Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had
water dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I
opened the closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing
warm heat at the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main
water valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and
open the main water valve the next morning to protect the pipes?

Is there anything that speaks against shutting the main water switch
off every day?

What I am thinking is this: If the plummer is fixing the pipes on
Tuesday, it might cost me dearly. Then he goes, the next day, they
freeze again up on me, etc. And I have to fix them again, and again,
and again, till it is finally spring.

What do you think?

Gene

wrote:

Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had
water dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I
opened the closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing
warm heat at the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main
water valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and
open the main water valve the next morning to protect the pipes?

Is there anything that speaks against shutting the main water switch
off every day?

What I am thinking is this: If the plummer is fixing the pipes on
Tuesday, it might cost me dearly. Then he goes, the next day, they
freeze again up on me, etc. And I have to fix them again, and again,
and again, till it is finally spring.

What do you think?

Gene


Leave the water heater alone. No need to drain
it and it won't freeze anyway.

Yes, you can shut the Main every night and drain
the pipes. The Main valve might wear out evenually,
but it's a risk you may have to take.

The pipes which are freezing could best be protected
with "heat tape" (electrical heater) you wrap around it.

Jim

On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:13:44 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

You dont have to drain the water heater, but shut off the gas or
electric. Electric should be a breaker in main panel. For gas, there
is a control on the heater, shut it to OFF.

Just so you know, you shut off the HOT water above the water heater.
Normally there is a valve above it, unless someone plumbed it without
one. If it's a hot pipe that broke, shut that valve off and you can
still have cold water. The hot pipes usually break first because
there is less oxygen in hot water. (or is it less oxygen?).

I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had
water dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I
opened the closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing
warm heat at the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main
water valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and
open the main water valve the next morning to protect the pipes?

Is there anything that speaks against shutting the main water switch
off every day?

What I am thinking is this: If the plummer is fixing the pipes on
Tuesday, it might cost me dearly. Then he goes, the next day, they
freeze again up on me, etc. And I have to fix them again, and again,
and again, till it is finally spring.

What do you think?

Gene

On Jan 20, 6:33 pm, Speedy Jim wrote:
wrote:
Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had
water dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I
opened the closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing
warm heat at the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main
water valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and
open the main water valve the next morning to protect the pipes?

Is there anything that speaks against shutting the main water switch
off every day?

What I am thinking is this: If the plummer is fixing the pipes on
Tuesday, it might cost me dearly. Then he goes, the next day, they
freeze again up on me, etc. And I have to fix them again, and again,
and again, till it is finally spring.

What do you think?

Gene

Leave the water heater alone. No need to drain
it and it won't freeze anyway.

Hi Jim, but there might be still some water in it. I ran the faucets
and no water is coming anymore from them. But gas goes then in an
empty water heater? Or half empty water heater? Is that something to
worry about?

And gas is on because I also heat my kitchen with it.


Yes, you can shut the Main every night and drain
the pipes. The Main valve might wear out evenually,
but it's a risk you may have to take.

Right. I might have to buy a new one then.

The pipes which are freezing could best be protected
with "heat tape" (electrical heater) you wrap around it.

Jim

Guess I'll buy that as fast as I can.

On Jan 20, 6:45 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:13:44 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

You dont have to drain the water heater, but shut off the gas or
electric. Electric should be a breaker in main panel. For gas, there
is a control on the heater, shut it to OFF.

My water heater is gas. If I shut the gas off, my kitchen will be
cold. I still have some space heaters.


Just so you know, you shut off the HOT water above the water heater.
Normally there is a valve above it, unless someone plumbed it without
one. If it's a hot pipe that broke, shut that valve off and you can
still have cold water. The hot pipes usually break first because
there is less oxygen in hot water. (or is it less oxygen?).

I got a brand new Rheem Ruud Water heater this summer for 1000 bucks.
But it has so many handles, I haven't yet figures out where the gas
can be shut of on that thing.

Gene



I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had
water dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I
opened the closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing
warm heat at the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main
water valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and
open the main water valve the next morning to protect the pipes?

Is there anything that speaks against shutting the main water switch
off every day?

What I am thinking is this: If the plummer is fixing the pipes on
Tuesday, it might cost me dearly. Then he goes, the next day, they
freeze again up on me, etc. And I have to fix them again, and again,
and again, till it is finally spring.

