Family returns from vacation to find home flooded, frozen

[stetwood]

A real simple lesson. Turn off your water at the source, whether a well or city water and open several faucets to allow ice expansion.Maybe add some pink stuff to toilet tanks and bowls. This may cost a few dollars but makes for cheap insurance. Have a relative or neighbor check house daily if possible.

[wnjj]

2oldman wrote:

wnjj wrote:
Read post #2 above. Leaving the heat on is no guarantee.

No, but the OP didn't mention anything about leaving the heat on.

Would YOU leave your home in winter with no heat on because it's "no guarantee"?

My comment was only a response to your “good insurance” and “leaving the heat on”. Leaving the heat on is a good idea, but it’s not really “insurance” because it’s not guaranteed to pay out (i.e. stay working).

The best insurance is having a human check on it.

Heating systems are not reliable, even more these days it seems. Our 5 year old heat pump system broke last winter and this one. Last winter it was a $7 part inside an otherwise $1000 blower motor. This year it was a $9 contactor. I fixed both myself.

[Grit_dog]

K Charles wrote:
With the water shut off the furnace auto feed won't work and it will quit running when it gets low on water. I will leave the heat on (and water) when we go away. There is a small brook in the basement when it rains hard so I am sure the water will find it's way out. If the heat is off to long the doors don't shut good, the drawers get stuck and the tables worp.

House sounds like a mess...lol.

[hotbyte]

Thanks F350/RR!

[All_I_could_aff]

I always shut off my water main when we gone even just for the weekend. Ball valve is right in the attached garage so I’m usually walking within a few feet of it anyway as I’m getting in the car or truck.
My hot water baseboard heat also has a water feed to it with an auto fill valve. However, it has a 5 gallon water/air expansion tank which keeps 2 or 3 gallons under 40 psi air pressure right at the boiler. I have a separate ball valve on the pipe leading to the boiler which I also shut, so no loss of water to boiler.
It Barely takes any water anyway. One winter I left the water feed off for over a month, and upon opening it, the auto fill valve opened for 2 seconds and then was full and off. Maybe a pint of water.

[F350_RR]

hotbyte wrote:

K Charles wrote:
With the water shut off the furnace auto feed won't work and it will quit running when it gets low on water. I will leave the heat on (and water) when we go away. There is a small brook in the basement when it rains hard so I am sure the water will find it's way out. If the heat is off to long the doors don't shut good, the drawers get stuck and the tables worp.

I'm in GA so don't understand what you mean by "furnace auto feed." Is that something related to steam/hot water heating system? Just curious...

He refers to a boiler as a furnace. A furnace heats air- not water. A properly designed and functioning hot water heating system has a connection to house water but does not need a constant feed of water. When it is not designed correctly or functioning properly it typically loses water when it heats and takes in new water when it cools.

A typical residential steam heat system uses water and requires a source of makeup water. A gas fired steam system can run for days on a battery.

[John___Angela]

We have five cameras two remote thermometers and 2 water on the floor detectors all through our townhouse. If there is any movement or sound it sends me a text and email within 3 seconds. All you need is an internet connection. We can see any camera live ad talk to anyone in the house via the system. 1000 bucks Peace of mind.

[jfkmk]

DownTheAvenue wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
However, for the last 4 years, we've had my son living with us, with his (now almost 5 year old) son. So, the house is occupied 24x7x365 now. (hoping someday he'll finally move out again!)

You have posted many times how you guys enjoy your RV year round even in the driveway. Now I know why!

You are good people to welcome a grandchild and child into your home to live. Family ties are strong with you and I salute you!

I was thinking the same thing, and I agree 100%! You never know what life is going to deal you, it's good to see strong family ties.

