Advice on when to completely shut off water

[iyiyi]

It has been super cold here this year. I have a well. Is there a general rule of thumb when you should completely turn off the water when traveling/leaving the house for extended periods (over a week)?
I have a few water lines that are in exterior walls and I'm nervous they may freeze without being used daily like when I am home.
Between the well pump and propane tankless water heater I'm not comfortable leaving things to drip for that long.

Are there any issues with just shutting off the water and running the lines dry before leaving? Even if something does freeze, I'd prefer it happened once I got home and not while I'm gone with unlimited water possible flooding the house.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Twowaxhack]

Shut everything down and completely drain everything including water heater and you’re golden. For toilets and traps use RV antifreeze.

 

[pasadena_commut]

This isn't relevant to the freezing issue, but...

We turn off the water inside the house when we will be away for one night or more. The outside irrigation, which is on timers, remains active. We started doing that after when we were just about to leave for a trip I went into the kitchen and turned on the faucet, I think to wash my hands, and the hose under the sink exploded. We also turn off the water heater. This isn't much work for some peace of mind, and because we don't travel much, it only needs to be done a few times a year.

 

[RS]

We turn of our well pump and water heaters any time we are gone overnight, and when we are gone for 5 months in the winter, we blow out the entire system with compressed air, even though we heat the house to 50F. It's a lot easier to do that than re-plumb the house!

 

[havasu]

On my vacation home, I shut off my electric water heater and all water to the inside, leaving only the landscape water on. We never get to freezing temperatures.

 

[iyiyi]

Thanks for the advice. Also, to clarify, the house will be heated when I would be away (usually left around 65).

So should I just turn off the water and shut off the breakers for the well pump and hot water heater and just let all the water run out of faucets?

Is antifreeze and draining the hot water heater necessary for being gone a week or so?

 

[RS]

How much do you trust your heating system? Do you have an alarm system that will alert you if it fails? Do you have a reliable person that could come and get the heat on again? Just shutting off the power to the pump and water heaters is good enough for us, for a week or less. We haven't had a problem in the 11 years that we've been gone 5 months, but it's one less thing for me to worry about, and I can easily do the winterizing myself.

 

[iyiyi]

How much do you trust your heating system? Do you have an alarm system that will alert you if it fails? Do you have a reliable person that could come and get the heat on again? Just shutting off the power to the pump and water heaters is good enough for us, for a week or less. We haven't had a problem in the 11 years that we've been gone 5 months, but it's one less thing for me to worry about, and I can easily do the winterizing myself.

I have a smart thermostat so can easily check on how it's working. It has been reliable. Getting someone to fix the heat in an emergency is possible, but definitely want peace of mind for freezing pipes.

Do you drain your hot water heater and do you put anitfreeze in anything? (when only leaving for short periods, not winterizing)

 

[RS]

No, I only drain the water heater when we are gone in the winter, using compressed air. The air goes down the dip tube and agitates any sediment in the bottom, it seems to do a thorough cleaning. I hook up the compressor by the well pressure thank, with the regulator set at about 55 psi. The only place we use antifreeze is in the traps, and only when gone for 5 months.

 

[iyiyi]

No, I only drain the water heater when we are gone in the winter, using compressed air. The air goes down the dip tube and agitates any sediment in the bottom, it seems to do a thorough cleaning. I hook up the compressor by the well pressure thank, with the regulator set at about 55 psi. The only place we use antifreeze is in the traps, and only when gone for 5 months.

Thanks! Yeah, for just a week I probably wouldn't drain the heater or use antifreeze unless there is a reason that would be bad after shutting off the water