Going away on holiday, what to do about my boiler?

GingerTim

Hello all, I'm just looking for a wee bit of advice, and apologies if this is a bit of a novice-type question.

We're going away for a couple of weeks over Christmas, and given that it promises to be extremely cold, I'm wondering what to do with my combi-boiler. Last thing I want is to return to frozen pipes!

Should I:

a) turn off the water and the power to the boiler?
b) put the boiler on a programme to come at certain times just to keep it ticking over (and if so, what sort of programme)?
c) something else?

Thanks in advance!

lynni_2

I would defo keep the heating on, either keep it on constantly low or for a good few hours a day - to prevent frozen/burst pipes

ariba10

When we used to go away in the winter, we would set the CH to come on for a couple of hrs at the coldest time of the day.

Arround about 2.00am

Mojisola

It depends what the outside temperature is while you're away. Leaving the heat on for a short time every day might not prevent frozen pipes if it's extremely cold outside all the time.

We can set a minimum temperature on our control and, if the heat in the house falls below that, the boiler will switch on.

Gene_Hunt_2

Going away on holiday, what to do about my boiler?

Unless you can get away with it, you're going to have to take her with you.

27col

Much easier to let it come on to a low set thermostat for a few hours a day than to muck about trying to drain it all down. Someone I knew left their heating off while they were away for a fortnight. A burst pipe caused £15,000 of damage and they had to find somewhere else to live for 6 or 7 weeks while it was all fixed.

globetraveller

someone I knew came back after Christmas away to open the door to a flood of water. The damage was so bad that they ended up with just the outer walls. Months out of their house and lots of irreplacable things gone.
Keep it on low and turn your radiators down low as well. How low have your temperatures been during this freeze?

bengalknights

Does your thermostat have a holiday setting on it? If not set the heating to come on 4 times a day for 30 minutes to keep the pipes flowing with warm water.

dizziblonde

globetraveller wrote: »

someone I knew came back after Christmas away to open the door to a flood of water. The damage was so bad that they ended up with just the outer walls. Months out of their house and lots of irreplacable things gone.
Keep it on low and turn your radiators down low as well. How low have your temperatures been during this freeze?

Yep happened to my in-laws last winter. Went away, got a phonecall from the neighbour who'd noticed the mess - ceilings brought down in three rooms, house flooded badly... think the repairs came to something like 35k at the end of it all, house back to just the shell and they didn't get back into the place until I think it was either June or July (was when the World Cup final was on I know that part because we were on move helping duty).

Our house we're moving out of is unoccupied at the moment - we're still taking the financial hit and leaving the heating on the normal timer settings for fear of it happening to us... might actually take the tip about changing the timer around to keep it on during the really cold overnight period to be honest.

GingerTim

Dear all,

Thanks very much for your advice, which has confirmed my suspicion that the best thing to do is to set a programme on a low setting - particularly as it's been getting down to about -7 here. Sadly, my boiler doesn't have a holiday setting, but this should do the trick.

Thanks again!

Oh, and GeneHunt - arf!

jennifernil

It sounds like you do not have a frost stat fitted, it would be a good idea to get one. They only cost about £15. In the absence of a frost stat i would leave the heating on at minimum setting.

To protect your property from water damage it would also be sensible to turn off the mains water stopcock and drain down the water in the pipes by opening all your taps.. As you have a combi boiler, there is not so much to drain. The water in your taps is totally separate from the water in your heating system, so draining down will not affect the boiler at all.

Turning off the water when going away on holiday at any time of year is a sensible precaution. Water can leak for reasons other than burst pipes.