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?

[DutchmenSport]

jplante4 wrote:
... diaphragm in the expansion tank on the heating system ruptured. ... pressure control from the hot water heating pipes and resulted in the water in the pipes expanding and contracting...

So, we're headed south for the winter...

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I do have a comment here.

jplante4:
I've had to live with the hot water system in my mother's house for 60 years now! I absolutely hate that system. But... here's something you need to consider.... that makes these systems horrid! You CANNOT turn the main source of water off when you have a hot water pipe system.

The pipes have small air valves that allows water and vapor to escape the system. Although small, it's designed to do that. When the pressure in the pipes reaches a designated "low", a valve turns on and allows water (from your water source) to fill the heating pipes again. If the water is not supplied, you will have air gaps in the heating pipes, and once there is an air-gap, the water will not circulate throughout the house.

You MUST keep the water turned on so there is a constant feed of new water into the heating pipes when this evaporation and then contraction occurs.

Yes, the bladder is designed to help regulate the pressure, but there must still be a constant availability for water to enter the system. Turn the water off at the main source and you'll have a furnace guy out bleeding all those furnace water lines... which isn't a fun job to do either!

Just an FYI and something to think about.

[mowermech]

We also are on a well.
No, I don't shut anything off when we will be gone for a few days or even a couple of weeks.
My parents didn't either.
In my 70+ years of life, I have never had an incident or occurrence, nor have I ever known anyone who did.

[GordonThree]

Anmacc2 wrote:
I live in South Florida so cold temps are never an issue, but I have never shut the water main. I also don't shut my washing machine valve or turn off my hot water heater. I don't unplug my appliances or electronics. I don't even shut off my ice maker. I don't do any of those things when I go to work or go out for the day and that's five or six days a week, every week. Now when I go away for a month.... Who am I kidding I don't do it then either. Life's too short to worry about anything and everything that might possibly go wrong. I have a friend who has made up check lists of things to do to prep his RV and close up his house when he leaves and things to do when he gets home... Not sure why. He never actually goes anywhere because it's too much work and too time consuming to do everything on his check lists.... Just my way. I'm sure others will disagree.

x2 ... I find the more planning I do for an outing, the more work it creates.

when I went to Alaska for 1.5 months, I turned off the electric hot water at home, that's about it.

[jplante4]

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.

[DutchmenSport]

Well, considering my son returned home with his son and are now living with us, it doesn't make much sense to turn the water off when we go camping as he is home when we are gone.

But, if the house is going to be empty for more than a couple days, yes I flip the breaker on the water pump (we are on a well). I also flip the breakers on our 2 water heaters in the house. I don't worry about relieving the pressure from the water lines, I just let it go.

When returning, there is still pressure (which tells me there is no water leading in the toilets), and even after being gone 5 days, there is still warmth in the water heaters.

It only takes 5 seconds to reach in the breaker box (which is located in our master bed room, behind a hinged door) and flip the 3 breakers. If there is ever a break in the water lines, the most that will leak will be the water under pressure and nothing more.

Leaky toilets will cost you a fortune in water (well or city), and they can be really fickle sometimes. They can be leaking and you're not even aware of it. So... yes ... water off when we are gone.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

I don't shut off the well pump for a few-days' absence; but I probably should. Last winter, we let the sink drip while we were in FL - because my pressure tank is in an exterior "dog house" and the occasionally-refilled tank provides the warmth to prevent freezing. I think this year, we'll just have the house winterized.

[Kit_Carson]

Was in Las Vegas for about 10 days and returned home to a flooded house. Ever since then I turn off the water, turn the breaker off for the water heater. I do not want to come home to that mess again. Only takes seconds to turn valve off.

[MinnCamper]

Been doing that for 20 some years. Great insurance.

[Jack_Diane_Free]

Yes I do. Takes 5 seconds to turn the handle on the main feed.

[IND_navyvet]

We are also on a well and if we are gone over night or longer, power off to pump and water heater power off.

[DSDP_Don]

We learned a lesson on our most recent trip. I have a ball valve that shuts off the water to the house, but the main line for the sprinkler system is connected before the house shut off. California has been bone dry, but while we were gone for two weeks we got two days of abnormally heavy rain. During the rain, the main line to my sprinklers broke and the water just ran....1" line. The neighbors didn't notice right away because of the heavy rain.

Yesterday, I went out and bought a 1" electric water valve that I will install in the sprinkler line. I didn't realize it, but most sprinkler boxes are wired for a master valve. This means that the new valve that I will be installing will keep the main line to the sprinklers closed until the sprinklers come on. When they turn on the valve opens. At least, if I break another line, it will only run when the sprinklers run vs 24/7.

[Dave_H_M]

sch911 wrote:
We don't turn the water off. We have a sump pump system with a water powered backup. I do turn off the water heater, and the hot water valve.

We have a basement and a backup water powered sump pump also. The water supply comes in thru the basement wall. I arranged the plumbing so that I have a ball valve to shut off everything but the back up sump pump. The T off to the backup sump pump also has a ball valve in it for shut off if necessary. So when I leave I turn off the whole house minus the back up pump and then also shut off the two water heaters and the ice maker.

Also have a zone on the security system thsat has a sensor in the sump. Sequence goes like this:

Main pump goes south or power goes out

Water rises up and triggers the alarm

Water rises higher and causes the back up to take over

[C-Bears]

We used to leave the water on up north while gone all winter. Didn't see the need because kids were checking house every week for us. However, during one of the "checks" one of them used a toilet and it kept running. We ended up with a $400 plus water bill that next month!

[NRALIFR]

Yes, I do. I also installed a Water Cop leak detection system on my home several years ago that will shut off the water automatically if a leak is detected.

The system includes a wall panel so the whole house can be turned off manually just by pressing a button. The individual, wireless leak detectors are located where water leaks are most likely to occur: water heaters, toilets, washing machines, ice maker, dishwasher, etc.

It's turned the water off several times since I installed it, and saved us from having expensive water damage repairs. The most recent event was when one of our water heaters started leaking just as we were going to bed one night. The WH is not close to our bedroom, but I heard the faint beeping of the sensor and wondered "what is that???". I eventually figured it out when I tried to turn a faucet on. Aha! The water is off.

Needless to say, I really like that system.

:):)

[Dutch_12078]

For just a few days away, we don't shut anything off, but when we leave our cottage for months at a time, we have a short routine that includes turning off the well pump and two water heaters at the breaker panel, along with turning down the heat in cold weather. Including checking that windows and doors are locked, the whole process only takes about 5 minutes.