jan 14, 2010 09:04pm | #9

   I tell customers to turn the stat up. If your house loses 1 degree an hour, the difference between 60 and 75 is at least 15 hours and in reality, probably longer. You prabably won't notice much of a difference in the gas bill, cheap insurance.

   And if the house isn't checked, you could prabably be denied insurance coverage.

   And smoke coming out of the chimney doesn't mean the furnace is working. I've seen frozen houses, with the water heater still running.

1. 
   MikeSmith | Jan 15, 2010 08:00am | #10

   we had a camp in new hampshire and we developed a good procedure for no heat... turn off the water at the entrance..

   drain everything... sponge out the toilet tank

   pour rv antifreeze in every trap

   hook up the compressor and blow out the shower valve, it won't drain by itself

   anudder ting.... i've seen houses where the first floor is slab-on-grade... the owner turned the heat down... nothing froze, but the slab shrunk... the quarry tile had been laid tight to the walls... so it had no place to go but UP... there was a 6" raised belly in the middle of the floor

4. 
   jigs_n_fixtures@icloud.com | Jan 15, 2010 12:18pm | #11

   We winterize, 7 compounds, with a total of 156 buildings devery year.

   I'm not sure it is worth the effort involved for a few weeks. I would be inclined to set up the heat, and have someone check on it periodically. Which is what I do when I travel during the winter at my house. But, I have one of the "inefficient" propane stoves in the basement that has a pilot light and millivolt controls, so it will work even with the power out. The thermostat on it is set for 45-degrees, which since all the plumbing run through the ceiling/floor joists will keep things from freezing.

   On modern buildings it is actually pretty difficult to get all the water to drain out of the lines, because they are actually plumb and level. The older structures, built by the CCCs in the 30's, actually have the lines put in with a pitch to them, and are designed to drain to a central point.

   You will need to drain the water heater, not just turn it off. We:

   1. Shut off the water to the structure. All of our systems have drain valves, and gravel drains installed adjacent to the service feed so we can drain the service to the structure. But we leave this valve closed for now to prevent contamination.

   2. Shut off and drain the water heater.

   3. Open all the taps, and let everything drain as much as it will, and then shut all the valves, including the one on the feed at the curb valve.

   4. Connect an air compressor with the regulator set to 60-psi to a hose bib, and use it to pressurize the system. When the compressor shuts down, everything is pressurized to 60-psi. We are now using the water heater as a pressure tank, so that we have enough air volume from a small compressor, to get enough air velcoity to clear the lines. If the compressor restarts, wait to open the next valve until it quits.

   5. We then go around and open valves, starting with the drain for the water heater first. And, then working from the furthest hot tap back towards the water heater, until just air blows out.

   6. After doing the hot taps, we go back and do the cold water taps. (I'm not sure why we don't do the hot and cold at the same time, other than that is how it's been done for years, and even though no one knows why, we know it works.)

   7. Now that all of the interior lines are cleared, blow out any hose bibs, including the one your connected to.

   8. Reconnect the compressor, and recharge the system, and blow out the feed to the house, and then close the main drain valve, while air is coming out. This minimizes the potential to contaminate the lines.

   9. Let the pressure rebuild, and turn off the hose bib you are connected to, and leave the system pressurized, so that water doesn't weep into the system.

5. 
   DanH | Jan 15, 2010 09:24pm | #12

   What I've done on a few
   What I've done on a few occasions is to turn the water ALMOST all the way off. There's still pressure, and the water can expand back into the main as the water heater heats, but if a pipe were to burst the damage would be considerably less than with the full force of the water. Also, you don't have damage to faucets and toilet valves from having the seals dry out.

   Leave the heat turned down a bit but not off, and not down all the way. With mechanical thermostats you have no assurance that "all the way down" isn't really off, and it's good to have some "buffer" anyway, in cold weather.

   (Keep in mind that in really cold weather the pipe that didn't freeze last winter with the indoor temp at 68 may freeze this year when you set indoor temp to 60.)

   (Oh, and always leave the kitchen cabinets under the sink open, if the sink's on an outside wall. Same for the bathroom vanity.)