On 14 Jan 2006 18:19:18 -0800, "Mikepier"
wrote:

Shutting off the water main is a good idea. If you have a hot water
heater, turn the gas valve to "pilot" so in the event the water heater
leaks it will not fire up. Also turn off the automatic ice maker if you
have one in your fridge.
I would try to cover the incoming water feed pipes with pipe
insulation, as well as the water meter if you have one just in case the
heat fails.
As an added measure, after you shut off your water main, you can open
all the faucets and open the lowest faucet in the house and drain as
much water out as possible.

That won't take care of the water in the wheater.

If you have a trusted neighbor, he/she can check on the house once in a
while.

Yes, good idea. The furnace can break and everything freeze. How
often should the friend visit. I guess it depends on how cold, how
many power failures, etc. but the furnace can break even if there is
no power failure.

If you have a burglar alarm, you can put on a sensor for low
temperature, and if you have monitoring, you can have it send a third
notice to the station.

A friend gave me the impresion that new panels come with this, but it
seems that they have a provision for connecting the sensor, and for
the third message.


Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.