I'm leaving for about 3 1/2 months for the summer. Normally, we lease the house but this year we aren't. Should I leave the water to the house on (turning off the icemaker) or turn off the main to the house? If the latter, should the toilets be drained? Anything else I should think about?
If it was me i would turn the main water off unless you have someone to check the house. The water in the toilets should be fine, also turn off the water heater. If you don't want to turn the main off make sure you turn off the water to the washing machine also.
Turn the water going to the house off. We just finished redoing half of the upstairs and all of the downstairs from a water line breaking under the kitchen sink.
We leave for about 4 months every summer, & I turn off the water to the inside of the house at the water softener (& turn off the softener). I leave the water on to the outside for our drip system & swamp cooler in the shed.
I put mineral oil down the traps & saran wrap over the toilet bowls. Also turn off water heater & set thermostat to 86 deg.
To help with our low humidity, I fill up our 5 gal humidfier and set on low. It will run out eventually. I also fill the bathtub with water.
Works for us, this will be our 4th summer away.
Dan & Sharon & Kasey (Our Yorkie Puppy)
2003 Adventurer 33V, Workhorse
1999 Suzuki Vitara, Blue Ox Aventa II, SMI Silent Partner
Probably the biggest potential for problems are the washing machine hoses. Think I would turn off the hot water tank and the water to the house.
Papa Bob
1* DW "Granny"
1* 2008 Brookside Sunnybrook 32'
1* 2002 F250 Super Duty 7.3L PSD
Husky 16K hitch, Tekonsha P3,
Firestone Ride Rite Air Springs, Trailair Equa-Flex, Champion C46540
"A bad day camping is better than a good day at work!"
I HIGHLY recommend DO NOT turn off the hot water heater unless you fully drain it and you may still end up with problems. What happens is critters grow in the hot water heater and you end up with rotten egg smell with the hot water and ends up throughout your house. Learned this the hard way. The odor comes out the washing machine, shower, sink etc and your house will smell musty
To correct this if it happens, you can power off the hot water heater & pump, drain water til the pressure is nil. Then remove the anode in the hot water heater and drain 3 gallons of water out of the hot water heater. Pour 2 gallons of clorox in the opening where the anode goes, reinsert the anode with tape on the threads and fill with water. Run all hot water lines til clorox smell is present including dish washing machine, washer, etc. Turn off all valves and let sit for a min of 3 hours. Drain the hot water tank (might need to remove the anode again_ and fill water tank. Flush out all lines til the clorox odor is gone.
Hot water heaters are normally set to 140 degrees and if set to 160 degrees for a couple hours, it kills the mold type growth in the tank but can be dangerous as so much pressure builds up
I have a "second house" with an interior to rebuild because I left the water on, with the idea that I would check on the place every week or two, run all the faucets, flush the toilets, using the furnace to maintain a safe 60 F through the winter.
This strategy worked well for my primary residence when I was working out of the country for two years, daily security check, weekly inside check, maintenance contracted as needed. Where it failed this winter on the second house was an ice storm put a big tree down across a power line, no heat in the house for a week long deep freeze, and we couldn't even get to the place to check it until ice and fallen trees could be cleared. By then it was too late, a pipes burst in attic soaked about 1/3 of the house. The line that broke was hot water, that supply was off, but pipes had enough water in them to make a mess.
The operating principle for leaving the water on is, old plumbing can clog up badly pretty fast, especially in a hard water area, if water is stagnant in the pipes for long periods of time. Water heaters go bad if you don't keep moving fresh water through them. I know both of these from experience, too.
The alternative to leaving the water on, and checking the place regularly, is to turn the water off and drain all the supply plumbing, and the water heater, and put anti-freeze in the traps to displace water. Just like you would to prepare a RV for winter storage.
* This post was
edited 05/10/08 10:53am by tatest *
tvman44 wrote: Probably the biggest potential for problems are the washing machine hoses. Think I would turn off the hot water tank and the water to the house.
I have friends who shut off supply to these hoses every time they finish using the washer. They had a hose burst while out of the house for a couple hours, that was big enough mess.
My boss had a washer hose burst while he was on vacation. They got four feet of water in the house before their son dropped by, noticed water running out under the doors, shut off the water at the curb and drained the house. All new furniture, all new wallboard. The city made them pay for the water, too.
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