winterize sticks and bricks?

Turn off the water. Always, turn off the water at the main. Bleed out the sinks, turn off the toilets. Put antifreeze in them if you want.

Unexpectedly out of town for five months, turned off of the water. Turned the water back on, pipe had a leak. Would have ruined the house if I hadn't turned off the water. Cheap, cheap insurance.

OH YEAH!!! When in Michigan
We shut the water off and everything down and use air pressure to blow out all the pipes, put windshield washer solvent or rv antifreeze in all the traps, I also pump rv anti freeze into the ice maker, washing machine and dishwasher because of the electric solenoid valves. I have had residual water break the ice maker.

When I did leave the heat on and had phone service I had a freeze protector system that dialed my phone with a freeze warning. It activated a couple times because of power outages so I waited a few hours and it would call again and say the freeze alarm was now ok. I think it was made by Honeywell.

If you get hard freezes I wouldn't chance it. If the furnace quits and no one knows about it you will break pipes. Of course the water main should be off but if the pipes are not blown out they can burst.

SO....ALSO, if you do leave the heat on shut off the water main supply valve. When you return and turn the water main back on run a faucet or several of the faucets BEFORE you use the ice maker, dishwasher, washing machine or any device with electric solenoid valves.

I would shut off the water main when leaving for longer vacations in the summer and one time came home and started using the washing machine. I figured it had a small piece of crud dislodged when operating the main valve and it lodged in the solenoid fill valve and started flooding the kitchen. Good thing we didn't turn it on and go do something else.

Get a Freeze Alarm. I just got the one sold by a company out of Chanhassen MN via amazon ($125). It dials 3 numbers with alarm. If it goes off, I can have a neighbor check on the place and call my heating guy if necessary.

We turn the water off at the main, turn off gas water heater (don't drain) - that's it. Fairly simple. We have a water softener and have to remember to unplug it.

We turn off the water & some power, blow out the lines, drain the water heater and put RV antifreeze in all traps, including the dishwasher, washing machine and toilets. We set the hybrid heat system we have to 45° and that's it. This locale will see temps in the -20° range for a few days in the winter with 0° common.

We turn the water off and leave the heat (electric) low; I also shut off the hot water heater. Another thing we started doing was turing off the 220v breaker for the kitchen glass top stove.

I also use timers for lights throughout the house and our daughter comes over to check if we've had a power failure.

We're in snow country so we have a snow removal service and our neighbor park's one or their cars in our driveway most of the winter.

We have the city turn our water off, that way, we don't get a bill. We set the heat lower. We leave the dishwasher door ajar, but clean it before we leave. Also leave the fridge plugged in and running.
Set some lights on timers.

rjxj wrote:
OH YEAH!!! When in Michigan
We shut the water off and everything down and use air pressure to blow out all the pipes, put windshield washer solvent or rv antifreeze in all the traps, I also pump rv anti freeze into the ice maker, washing machine and dishwasher because of the electric solenoid valves. I have had residual water break the ice maker.

When I did leave the heat on and had phone service I had a freeze protector system that dialed my phone with a freeze warning. It activated a couple times because of power outages so I waited a few hours and it would call again and say the freeze alarm was now ok. I think it was made by Honeywell.

If you get hard freezes I wouldn't chance it. If the furnace quits and no one knows about it you will break pipes. Of course the water main should be off but if the pipes are not blown out they can burst.

SO....ALSO, if you do leave the heat on shut off the water main supply valve. When you return and turn the water main back on run a faucet or several of the faucets BEFORE you use the ice maker, dishwasher, washing machine or any device with electric solenoid valves.

I would shut off the water main when leaving for longer vacations in the summer and one time came home and started using the washing machine. I figured it had a small piece of crud dislodged when operating the main valve and it lodged in the solenoid fill valve and started flooding the kitchen. Good thing we didn't turn it on and go do something else.

RV anti-freeze is not toxic, while surprisingly windshield washing fluid is toxic, and spread all over your car, then drops on the ground where dogs and cats and fish get to it. I would use the non-toxic stuff, Wal Mart and your local RV store have plenty of it. Put about 3 ounces in each drain trap once you have already run all the water out of the lines. A air compressor is effective in blowing out the water lines. I suppose that winterizing the house will allow you to not run the furnace all winter, saving 500 gallons of propane? Great idea. It will save a bunch of money, and no need to worry about the power going out and lines freezing when that happens.

Fred.

I shut everything off: heat, water, gas, & some electr. I drain all pipes & water sys and fill with RV antifreeze. I leave the cable modem and a couple security cameras turned on, which I can view online from anywhere I travel.
This area gets down to -20 F and measures winter snow by the foot. 50% of my neighbors are also summer only and they all shut everything off and winterize the water sys. no ill effects from leaving the homes unheated, as long as its properly winterized

We live in an area that is 50% summer homes so winterizing is common here. The local plumbing company handles everything for $200 and open The house when we call for another $150. They fix anything if there is a problem but so far so good. They put antifreeze in the forced hot water system the first year so it was a bit more then, now they just check it and add some if needed. Beats doing it yourself, just call after we leave and watch them come in the security cameras:)

Agree with the others that turning completely off and draining the water system is first and foremost. I also have a Honeywell thermostat (about $150) that can be accessed over the internet that can be turned on or off, temperature set remotely and emails sent if high or low user defined temperature thresholds are exceeded. I set the thermostat at 56 in the winter and off in the summer and the email thresholds at 55 and 85 respectively. Best thing is being able to turn it on before coming home to walk into a warm house in the winter and a cool one in the summer. Also have 4 D-Link internet cameras that I can remotely access to check the exterior and interior that can also be set to email if motion is detected.