Should I turn water off in empty house?

amateur_house

I've just bought a house and am not moving in straight away as I want to get some work done on it first. Is it a good idea to turn the water supply off at the stopcock while it is empty? It will only be for a few weeks, but with a cold snap forecast next week I'm worried about burst pipes.

If I do turn it off, will this cause a problem for the boiler? It is a Baxi bermuda back boiler with a water tank, not a combi boiler.

J_B

Why would you not turn the water off?

If you're worried about the boiler, turn that off too and drain it down.

G_M

Just turning the stopcock off won't stop the pipes freezing and bursting (though will prevent complete flooding wheen the thaw comes).

You'd also have to drain the system to remove all the water.

What does your insurance say?

Biggles

Definitely turn the water off at the mains and, as long as you have the heating set to come on below, say 12C, you'll be OK from freezing pipes.

As regards insurance, though, that's a different matter. You'll probably find it's uninsured if you leave it empty for over 31 days; it would be worth discussing the situation with your insurer.

DaftyDuck

Biggles wrote: »

Definitely turn the water off at the mains and, as long as you have the heating set to come on below, say 12C, you'll be OK from freezing pipes.

As regards insurance, though, that's a different matter. You'll probably find it's uninsured if you leave it empty for over 31 days; it would be worth discussing the situation with your insurer.

With a combi, this would be sound advice. With a back boiler and tank it could lead to extreme damage.

Drain the system if you turn the mains off.

trailingspouse

I wouldn't do either. Leave the heating on low.

If you've got people in doing work, they'll need the water to be on, whether it's for mixing plaster or flushing the loo.

If it's going to be empty for longer than your insurance allows, take a mattress and sleep on the floor now and again.