Shut off water at home???

[Rbertalotto]

When you leave home for a few days, do you turn off the main water valve at your house?

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

Sfla2 wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

yes you do leave for work but thats not 2 wk or more.

What difference does that make? Do you have any evidence that pipes break more when you're on vacation then when home?

You have a 18X more chance of it breaking at when you're not at home or asleep then when you're on vacation (at least I do). If a pipe breaks in your home for more than a 1/2 an hour you have big problems anyway.

So why not be consistent and turn it off when you go to work or you're way for more than a 1/2 an hour? :h

you seem to miss the point yes can happen any time but you will be home some time that day not 2 wk later

You're assuming that you will have more of a chance that a pipe will break while on vacation than away at work or asleep at home. This is not the case (at least time wise) because I have shown the math. In my case it's around 18 times more probable that it will happen when I'm NOT on vacation.

I'll ask you one more time, do you have any evidence that pipes break more when on vacation then when a work or asleep? If so, post it up so we all can see.

[JohnG3]

Have a water softener in the garage that is directly below where the water enters the house. The water to the yards bypasses the softener so I put a ball valve on that line. Shuts off everything in the house but leaves the automatic drip system to water the plants.

[Sfla2]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

yes you do leave for work but thats not 2 wk or more.

What difference does that make? Do you have any evidence that pipes break more when you're on vacation then when home?

You have a 18X more chance of it breaking at when you're not at home or asleep then when you're on vacation (at least I do). If a pipe breaks in your home for more than a 1/2 an hour you have big problems anyway.

So why not be consistent and turn it off when you go to work or you're way for more than a 1/2 an hour? :h

you seem to miss the point yes can happen any time but you will be home some time that day not 2 wk later

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

yes you do leave for work but thats not 2 wk or more.

What difference does that make? Do you have any evidence that pipes break more when you're on vacation then when home?

You have a 18X more chance of it breaking at when you're not at home or asleep then when you're on vacation (at least I do). If a pipe breaks in your home for more than a 1/2 an hour you have big problems anyway.

So why not be consistent and turn it off when you go to work or you're way for more than a 1/2 an hour? :h

[Sfla2]

yes for a 5 min job only takes 1 x not to , & blow washer ,dw. hwh, hose. yes you do leave for work but thats not 2 wk or more. just makes good sence

[RV-1_2n-FUN]

Water valve into house off, water heater electric switch off, shock pool and filter off, set temperature at 83F for warm weather or 64F when cold weather.

[tibbitts]

The only time I had water damage in the house was when I turned the water off at the house input valve. The valve hadn't been used in a while and leaked (it's just inside the house.)

Later I began turning off the water at the city connection, but it requires a large amount of torque (although the valve is new) and you have to consider the possibility of the valve breaking, particularly if it's outside of normal working hours.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

No, because the odds are with me.

I don't turn it off when I go to work (away 9 hours a day). I don't turn it off when I go to sleep. So I'm away from my house or asleep 17 hours a day.

So a line can break 6000 hours a year when I'm at work (or I am around but asleep). Or it can break 336 hours when I'm on vacation.

What's more likely to happen? 18 to 1 odds are pretty good.

Come on people, at least be consistent! If you're gone for more than 1/2 an hour a day, you should turn your water off if you turn it off for vacation of a week or two.

But then again there are people that play the slots and the lotto every day. :B

[riven1950]

Went to do an appraisal of a summer rental house some years back. Picked up the key from the Realtor. Opened the front door and heard water running. Water was level with the threshold ( about 2" deep in whole house ) and had been running a LONG time. Cut water off at meter. Returned the key. Cancelled appraisal. Learned my lesson. If gone for more than a weekend I cut off the water!!

[Rick_Jay]

Yes I shut it off. Easy to do, so why not?

~Rick

[ktmrfs]

when we built our house I had a 1/4 turn ball valve installed near the water heater to shut off the water to the house. when we are gone for more than a few days we:
1) shut off the water
2) turn the water heater down to pilot
3) turn heat/cooling to "away mode" keeps it above freezing if needed, no heat or AC otherwise
4) unplug the instahot

On the way home I can remotely turn the heat/ac on so the house is at the temp we want when we get home.




Having had a ice maker hose leak and a toilet tank rupture while we were in the house, I have no desire to come home to water running for those for several weeks.

And have known enough friends/neighbors that have had water leaks while gone, I figured if I made it easy enough we could avoid any problems.

[C_Schomer]

I've seen unbelieveable water damage done when people were only gone a week so I turn mine off even for a weekend. Craig

[fj12ryder]

Rbertalotto wrote:
Kinda like seatbelt logic...."won't happen to me"...??

More like travel on the road: "I won't get run into and killed today." It can happen, and it's a lot more likely than your house blowing a water line, but you go out on the highway anyway. It's all in the odds, doncha know. 🙂

I've never said it was a bad idea, the OP asked if you turned off your water or not. I probably would do it if I actually thought about it. I don't, and I don't.

[Houston_Remodel]

For short trips we do nothing, for longer trips we turn off the water, turn down the gas for the HWH, unplug the garage door opener, turn off the electric breakers we don't need, turn off the HVAC, and close all the doors inside the house (fire). The whole procedure takes less than 10 minutes since the systems were designed that way.

[tvman44]

Always now, had a broken pipe in the yard and a extra $150.00 on my water bill, thank God it was outside and not inside. 🙂