Hi,
My property will be empty for several weeks this winter and I want to take precautions to prevent possible freezing water pipes.
I have an electric central heating system (so no heating pipes to worry about!) which I could leave running if necessary on a low setting in rooms containing water pipes but I would prefer to save energy and find an alternative method. Here are my questions:
1. Could I be sure of no problems with frozen/burst water if I just turn off the mains water at the main supply tap inside my house and 'drain' the sink/shower/bath taps and MAIN gas multipoint boiler (just a hot water boiler, not a combination) before I go away?
2. When I tried this draining operation earlier, turning main water supply tap off first then each domestic hot and cold water tap in turn, the only place I found any water to drain was from the multipoint boiler (a MAIN gas water boiler, not a combination boiler). As no water came out of normal taps, is draining in this way (once main supply is off) a waste of time?
3. If I should drain individual hot and cold water taps should I leave these taps (at sinks/shower/bath) OPEN when I go away, or should I CLOSE them (main supply tap off of course!) and what's the logic behind this decision?
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Ray
My property will be empty for several weeks this winter and I want to take precautions to prevent possible freezing water pipes.
I have an electric central heating system (so no heating pipes to worry about!) which I could leave running if necessary on a low setting in rooms containing water pipes but I would prefer to save energy and find an alternative method. Here are my questions:
1. Could I be sure of no problems with frozen/burst water if I just turn off the mains water at the main supply tap inside my house and 'drain' the sink/shower/bath taps and MAIN gas multipoint boiler (just a hot water boiler, not a combination) before I go away?
2. When I tried this draining operation earlier, turning main water supply tap off first then each domestic hot and cold water tap in turn, the only place I found any water to drain was from the multipoint boiler (a MAIN gas water boiler, not a combination boiler). As no water came out of normal taps, is draining in this way (once main supply is off) a waste of time?
3. If I should drain individual hot and cold water taps should I leave these taps (at sinks/shower/bath) OPEN when I go away, or should I CLOSE them (main supply tap off of course!) and what's the logic behind this decision?
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Ray