I'm going to be gone for about a week, would like to shut off water main to house to prevent a flood if a pipe fails while I'm gone. It's the middle of winter, and I want to drain the house pipes to prevent freezing. But what should I do with my gas water heater? 1) turn it off 2) put the dial on the "pilot" or 3) "vacation" mode? I don't want to burn out an element if there is no water in the tank. I'm assuming if I drain all the water out of the house plumbing (via the basement faucet), it will drain water out of the hot water tank also?

I should have added that I have a sewage stack that has frozen up twice in my upper story cape cod style home, resulting in some water damage. So I most definitely want to drain before I go to minimize risk. So I'm just wondering how I should leave the water heater.

For only one week it is not necessary to totally winterize your home. Setthe stat low, around 50 and shut off your main, don't need to drain the water. I do this all of the time. You can safely turn the water heater off or to vacation mode