SS wrote:
"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"SS" writes:
Hi guys looking for an answer re frozen pipes.

dad in laws house lying vacant at the moment (hospitalised) and just
realised after my wife had been down, she turned the elec off, meaning
the
central heating will not have been working over the last week of the cold
spell (minus 6) So good likely hood of frozen pipes. Hopefully not burst
but
possibility.

My intention is to turn the water off at the mains, as I am to far
distant
to go back and forth to keep an eye on it.
Is it best (assuming nothing burst) to turn off at the main and leave the
taps open to ease expansion?

Any ideas.
You need to drain down tanks and heating system (if it has central
heating), if you aren't leaving it running in frost protection mode.
That's probably a condition of any insurance.

Turning off the water will limit the volume of water damage to the
tank(s) full if they come through the house as a result of a burst
pipe, but you could also damage a lot of the pipework and heating
system if the residual water in them freezes.

Might make sense to arrange to visit at same time as a plumber, so
he can do this for you if you aren't sure. There may already be some
damage which needs repairing too.

How long is the house likely to be empty? I would suggest leaving
the electricity on with some lights on timeswitches for security
purposes.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Thanks for the replies.

The house could be empty for a month maybe 6 weeks.
I should have mentioned its a combi heating system.
I think I have the jist of what to do ie drain as much water out of pipes
and (I think) drain the combi boiler system.
As far as I am aware there are no header tanks due to combi system.
I suppose one problem will be if pipes frozen it wont drain :-(

Dreading this visit tomorrow. At least if I get the mains off it should
limit damage if a pipe has burst but frozen.


my plastic inlet pipe in the attic froze,
then the water level in the tank went down (cos not refilling)
then the float valve thing float down a bit
then the inlet thawed
water poured into the tank
and it overflowed because the float valve thing was frozen open,
it woke me at 3.30a.m. on christmas day
the waterfall thundering down the stairs!

and i hadnt turned off the main supply so if i hadnt heard it
it would have poured down all night!

[g]