Turning your heat off at home while in Florida
I would like to know if its a good idea to turn your heat off and drain the water pipes while in Florida.Will this hurt the foundation and cause problems. Thanks
Forum Discussion
For those of you that leave the heat on and shut off the water - a warning.
If you have hot water heat, you need to provide makeup water to the boiler. If not, the system pressure will bleed down in a few months and your circ pump will suffer. I know some weekend plumber will jump in here and say that if you don't have leaks the pressure won't drop, but the steam plant engineer in me knows better.
Most people tap into the water supply before the whole house cutoff for the boiler. If you do this, make sure the outlet of the pressure/temp valve goes to a sump with a pump. I had an expansion tank go which made the PT valve lift whenever the heat turned on (I was home and noticed the problem immediately) and it put an inch or water in the basement in a few minutes. If that ran all winter it would have been a major mess.
If you have hot water heat, you need to provide makeup water to the boiler. If not, the system pressure will bleed down in a few months and your circ pump will suffer. I know some weekend plumber will jump in here and say that if you don't have leaks the pressure won't drop, but the steam plant engineer in me knows better.
Most people tap into the water supply before the whole house cutoff for the boiler. If you do this, make sure the outlet of the pressure/temp valve goes to a sump with a pump. I had an expansion tank go which made the PT valve lift whenever the heat turned on (I was home and noticed the problem immediately) and it put an inch or water in the basement in a few minutes. If that ran all winter it would have been a major mess.