What do you think?

Gene

wrote:

On Jan 20, 6:33 pm, Speedy Jim wrote:

wrote:

SNIP

Leave the water heater alone. No need to drain
it and it won't freeze anyway.


Hi Jim, but there might be still some water in it. I ran the faucets
and no water is coming anymore from them. But gas goes then in an
empty water heater? Or half empty water heater? Is that something to
worry about?

And gas is on because I also heat my kitchen with it.

The heater will remain totally full of water
because the outlet pipe is at the top.

Don't worry about the gas being on;
the thermostat on the heater will control
when the gas fire needs to turn on.

Jim

On Jan 20, 7:00 pm, Speedy Jim wrote:
wrote:
On Jan 20, 6:33 pm, Speedy Jim wrote:

wrote:

SNIP

Leave the water heater alone. No need to drain
it and it won't freeze anyway.

Hi Jim, but there might be still some water in it. I ran the faucets
and no water is coming anymore from them. But gas goes then in an
empty water heater? Or half empty water heater? Is that something to
worry about?

And gas is on because I also heat my kitchen with it.

The heater will remain totally full of water
because the outlet pipe is at the top.

Don't worry about the gas being on;
the thermostat on the heater will control
when the gas fire needs to turn on.

Jim

It is a new water heater. So, it should have that safety measurement
in place, I guess.

Thanks, Jim

Gene.

On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:57:49 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Jan 20, 6:45 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:13:44 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

You dont have to drain the water heater, but shut off the gas or
electric. Electric should be a breaker in main panel. For gas, there
is a control on the heater, shut it to OFF.

My water heater is gas. If I shut the gas off, my kitchen will be
cold. I still have some space heaters.


I didn't tell you to shut the gas off for the whole house, just shut
the water heater off. There's a knob on it that says ON - PILOT -
OFF. Turn it to OFF. If it is an electronic model it wont says
"pilot". It may have a removable tin cover over it. Look near bottom
of the tank.

If you dont drain the tank, you can probably just leave it on.
Electric heaters are the ones that can blow an element if the water
gets cut.

I must tell you this: If you are a homeowner, (or even a renter) you
really should know how and where to shut off water main, hot water,
gas main and the shutoff for all gas appliances, and how to shut off
electric power. You want to know this stuff BEFORE an emergency, not
after. You must have a friend, relative or neighbor that is somewhat
handy to show you this stuff if you cant figure it out yourself.
Everyone over the age of about 10 who lives in a house should know
this stuff, males and females. In an emergency everyone should know
what to do, as well as how to operate a fire extinguisher.

Here, I found a weblink with pictures of a water heater.
http://www.exothink.com/Pages/waterhtr.html
On the top photo the control is on the tank, temperature knob is on
the front. The black thing on the top of that control is the ON OFF
knob. Just turn it to OFF. like turning a faucet.




Just so you know, you shut off the HOT water above the water heater.
Normally there is a valve above it, unless someone plumbed it without
one. If it's a hot pipe that broke, shut that valve off and you can
still have cold water. The hot pipes usually break first because
there is less oxygen in hot water. (or is it less oxygen?).

I got a brand new Rheem Ruud Water heater this summer for 1000 bucks.
But it has so many handles, I haven't yet figures out where the gas
can be shut of on that thing.

Gene



I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had
water dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I
opened the closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing
warm heat at the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main
water valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and
open the main water valve the next morning to protect the pipes?

Is there anything that speaks against shutting the main water switch
off every day?

What I am thinking is this: If the plummer is fixing the pipes on
Tuesday, it might cost me dearly. Then he goes, the next day, they
freeze again up on me, etc. And I have to fix them again, and again,
and again, till it is finally spring.

What do you think?

Gene

GeneCook2008 wrote:

Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How do
I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

There is usually a valve in the water pipe that is going into the top of
the heater. That shuts off the supply. To drain it, there is usually a
spigot at the bottom of the heater. If you drain the heater you must shut
off the gas. Either look for a valve in the gas line, or the tank control
itself should have a rotary switch that you can turn to "off".

I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had water
dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I opened the
closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing warm heat at
the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

First you need to figure out why your pipes froze. You seem to be in
Erfurt, Germany. Since I am in the U.S., I am not familiar with the
current weather there. Is there record breaking cold?

