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I’m trying to rationally shut down a vacation house situated at 4500 feet that is often unoccupied for a month or so in the winter. The water is turned off where it emerges from the ground, and the water in the pipes is drained. The electric water heater is turned off, but as water is still left in the water heater the house electric heat is left running at 50oF. This seems very wasteful to me. Does anyone know of an after-market water heater thermostat that can be switched to 50oF or should we drain the hot water heater? I can’t think of any reason not to let an unoccupied house get very cold other than the risk of water freezing in pipes.
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Many factors in the equation but, frost can get under footings and heave an unheated house. Yes that would be a bad thing.
joe d
*if i were shutting down a camp at that location for a month. i wouldn't take the risk of freezing....i wud drain everything.. in addition i wud build an insulated box over the water svc entrance and install a small elec. heat source to try to keep the frost out ..unless there is another shut-off further upstream that u can access at all times..if so.. nah.. u stil don't have any way of blowing out that line..the problem with setting a thermostat at 50 is that it doesn't leave enuf reaction time if the power goes off..a couple of frozen pipes will make any precautions well worthwhile..
*It has to get really cold to freeze up a hot water heater. The problem is that water can siphon out of the tank and into the lines where it will freeze. Also, there is always water in the pipes above the heater. The fix is easy. Replace the plastic drain valve in your heater with a brass 3/4" nipple, full flow ball valve, and hose adaptor. You can also get a cap that screws on the adaptor to preven accidents if the lever on the valve is bumped. With this rig in place you can drain the heater through a hose in a couple of minutes. Don't forget to turn off the electricity to the heater before you drain. When you open the cabin make sure the tank is completely full before you turn the juice back on. I have a cabin in the Ozarks and this is how I do it.
*I guess i wasn't reading carefully, 1 month is not enough time to heave a house that is not subject to arctic conditions. A full winter is another story.joe d
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I'm trying to rationally shut down a vacation house situated at 4500 feet that is often unoccupied for a month or so in the winter. The water is turned off where it emerges from the ground, and the water in the pipes is drained. The electric water heater is turned off, but as water is still left in the water heater the house electric heat is left running at 50oF. This seems very wasteful to me. Does anyone know of an after-market water heater thermostat that can be switched to 50oF or should we drain the hot water heater? I can't think of any reason not to let an unoccupied house get very cold other than the risk of water freezing in pipes.