wrote in message
ups.com...
Yup, I now about those cases. We live in MA.

In fact the guy installing our new system talked about this.
Apparently the vents were installed too low to the ground. Ours will
be about five feet above grade which should be fine. The snow is not
plowed against that side of the house. Also there are lots of high
bushes protecting that side. Drifting snow tends to get stopped by the
bushes. In addition there is a new law that requires a carbon monoxide
alarm in the furnace room. We also have one on each floor.

We were more worried about the water issue. As it turns out we
misunderstood. The condensation gets pumped out of our existing drain.
Yes, if the pump goes there can be a problem. Same thing with the air
conditioner. We had that happen to our central air. We had water but
not a flood. A flood is when your hot water heater leaks for a month
while you're in Florida. Now that was a REAL nightmare.


Don't you shut your water off when you're gone? The gas furnace can operate
very well with your water off. Just going away for a month or so there is a
minimum level of protection that you can provide yourself. I shut off the
water just in front of the water meter (ball valve) and also at the hot
water heater (a bit of redundancy). Get a few gallons of RV Anti freeze at
Home Depot and put some in all the house drains (bath tub, shower, washing
machine, sinks, dishwasher, toilet, toilet tank (flush first after water is
off). Thermostat at 60F. At least I go away feeling that I've done the best
under the circumstances.
MLD