Turning water off when going on holiday?

TUVOK

I would like to turn my water off at the stop !!!!!! before going on holiday, I believe that it is required re house insurance and for my own peace of mind.
My query is re my central heating, I have a central heating boiler which is pre combi, it was installed in 1995.
Am I correct in thinking that if I turn the water off that the boiler can still run as it is linked to a separate water supply from the tank in the loft, and that the domestic water is on a different supply from the tank? I hope that I've made that clear enough to understand?
The heating will not come on as the room thermostat will be set at 10 degrees and it won't hopefully drop that cold.
Should I stop the domestic hot water being heated via a timer control or just let it fire as usual for 2 one hour periods a day?

Thanks for any/all replies

knightstyle

Turn the hot water off, this will save you money and will be OK with turning the stopc++k off.
We used to do this when going away for several months a year.  We turned the thermostat down to 5c and had a neighbour come in every few weeks to check the house and that the electric had not tripped.
As it was for a long time we also emptied the fridge freezer and left it's door open.

victor2

You can turn the hot water off anyway to save money, unless your boiler is an older style gravity system where the hot water is on whenever the heating is on.
I'm no heating engineer and will defer to the experts, but I would think leaving the heating system on very low, just in case there's a frost, will be fine even with the main water stop co?k turned off, as you have a small header tank anyway.
I've never had home insurance that required the water to be turned off, but regularly have policies that indicate the house will not be empty for more than 30 consecutive days at a time.

Section62

TUVOK said:

The heating will not come on as the room thermostat will be set at 10 degrees and it won't hopefully drop that cold.
Should I stop the domestic hot water being heated via a timer control or just let it fire as usual for 2 one hour periods a day?

How long are you going away for?

If it is a longer period of time, say a month, then there could be an advantage to leaving the HW to come on for a few minutes (ideally in the colder hours of the night) just to keep the pump running freely.  One of the potential faults with CH systems is the circulation pump sticking due to non-use.  If that were to happen when you were relying solely on the frost stat/low setting to run the system if it gets very cold then there would be very little benefit from the heating, and a risk of damage to the pump.

Some systems have a setting which runs the pump occasionally to prevent it seizing - but an alternative if that option isn't available is to just run the HW for a brief time.

bob_a_builder

Un-occupied insurance companies clauses (well the one I used)  specified that  in winter the heating must be left on 24h @ 12deg

TUVOK

Section62 said:

TUVOK said:

The heating will not come on as the room thermostat will be set at 10 degrees and it won't hopefully drop that cold.
Should I stop the domestic hot water being heated via a timer control or just let it fire as usual for 2 one hour periods a day?

How long are you going away for?

If it is a longer period of time, say a month, then there could be an advantage to leaving the HW to come on for a few minutes (ideally in the colder hours of the night) just to keep the pump running freely.  One of the potential faults with CH systems is the circulation pump sticking due to non-use.  If that were to happen when you were relying solely on the frost stat/low setting to run the system if it gets very cold then there would be very little benefit from the heating, and a risk of damage to the pump.

Some systems have a setting which runs the pump occasionally to prevent it seizing - but an alternative if that option isn't available is to just run the HW for a brief time.

Only a week, hot water currently comes on about 1 hour in morning and the sale tea time, also boiler temp currently still on lower summer temp for hot water.
Perhaps not worth bothering with these factors in place?

Main thing I need to know is that the boiler will be ok ? if left on for hot water with the mains water stop !!!!!! turned off.

Apodemus

When are you going?  Most parts of a household water infrastructure take quite a long time to cool down and freeze.  Even if overnight temperatures were negative, you would need several days in a row with average day/night temperatures a good bit below zero before you had any problems.  In UK, we very seldom experience that sort of prolonged cold weather before Christmas.  There is perhaps an odd exception for buildings at higher altitudes/latitudes.

One thing that is worth making sure, is that there are no slow drips from expansion or header tank overflows, as the outlets from these can indeed freeze overnight and lead to the tanks overtopping. 

TUVOK

Thanks for all replies, but can anyone confirm that boiler if left running for hot water only WITH WATER STOP !!!!!! turned off, that all will be well.
P.s. Going soon, so no realy cold temps to worry abot

victor2

Just turn the hot water off at the boiler. Leave the stopco©k on if you're only going to be away for a week. Are you sure your insurance says the water must be turned off if you're going away for a short period?

chrisw

TUVOK said:

Thanks for all replies, but can anyone confirm that boiler if left running for hot water only WITH WATER STOP !!!!!! turned off, that all will be well.
P.s. Going soon, so no realy cold temps to worry abot

Yes  it will be FINE.

TUVOK

chrisw said:

TUVOK said:

Thanks for all replies, but can anyone confirm that boiler if left running for hot water only WITH WATER STOP !!!!!! turned off, that all will be well.
P.s. Going soon, so no realy cold temps to worry abot

Yes  it will be FINE.

chrisw - Many thanks for your definitive reply.