Main water off to house ok with furnace on?

Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

boostin

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Location
,
I will be doing some slow renovations on a property and the water will be shut down for a few months due to time constraints with another job, ordering new things as I go, cabinetry, bathroom upgrades and so on. With winter temps where I live getting below 32F at night on occasion, am I okay to leave the water off as long as I keep the furnace on above 60F during the next few months?
 
So I don't need to go to the extent of blowing out my water pipes with an air compressor if I am keeping the heat on? The water will be off for quite some time and I have never had such a delayed project so I was a bit concerned.

With the water heater being off in a patio closet that prob gets a bit colder than the house itself, Do I risk the chance of the water inside of it freezing? That was my main concern before turning it off completely. I thought leaving it on low would be fine but then I worried the other day the water may somehow evaporate overtime through the heat supply pipe causing the tank to drop and ruining the heating element?
 
you are the only one who can make up your mind.

leave the heat on, or turn it off,

if you leave it on, you should be good to go, just like you were living there

if you turn it off, winterise the house.

MY OPINION, if i was not going to be in the home, turn it off and blow it down. just for peace of mind

BUT, turning off the watre, when you do work on the house. no place to pee
 
I guess I am just confused... If the patio closet room were to get around 32F, what are the chances of it freezing the water in the turned off water heater? I am not familiar with how well they are insulated
 
if it gets below 32 degrees it will freeze the pipes. it would have to get below freezing for a prolonged period to freeze the tank
. but not the little plastic drain fitting on the bottom of the tank. thats what will bite you in da butt

i will not leave a tank full of water in a unheated space. i like to sleep at night.

i hate that when I sit up in bed a 2am and say OH ****!!!!!
 
Last edited:
With that said, assuming I don't have a convenient way to drain the water heater at the moment off the third story balcony to prevent the water from freezing, how long would it be okay to leave the water heater temp on the low setting with the water turned off to the house? If it is a closed system it should be fine to just reheat the water inside with no hot water use in the house? Or will the full tank slowly start to evaporate somehow?
 
Back
Top