If not, why did the pipes not freeze before? Has insulation been removed
for some reason?

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main water
valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and open
the main water valve the next morning to protect the pipes?

Although it will prevent further flooding, turning the water off at the
main and draining the pipes by opening faucets will do little good to
prevent freezing. Water will still be trapped in the lowest point of the
pipes under your house, and will still be subject to freezing and
bursting. To purge the pipes, you'd have to disconnect at the mail shut
off, and blow all the water out of the system with compressed air.

So your best bet, if you can afford it, is to quickly get some good
insulation on the pipes, have a plumber repair the damage (unless you are
able to do it yourself) and go from there.

About your water heater, if you drain the water out, you either have to
turn the gas off or the tank will be damaged when it lights. If the tank
stays full of water, as other have noted, you should be fine.

--
Tony Sivori

On Jan 20, 7:50 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:57:49 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Jan 20, 6:45 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:13:44 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

You dont have to drain the water heater, but shut off the gas or
electric. Electric should be a breaker in main panel. For gas, there
is a control on the heater, shut it to OFF.

My water heater is gas. If I shut the gas off, my kitchen will be
cold. I still have some space heaters.

I didn't tell you to shut the gas off for the whole house, just shut
the water heater off. There's a knob on it that says ON - PILOT -
OFF. Turn it to OFF. If it is an electronic model it wont says
"pilot". It may have a removable tin cover over it. Look near bottom
of the tank.

I checked there. It is a new model Rheem Ruud. Yes, it says ON - Pilot
- OFF. I turned it around and it did not allow me to go to OFF. So, I
turned it back to PILOT.
Behind it there is another switch on the gas line. I turned that to
off. My gas oven still operates.



If you dont drain the tank, you can probably just leave it on.
Electric heaters are the ones that can blow an element if the water
gets cut.

Now I turned it off. Should I turn it back on?

I must tell you this: If you are a homeowner, (or even a renter) you
really should know how and where to shut off water main, hot water,
gas main and the shutoff for all gas appliances, and how to shut off
electric power. You want to know this stuff BEFORE an emergency, not
after.

You are right. I bought the joint and never met the former owner. I
have to find one soul who explains these things to me. I read a lot on
the Internet but in praxis everything looks different than on these
pages.


You must have a friend, relative or neighbor that is somewhat
handy to show you this stuff if you cant figure it out yourself.

No, I am alone, never had a dad, no older brother, and any handy
friends lives thousand miles away. My neighborhood is rather deserted.
The only other guy around here is a 90 year old man. I am afraid to
ask him as he could die going out in these temperature. The other one
is a non-American who asks me to pay him 150 Dollars the hour. And
then he comes over, does a lousy job, and I hardly understands what he
says.


Everyone over the age of about 10 who lives in a house should know
this stuff, males and females. In an emergency everyone should know
what to do, as well as how to operate a fire extinguisher.

I don't have any. A fire extinguisher is across the dirt street but I
wouldn't know how to operate it.

Here, I found a weblink with pictures of a water heater.http://www.exothink.com/Pages/waterhtr.html
On the top photo the control is on the tank, temperature knob is on
the front. The black thing on the top of that control is the ON OFF
knob. Just turn it to OFF. like turning a faucet.

Mine is a Rheem RUUD. It's modern and new. But it does not allow me to
turn it off completely, just back to pilot. I had hired a professional
plumber to install it but he does not work today and tomorrow.

Again: I turned the gas handle of the gas line to the tank to off. I
turned the handle of the gas tank to pilot as it does not allow me to
turn it off completely.

Gene.



Just so you know, you shut off the HOT water above the water heater.
Normally there is a valve above it, unless someone plumbed it without
one. If it's a hot pipe that broke, shut that valve off and you can
still have cold water. The hot pipes usually break first because
there is less oxygen in hot water. (or is it less oxygen?).

I got a brand new Rheem Ruud Water heater this summer for 1000 bucks.
But it has so many handles, I haven't yet figures out where the gas
can be shut of on that thing.

Gene

I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had
water dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I
opened the closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing
warm heat at the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main
water valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and
open the main water valve the next morning to protect the pipes?

Is there anything that speaks against shutting the main water switch
off every day?

