I plan to shut off the main water supply to my 2 story house before leaving for a week on vacation. I have an AO Smith gas 'powervent' water heater in the garage that I would like to set to 70*F rather than turning it off. Since there are no issues with freezing pipes here in the SF Bay Area, I wasn't planning to drain the water lines within the house. Would the cold water feed on top of the water heater need to be turned off also?
Asked
Active
Viewed 2.6k times
1 Answers
1
I would turn the water heater to pilot if you turn the water off, pilot will keep a small amount of heat there and unless it gets crazy cold would help prevent freezing. I grew up in that area and rarely will it get cold enough to freeze pipes inside the house even if you turn the heat way down,
I never recommend turning the furnace totally off as that can cause cracking of joints if Sheetrocked.
If you turn the water off the water heater should be on pilot or turned off. I have replaced a few water heaters over the years that were damaged from cycling with no water.
Ed Beal
- 103,727
- 4
- 79
- 158