[chicago76]

Hi,

I will be gone for a week for vacation & had a question about turning off the water.
The low temps next week are going to be around 30F.

I read through the site & will be doing the following:
1. Turn off the main water supply.
2. Set my water heater setting to 'vacation'
3. Set the house heater thermostat at 55F.

My question is Do I need to drain all the pipes/water heater after I shut off the main water supply? Or can there be water in the pipes as long as there is heat in the house?

Thanks.

[EPMiller]

As long as none of the pipes anywhere will be exposed to freezing temperatures you are fine. If you have problems with pipes freezing in really cold weather even when the heat is up, then I would worry about it. Otherwise enjoy your vacation.

Turning off the water is cheap insurance against a flood. Lowering the water heater temp will save money unless there is a possibility of the water siphoning out of the tank and burning out an element. In that case, just turn it off. It doesn't take that much longer to come back from dead cold. That is what I do.

EPM

P.S. On reread of your post, I bet you have a gas WH. Ignore the shutoff part of my post. Just turn it down.