What I am thinking is this: If the plummer is fixing the pipes on
Tuesday, it might cost me dearly. Then he goes, the next day, they
freeze again up on me, etc. And I have to fix them again, and again,
and again, till it is finally spring.

What do you think?

Gene

On Jan 20, 7:53 pm, Tony Sivori wrote:
GeneCook2008 wrote:
Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How do
I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

There is usually a valve in the water pipe that is going into the top of
the heater. That shuts off the supply. To drain it, there is usually a
spigot at the bottom of the heater. If you drain the heater you must shut
off the gas. Either look for a valve in the gas line, or the tank control
itself should have a rotary switch that you can turn to "off".

I can't drain the heater because I have no garden hose. I have to buy
one first.

I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had water
dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I opened the
closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing warm heat at
the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

First you need to figure out why your pipes froze. You seem to be in
Erfurt, Germany. Since I am in the U.S., I am not familiar with the
current weather there. Is there record breaking cold?

I am not in Erfurt but in the Kansas City area. I am posting with a
TOR proxy because a friend told me that I will get stalkers when they
find my real IP number and hack my computer as Usenet would be a very
unfriendly place.

If not, why did the pipes not freeze before? Has insulation been removed
for some reason?

I have just a crawl space andthe house is 50 years old. I got new
plumbing this summer but it froze. Perhaps I should have wrapped
it.Not just put staw outside.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main water
valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and open
the main water valve the next morning to protect the pipes?

Although it will prevent further flooding, turning the water off at the
main and draining the pipes by opening faucets will do little good to
prevent freezing. Water will still be trapped in the lowest point of the
pipes under your house, and will still be subject to freezing and
bursting. To purge the pipes, you'd have to disconnect at the mail shut
off, and blow all the water out of the system with compressed air.

I have no such equipment. I better leave the heat on tonight.

So your best bet, if you can afford it, is to quickly get some good
insulation on the pipes, have a plumber repair the damage (unless you are
able to do it yourself) and go from there.

I don't understand much of it and don't have tools to saw pipes. I
have to get somebody who knows but I can't reach anybody for two days
due to the holiday.

About your water heater, if you drain the water out, you either have to
turn the gas off or the tank will be damaged when it lights. If the tank
stays full of water, as other have noted, you should be fine.

That is the problem. I am not sure if the heater stays full of water
or if it freezes too when no gas is in.

No water is running from my faucets but I don't know about what's in
the water heater.

Gene

--
Tony Sivori

On Jan 20, 7:31*pm, wrote:
On Jan 20, 7:50 pm, wrote:





On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:57:49 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Jan 20, 6:45 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:13:44 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

You dont have to drain the water heater, but shut off the gas or
electric. *Electric should be a breaker in main panel. *For gas, there
is a control on the heater, shut it to OFF.

My water heater is gas. If I shut the gas off, my kitchen will be
cold. I still have some space heaters.

I didn't tell you to shut the gas off for the whole house, just shut
the water heater off. *There's a knob on it that says ON - PILOT -
OFF. *Turn it to OFF. *If it is an electronic model it wont says
"pilot". *It may have a removable tin cover over it. *Look near bottom
of the tank.

I checked there. It is a new model Rheem Ruud. Yes, it says ON - Pilot
- OFF. I turned it around and it did not allow me to go to OFF. So, I
turned it back to PILOT.
Behind it there is another switch on the gas line. I turned that to
off. My gas oven still operates.



If you dont drain the tank, you can probably just leave it on.
Electric heaters are the ones that can blow an element if the water
gets cut.

Now I turned it off. Should I turn it back on?



I must tell you this: *If you are a homeowner, (or even a renter) you
really should know how and where to shut off water main, hot water,
gas main and the shutoff for all gas appliances, and how to shut off
electric power. *You want to know this stuff BEFORE an emergency, not
after.

You are right. I bought the joint and never met the former owner. I
have to find one soul who explains these things to me. I read a lot on
the Internet but in praxis everything looks different than on these
pages.

You must have a friend, relative or neighbor that is somewhat
handy to show you this stuff if you cant figure it out yourself.

