Shut off water at home???
When you leave home for a few days, do you turn off the main water valve at your house?
Forum Discussion
I had a basement leak, but it wasn't from a broken pipe and the cause may be a surprise to some. The diaphragm in the expansion tank on the heating system ruptured. This removed the normal pressure control from the hot water heating pipes and resulted in the water in the pipes expanding and contracting. The expansion popped the P/T valve which drains onto the basement floor. This happened while I was home, in the morning. I heard a strange gurgling from the heating pipes and went down to investigate. The water could not have been running for more than 20 minutes, and I had an inch of standing water in the basement.
So, yes, I shut off the water when I go camping.
So, we're headed south for the winter this year for the first time, and I'm thinking about this happening while I'm away. I'll be shutting off the water and leaving the heat set to 50°. If the P/T valve on the boiler opens and relieves the pressure, there will be no makeup water available. Hopefully the boiler will shut down on under pressure or over temp, but now I have no heat. I think I'll drain the water system as well.
I expect I'll have the local handyman pop in weekly to check things out just so I'm not obsessing about this stuff while I'm sitting on a beach in January.
Other options would be to shut off the heat and just let the chips fall on the pipes freezing. I'd have to fill the heating system with anit-freeze if I do this.
Another option is a monitoring system of some sort, either with a service or a text message to my cell, but this would require that I leave the WiFi and cable connected, and I normally unplug those while we're away.
Guess I'll head over to the snowbirds forum and see what everyone else does.
So, yes, I shut off the water when I go camping.
So, we're headed south for the winter this year for the first time, and I'm thinking about this happening while I'm away. I'll be shutting off the water and leaving the heat set to 50°. If the P/T valve on the boiler opens and relieves the pressure, there will be no makeup water available. Hopefully the boiler will shut down on under pressure or over temp, but now I have no heat. I think I'll drain the water system as well.
I expect I'll have the local handyman pop in weekly to check things out just so I'm not obsessing about this stuff while I'm sitting on a beach in January.
Other options would be to shut off the heat and just let the chips fall on the pipes freezing. I'd have to fill the heating system with anit-freeze if I do this.
Another option is a monitoring system of some sort, either with a service or a text message to my cell, but this would require that I leave the WiFi and cable connected, and I normally unplug those while we're away.
Guess I'll head over to the snowbirds forum and see what everyone else does.