[Dutch_12078]

We turn the water pump off at our upstate NY cottage and flush the toilet a couple of times to reduce the pressure tank level. We use an Accu-rite Internet connected base unit with three remote temperature/humidity sensors that let us monitor the outside, inside, and freezer temps on our laptops and phones. We have automatic alerts set that text and/or email us if the temps go below or above our settings, and also let us know if the sensor batteries get low or the signal is lost for a period of time. The loss of signal could be either a power outage or an Internet outage, so we have an alternate means of determining if only the Internet is down. The system was $99 including the three sensors when we bought it a few years ago, and there are no ongoing charges for the monitoring service. Our two daughters live just a few miles away, and they check on the place at least weekly to make sure everything is ok. They also know who to call if something needs service of course.

[DownTheAvenue]

DutchmenSport wrote:
However, for the last 4 years, we've had my son living with us, with his (now almost 5 year old) son. So, the house is occupied 24x7x365 now. (hoping someday he'll finally move out again!)

You have posted many times how you guys enjoy your RV year round even in the driveway. Now I know why!

You are good people to welcome a grandchild and child into your home to live. Family ties are strong with you and I salute you!

[spoon059]

coolmom42 wrote:
I plan to be gone next winter for a while, but other people will occasionally be using water etc in my house. Need to give this some thought. The Nest thermostat is not a bad idea but it won't work if the power is out, which is the most likely thing to cause my water to freeze.

There are water sensors that alarm if they get wet.... Lots of people have them in their laundry rooms or near the water heater. Some of them will send you a text or even cut off the water if a leak is detected.

I saw such sensors on Inside This Old House recently. There are water sensors that are wirelessly connected to a shut off valve in your house. They detect water, they instantly shut off your main line. Pretty cool idea!

[tchil]

Lacrosse makes a great tool for this. https://www.lacrossetechnology.com/alerts/
Inexpensive. After the first year I think you pay $10 a year for the service but it will send you alerts for the temps you set cold and hot or if there has not been any data for a couple hours. I have a couple of these since we travel during the winter and also I use one to monitor my freezers to ensure I don't loose all my meat if one of them quits. The base for the unit needs an internet connection but the thermometer unit is wireless to the base. I think there in the $40 dollar range.

[3oaks]

wnjj wrote:

2oldman wrote:

stetwood wrote:
Maybe add some pink stuff to toilet tanks and bowls. This may cost a few dollars but makes for cheap insurance. Have a relative or neighbor check house daily if possible.

I don't want cheap insurance, I want good insurance. No mention of leaving the heat on??

Read post #2 above. Leaving the heat on is no guarantee.

Your right! It helps, but no guarantee.

Power outages during Winter storms can leave power out plenty long enough to allow pipes to freeze and or trip circuit breakers that need manual resetting when power returns.

[coolmom42]

I plan to be gone next winter for a while, but other people will occasionally be using water etc in my house. Need to give this some thought. The Nest thermostat is not a bad idea but it won't work if the power is out, which is the most likely thing to cause my water to freeze.

There are water sensors that alarm if they get wet.... Lots of people have them in their laundry rooms or near the water heater. Some of them will send you a text or even cut off the water if a leak is detected.

[coolmom42]

hotbyte wrote:

K Charles wrote:
With the water shut off the furnace auto feed won't work and it will quit running when it gets low on water. I will leave the heat on (and water) when we go away. There is a small brook in the basement when it rains hard so I am sure the water will find it's way out. If the heat is off to long the doors don't shut good, the drawers get stuck and the tables worp.

I'm in GA so don't understand what you mean by "furnace auto feed." Is that something related to steam/hot water heating system? Just curious...

Possibly a boiler? Or a humidifier?

[hotbyte]

K Charles wrote:
With the water shut off the furnace auto feed won't work and it will quit running when it gets low on water. I will leave the heat on (and water) when we go away. There is a small brook in the basement when it rains hard so I am sure the water will find it's way out. If the heat is off to long the doors don't shut good, the drawers get stuck and the tables worp.

I'm in GA so don't understand what you mean by "furnace auto feed." Is that something related to steam/hot water heating system? Just curious...