No, I am alone, never had a dad, no older brother, and any handy
friends lives thousand miles away. My neighborhood is rather deserted.
The only other guy around here is a 90 year old man. I am afraid to
ask him as he could die going out in these temperature. The other one
is a non-American who asks me to pay him 150 Dollars the hour. And
then he comes over, does a lousy job, and I hardly understands what he
says.

Everyone over the age of about 10 who lives in a house should know
this stuff, males and females. *In an emergency everyone should know
what to do, as well as how to operate a fire extinguisher.

I don't have any. A fire extinguisher is across the dirt street but I
wouldn't know how to operate it.



Here, I found a weblink with pictures of a water heater.http://www.exothink.com/Pages/waterhtr.html
On the top photo the control is on the tank, temperature knob is on
the front. *The black thing on the top of that control is the ON OFF
knob. *Just turn it to OFF. like turning a faucet.

Mine is a Rheem RUUD. It's modern and new. But it does not allow me to
turn it off completely, just back to pilot. I had hired a professional
plumber to install it but he does not work today and tomorrow.

Again: I turned the gas handle of the gas line to the tank to off. I
turned the handle of the gas tank to pilot as it does not allow me to
turn it off completely.

Gene.





Just so you know, you shut off the HOT water above the water heater.
Normally there is a valve above it, unless someone plumbed it without
one. *If it's a hot pipe that broke, shut that valve off and you can
still have cold water. *The hot pipes usually break first because
there is less oxygen in hot water. (or is it less oxygen?).

I got a brand new Rheem Ruud Water heater this summer for 1000 bucks.
But it has so many handles, I haven't yet figures out where the gas
can be shut of on that thing.

Gene

I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had
water dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I
opened the closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing
warm heat at the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main
water valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and
open the main water valve *the next morning to protect the pipes?

Is there anything that speaks against shutting the main water switch
off every day?

What I am thinking is this: If the plummer is fixing the pipes on
Tuesday, it might cost me dearly. Then he goes, the next day, they
freeze again up on me, etc. And I have to fix them again, and again,
and again, till it is finally spring.

What do you think?

Gene- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If you have water in the tank there is no need to turn off the gas.
However, you might as well turn the temperature way down.


Even if you drained it you could still keep the pilot on. So if you
turned off the line to the tank that would most likely turn off the
pilot. What happens when you turn the line back on? You may have to
relight the pilot.

Is the water heater in an area that gets cold? Is the break in a
crawl space? Sounds to me like you need some heat tapes on the lines
in a crawl space.

http://www.mygreathome.com/fix-it_guide/heat_tape.htm

On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:31:04 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Jan 20, 7:50 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:57:49 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Jan 20, 6:45 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:13:44 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

You dont have to drain the water heater, but shut off the gas or
electric. Electric should be a breaker in main panel. For gas, there
is a control on the heater, shut it to OFF.

My water heater is gas. If I shut the gas off, my kitchen will be
cold. I still have some space heaters.

I didn't tell you to shut the gas off for the whole house, just shut
the water heater off. There's a knob on it that says ON - PILOT -
OFF. Turn it to OFF. If it is an electronic model it wont says
"pilot". It may have a removable tin cover over it. Look near bottom
of the tank.

I checked there. It is a new model Rheem Ruud. Yes, it says ON - Pilot
- OFF. I turned it around and it did not allow me to go to OFF. So, I
turned it back to PILOT.
Behind it there is another switch on the gas line. I turned that to
off. My gas oven still operates.



If you dont drain the tank, you can probably just leave it on.
Electric heaters are the ones that can blow an element if the water
gets cut.

Now I turned it off. Should I turn it back on?

I must tell you this: If you are a homeowner, (or even a renter) you
really should know how and where to shut off water main, hot water,
gas main and the shutoff for all gas appliances, and how to shut off
electric power. You want to know this stuff BEFORE an emergency, not
after.

You are right. I bought the joint and never met the former owner. I
have to find one soul who explains these things to me. I read a lot on
the Internet but in praxis everything looks different than on these
pages.


You must have a friend, relative or neighbor that is somewhat
handy to show you this stuff if you cant figure it out yourself.

No, I am alone, never had a dad, no older brother, and any handy
friends lives thousand miles away. My neighborhood is rather deserted.
The only other guy around here is a 90 year old man. I am afraid to
ask him as he could die going out in these temperature. The other one
is a non-American who asks me to pay him 150 Dollars the hour. And
then he comes over, does a lousy job, and I hardly understands what he
says.


