Heating empty property

Haz29

So my property has been empty 30 days atleast and will be empty much longer and i was wondering what do i do with the heating etc leave it on 12? Will it incur a lot of costs too?

Or should i put on timer couple hours a day?
Thanks

DCFC79

Haz29 wrote: »

So my property has been empty 30 days atleast and will be empty much longer and i was wondering what do i do with the heating etc leave it on 12? Will it incur a lot of costs too?

Or should i put on timer couple hours a day?
Thanks

Mumsnet says an hour early morning then a couple in the evening.
What about the insurers, are they aware its empty ?

Mr.Generous

Drain down and turn water off, much cheaper.

G_M

Check what your insurer requires.

If it is 'unoccupied' for more than 30 (45, 60 ?) days

* the insurance might be invalid
* the insurer might insist you drain all the systems down
* they might insist you keep it at or above 5 degrees
* or something else.

It's also likely you'll have no cover against theft - is it furnished? Any valuables?

If insurance is not the issue, just your own concern, then I'd recmmend you keep it at or above 5 degrees. The best way is a thermostat you can set at that level permenantly.

Next best is as suggested, to warm the house up 2ce a day - it will take 12 hors or so to cool right down again.

Haz29

Mr generous do you mean drain water as in tap etc?
Not the radiators

Haz29

G_M my insurance is still covered for few days i will notify them, but most likely will need to switch to unoccupied property home insurance.as they will tell me they wont cover the property any more

When you say drain all systems you mean just the water, not the radiator? As it will be required to keep property heated

davidmcn

Haz29 wrote: »

When you say drain all systems you mean just the water, not the radiator? As it will be required to keep property heated

If you drain everything then you won't need to keep the property heated.

G_M

Haz29 wrote: »

Mr generous do you mean drain water as in tap etc?
Not the radiators

no.

Drain down all the radiators & heating system. That way there's no water in the pipes to freeze and crack the pipes.

You then don't need the heating.

If you ever see a repossessed property for sale, you'll find they've done that.

SpanishBlue

I have viewed several properties that were empty and did not have the heating on.

They all felt damp with a horrible musky smell.

I would leave the heating to come on low for an hour or two a day outside the summer months.

agrinnall

Be warned that it's not necessarily as easy to fully drain a central heating system as you might think. I attempted it before going travelling for 4 winter months one year, but when I returned a radiator had burst, fortunately in an annexe rather than the main house so the damage was limited. My electric shower's internals had also burst so I had to buy a replacement (this was in rural Scotland so much lower temperatures than in many parts of the UK).

Margot123

Do whatever your insurance company insists on, making sure they are fully aware of how long the property will be unoccupied for.

Ours insisted on keeping the heating on at 15 degrees at least. We found this was not enough for the out-of-reach spaces (using a thermometer), so kept it at 20 to be on the safe side. Not cheap but kept the house smelling fresh and cosy for potential buyers.