Unvented Cylinder - Turn off water going on holiday?

[BenHutton]

Hello!

I'm going on holiday tomorrow. We have a sealed pressurized CH system with a Vaillant ecotech plus boiler. We then have an RM Unvented Cylinder. Had a leak recently in our bathroom pipes so now terrified of leaks whilst we're away. So if I want to turn the water off before we go away what do I do? Stopcock and turn off the hot water on my programmer/timer? The set the CH to frost setting? Do I need to drain/leave any taps on?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Gasguru]

Turn stopcock off and don't drain anything but I'd leave room stat just turned down to say 15 degrees.

 

[BenHutton]

Perfect. I presume turn off the hot water on my Salus app thing?

 

[JohnD]

no real need

the insulation on a modern cylinder is so good that the cost of wasted heat is negligible.

There aren't any pipes or tanks in your loft, garage or other unheated parts of the house, are there?

leaving the CH set to 15C or thereabouts will prevent it getting cold enough to freeze indoors, and will also keep it dry. Cost will be very low because the outside temperature is likely to be only a few days cooler. Throw in some solar gain from the windows on sunny days and the cost will be even less.

 

[BenHutton]

But if I've turned off the stopcock could I not damage the tank if it has no water to call on? Had a leak when getting a new bathroom a while back hence now terrified of leaks so want the peace of mind of only a finite amount of water being able to get out!

 

[muggles]

No, you won't damage it

 

[BenHutton]

So basically the boiler will just keep the tank of water warm whilst we’re away? The mains supply being off won’t make any difference cos it has that water in the tank to heat? What are the negs of just turning the hot water off and presumably leaving a tank of cold water there the next two weeks. Weather looking mild now.

 

[hard-work]

Turn the stop cock off and open a tap to get rid of the water pressure.