House Empty During Winter - What to Do

[Groover75]

Hi, I need to leave my Victorian house empty for three months during winter.

The insurance company requires that I keep the temp at a min of 15C, OK so I need to leave the conventional boiler on.

I will insulate the boiler condensate pipe and the pipe to the single outside tap. Never had any problems with them, but cheap and easy to do.

I will turn off the water at the stopcock and also where it goes into the hot water tank, then open all hot and cold taps to relieve pressure.

I will have a person check the house once a week.

Anything else should I do regarding the plumbing and heating?

Thanks!

 

[SFK]

I tend to put a dash of bleach into toilet bowls and sink u-bends to stop water staining and smelling.
Tell person who is checking house to not use toilet (otherwise they then turn on water and may forget to turn off).
Make sure none of the radiators are turned off as you want them all to give off a little heat.

 

[ianmcd]

If you have broadband and a smart phone, smart controls like Hive and nest among others will show you what temperature your house is at from anywhere, so if the boiler was to fail you could call whoever is inspecting it weekly and ask them to go round and see what has happened

 

[ScottishGasMan]

Is your boiler pressurised or fed from a feed and expansion tank in the loft? If its fed from the tank and you turn the stopcock off, there is a chance that the tank can run dry and cause issues with the boiler and pump.

If you can isolate the Cold storage tank feeding the cylinder, and most outside taps "should" have an isolation point inside the property. That way the water can still feed to the boilers feed and expansion tank.

If the boiler is pressurised then whoever visits only needs to look at pressure gauge and reinstate mains supply to top up as necessary

 

[gas112]

would they not accept everything being completely drained ?

 

[durhamplumber]

would they not accept everything being completely drained ?

That would be my advice

 

[Hot&Cold]

would they not accept everything being completely drained ?

having dealt with many empty properties,i have never come across an insurance policy that would not include the system being professionally drained out and correctly isolated. the plumber doing the seasonal drain out needs to leave written paperwork and have sufficient public liability insurance.

Groover75,or you could leave the heating on at a suitable temperature and periodically visit the property to ensure the boiler is still working.its your call

 

[ericmark]

Been looking at moving house, nearly every empty house has had a large sign water drained down, so that does seem the norm. I have two electronic TRV heads in my house, so I can monitor temperature of two rooms, which should give one a good warning if boiler fails, I think you can set IFTTT to send a report if temperature drops below set level?