"Hugo Nebula" abuse@localhost wrote in message
...
I'm leaving for a new job 200 miles away. I haven't yet sold my
house, so I'm going to have to leave it empty for a while. What
should I do with the central heating? It's a standard boiler fed from
a header tank, with a pump, radiators, a hot water tank and a
three-way valve.

I presume turning everything off entirely is not a good idea?

I thought of leaving the heating setting to 'On' permanently and
setting the room stat to low, just in case we get a late frost.
Should I also set the hot water to come on for a few minutes, just to
keep the three-way valve turning, and also to ensure that the boiler
does fire up at least once a day?

With the C/H running, I can't turn off the gas or electric. What
about the water?

I'd leave the heating on low but turn the water off. If the HW tank starts
emptying for some reason from a major leak to a dripping tap the boiler will
turn itself off and need a manual reset so there's no problem.

Also a good idea to leave heating on so that your insurance company will
believe that it hasn't been unoccupied should the worst happen.

Good luck with the new job.