I guess I have been lucky, I never winterize the house when I leave. Have an all electric house and just set the furnace at 60 degrees. We do turn our well pump off but do not drain anything. I guess the risk is that electricity would go out with a big ice storm and be off for an extended period of time.
We have been told that unless someone comes to the house daily to check on things, our insurance will not cover freezing etc. We are planning to go south this winter (Jan.,Feb., & March)but we will get a plumber to winterize the house. By doing that we should be able to turn off the furnace completely. This is how all the summer people that come here handle things and i don't see why it should be any different for a regular house.
Dan
Prince Edward Island
http://www3.islandtelecom.com/dankennedy/
I once had a contract with Farmers Home Administration to "winterize" repo'd houses. If it froze the repair was on me.
Here's what I learned. If you get all the water out, nothing is going to freeze. The way to do that is drain everything, and blow out the lines with compressed air.
"Everything" would include ice makers, water filters water heaters, outdoor taps...everything. Compressed air needs to be regulated so you don't blow your plumbing apart. If you only drain your lines water will pool and freeze.
If you leave your heat on you're at the mercy of your heating system, utility company, maybe a low temp warning system, your neighbor, your insurance company...only one of which has to fail for it to cost you. If there's no water it ain't going to freeze!
'03 GMC 4500 Topkick with Duramax/Allison
'04 36' McKenzie Medallion triple slide
Honda Magna motorcycle mounted on the front of the truck
Snowbird W/Ohio camper dock
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