Everyone over the age of about 10 who lives in a house should know
this stuff, males and females. In an emergency everyone should know
what to do, as well as how to operate a fire extinguisher.

I don't have any. A fire extinguisher is across the dirt street but I
wouldn't know how to operate it.

Here, I found a weblink with pictures of a water heater.http://www.exothink.com/Pages/waterhtr.html
On the top photo the control is on the tank, temperature knob is on
the front. The black thing on the top of that control is the ON OFF
knob. Just turn it to OFF. like turning a faucet.

Mine is a Rheem RUUD. It's modern and new. But it does not allow me to
turn it off completely, just back to pilot. I had hired a professional
plumber to install it but he does not work today and tomorrow.

Again: I turned the gas handle of the gas line to the tank to off. I
turned the handle of the gas tank to pilot as it does not allow me to
turn it off completely.

Gene.



Just so you know, you shut off the HOT water above the water heater.
Normally there is a valve above it, unless someone plumbed it without
one. If it's a hot pipe that broke, shut that valve off and you can
still have cold water. The hot pipes usually break first because
there is less oxygen in hot water. (or is it less oxygen?).

I got a brand new Rheem Ruud Water heater this summer for 1000 bucks.
But it has so many handles, I haven't yet figures out where the gas
can be shut of on that thing.

Gene

I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had
water dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I
opened the closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing
warm heat at the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main
water valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and
open the main water valve the next morning to protect the pipes?

Is there anything that speaks against shutting the main water switch
off every day?

What I am thinking is this: If the plummer is fixing the pipes on
Tuesday, it might cost me dearly. Then he goes, the next day, they
freeze again up on me, etc. And I have to fix them again, and again,
and again, till it is finally spring.

What do you think?

Gene


You're fine. On the PILOT setting you only have the pilot light. But
you shut off the gas to the heater. Just leave it till the plumber
comes. Ask the plumber to give you a tour of the house for shutoffs.
I'm sure he will. Take notes when he does.

You already know where the water main shutoff is. You are catching on
with the water heater, and hopefully you know how to shut off your
electric power. Ask the plumber where your gas main shutoff is.

On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:40:29 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

That is the problem. I am not sure if the heater stays full of water
or if it freezes too when no gas is in.

It's inside a heated part of the house, right?
It should not freeze if it is.
Just be sure the heat gets to it, for example, if its in a closet,
open the door. You might turn your heat up a few degrees tonite if
that makes you feel better.

On Jan 20, 8:50 pm, Rich256 wrote:
On Jan 20, 7:31 pm, wrote:



On Jan 20, 7:50 pm, wrote:

On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:57:49 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Jan 20, 6:45 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:13:44 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

You dont have to drain the water heater, but shut off the gas or
electric. Electric should be a breaker in main panel. For gas, there
is a control on the heater, shut it to OFF.

My water heater is gas. If I shut the gas off, my kitchen will be
cold. I still have some space heaters.

I didn't tell you to shut the gas off for the whole house, just shut
the water heater off. There's a knob on it that says ON - PILOT -
OFF. Turn it to OFF. If it is an electronic model it wont says
"pilot". It may have a removable tin cover over it. Look near bottom
of the tank.

I checked there. It is a new model Rheem Ruud. Yes, it says ON - Pilot
- OFF. I turned it around and it did not allow me to go to OFF. So, I
turned it back to PILOT.
Behind it there is another switch on the gas line. I turned that to
off. My gas oven still operates.

If you dont drain the tank, you can probably just leave it on.
Electric heaters are the ones that can blow an element if the water
gets cut.

Now I turned it off. Should I turn it back on?

I must tell you this: If you are a homeowner, (or even a renter) you
really should know how and where to shut off water main, hot water,
gas main and the shutoff for all gas appliances, and how to shut off
electric power. You want to know this stuff BEFORE an emergency, not
after.

You are right. I bought the joint and never met the former owner. I
have to find one soul who explains these things to me. I read a lot on
the Internet but in praxis everything looks different than on these
pages.

You must have a friend, relative or neighbor that is somewhat
handy to show you this stuff if you cant figure it out yourself.

