put in a temperature sensor and a water sensor on your home alarm
system with a dialer to your cellphone. have your neighbors set up in
advance with housekeys. bring their phone numbers along for your trip
away.
have mom come over to get the mail and visit the dog. once she heard
the gushing basement water of a frozen pipe and called our good
neighbor who fixed the break and everything was fine when i got home
after a week away.

mtco wrote:
Suppose you are going away for 10 days, what should you do to the water
shutoff valves and the water heater in the house? I've seen
recommendations that you set the house thermostat at 55 F and the water
heater to "vacation" -- if the setting is available.

But what about the water shutoff valves? Is it safe/wise to close the
main water shutoff valve? Will the water heater overheat because there
is no water pressure, even when it's set to "vacation"?

Here's a number of "trouble scenarios" I've thought of, but I may be
missing something:

1. Water heater leaks and dumps a large amount of water onto the drip
pan, overflowing the latter and causing damage to the floor.

2. House loses power and pipes get frozen (and cracked). Cracked pipes
floods the house when the power returns and the pipes unfrozen.

3. (Described above) Main water shutoff closed. Water heater overheats
because there is not water pressure.

Should I close the main water shutoff valve, as well as the shutoff
valves to the appliances, BUT open the faucets to allow freezing water
some room to expand, just in case the pipes got frozen?

Any thoughts?