Turning off the Water Stop Valve.

[newprogressive]

Whats the collective wisdom on turning off the stop valve before you go on holiday? I'm going away for about 10 days over the Xmas period and am concerned that a burst pipe anywhere in the system potentially floods the house.

I plan to leave the heating on a low setting, but boiler PCB is playing up a bit, and very occasionally stops working, causing me to need to press the reset button, which always does the job. Obviously if I am away for a long period, I won't be able to do this.

My understanding is that the heating system is self-contained (and there would remain a small amount of water in the loft unit that could top up if needed), so surely a prudent precaution would be turn the mains water off at the stopcock and then drain the cold taps in the house? (The hot water taps are drawn from the mains water as well and are heated by means of an exchange)

If it helps anybody, I have a Gledhill BoilerMate linked with a Potterton Boiler.

 

[ravb]

hi

i would personaly leave the stopcock on as water flow reduces pipe freeze, so, keep the kitchen sink tap running slightly so the water does run as it is VERY cold out there . coming home to a frozen pipe is the last thing u need. also as it is cold, i would leave the herating on, set the thermostate lower but keep it on. Generaly its always good to keep systems running, its less likely to fail on you.

hope that helps

 

[kirkgas]

sorry i cant agree,

EVERY time i go away, summer or winter i isolate main stopcock and flush cisterns, in winter i leave heating on long low settings,
Running water at sink in this weather will increase chance of frozen waste flooding house, running water can freeze, why else do you see icicles hanging from overflow pipes.

i always switch valve off, a leak can happen any time, i have attended a couple of split china cisterns over the years, what a mess one made as customer was at work, the other was in my sis in laws, who phoned me about 3am to say the kitchen was flooding, the china cistern had split, only 2 in 32yrs but not worth the hassle, its easy to turn off a fully functioning valve and takes about 20 secs to put back on when you return,

i dont drain heating as i like to leave it on, and as its sealed system it will stop soon enough if it has a leak, where as mains will run for ever

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Turn the water off! I saw the damage a burst supply in the loft can do within an hour 2 weeks ago. Its not pleasant, house is still uninhabitable.

 

[xr4x4]

turn off the cold supply, turn on the cold taps to drain the water. then leave the heating on low, around - 10 15oC.

if the heatings on, its less likey to freeze, if it does it wont burst the pipe as there will be very little water in it.