No, I am alone, never had a dad, no older brother, and any handy
friends lives thousand miles away. My neighborhood is rather deserted.
The only other guy around here is a 90 year old man. I am afraid to
ask him as he could die going out in these temperature. The other one
is a non-American who asks me to pay him 150 Dollars the hour. And
then he comes over, does a lousy job, and I hardly understands what he
says.

Everyone over the age of about 10 who lives in a house should know
this stuff, males and females. In an emergency everyone should know
what to do, as well as how to operate a fire extinguisher.

I don't have any. A fire extinguisher is across the dirt street but I
wouldn't know how to operate it.

Here, I found a weblink with pictures of a water heater.http://www.exothink.com/Pages/waterhtr.html
On the top photo the control is on the tank, temperature knob is on
the front. The black thing on the top of that control is the ON OFF
knob. Just turn it to OFF. like turning a faucet.

Mine is a Rheem RUUD. It's modern and new. But it does not allow me to
turn it off completely, just back to pilot. I had hired a professional
plumber to install it but he does not work today and tomorrow.

Again: I turned the gas handle of the gas line to the tank to off. I
turned the handle of the gas tank to pilot as it does not allow me to
turn it off completely.

Gene.

Just so you know, you shut off the HOT water above the water heater.
Normally there is a valve above it, unless someone plumbed it without
one. If it's a hot pipe that broke, shut that valve off and you can
still have cold water. The hot pipes usually break first because
there is less oxygen in hot water. (or is it less oxygen?).

I got a brand new Rheem Ruud Water heater this summer for 1000 bucks.
But it has so many handles, I haven't yet figures out where the gas
can be shut of on that thing.

Gene

I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had
water dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I
opened the closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing
warm heat at the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main
water valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and
open the main water valve the next morning to protect the pipes?

Is there anything that speaks against shutting the main water switch
off every day?

What I am thinking is this: If the plummer is fixing the pipes on
Tuesday, it might cost me dearly. Then he goes, the next day, they
freeze again up on me, etc. And I have to fix them again, and again,
and again, till it is finally spring.

What do you think?

Gene- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If you have water in the tank there is no need to turn off the gas.
However, you might as well turn the temperature way down.

I am not sure if there is water in the tank as I shut off the main
valve in the garden. It is a new model, so I hope it is safe.

Even if you drained it you could still keep the pilot on. So if you
turned off the line to the tank that would most likely turn off the
pilot.

I can't turn it off completely. It just allows me to turn to the
pilot.

What happens when you turn the line back on?

I haven't tried it. It feels cold and quiet inside. Sometimes, when I
have the warm water running, I hear the water tank. Like more gas
burning inside but as I said, I switched the gas off and turned the
switch from on to pilot.

You may have to
relight the pilot.

Yes, that might be the case.



Is the water heater in an area that gets cold?

Yes, it is by a door that goes right to the garden.

Is the break in a
crawl space?

I don't know.

Sounds to me like you need some heat tapes on the lines
in a crawl space.

Wish the plumber would have told me that. He fixed all my plumbing in
August because the all house plumbing had severe winter damage from
last year, the former tenant/owner.

http://www.mygreathome.com/fix-it_guide/heat_tape.htm

Thanks, I'll check this out.

Gene

On Jan 20, 8:52 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:31:04 -0800 (PST),
wrote:



On Jan 20, 7:50 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:57:49 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Jan 20, 6:45 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:13:44 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

You dont have to drain the water heater, but shut off the gas or
electric. Electric should be a breaker in main panel. For gas, there
is a control on the heater, shut it to OFF.

My water heater is gas. If I shut the gas off, my kitchen will be
cold. I still have some space heaters.

I didn't tell you to shut the gas off for the whole house, just shut
the water heater off. There's a knob on it that says ON - PILOT -
OFF. Turn it to OFF. If it is an electronic model it wont says
"pilot". It may have a removable tin cover over it. Look near bottom
of the tank.

I checked there. It is a new model Rheem Ruud. Yes, it says ON - Pilot
- OFF. I turned it around and it did not allow me to go to OFF. So, I
turned it back to PILOT.
Behind it there is another switch on the gas line. I turned that to
off. My gas oven still operates.

If you dont drain the tank, you can probably just leave it on.
Electric heaters are the ones that can blow an element if the water
gets cut.

Now I turned it off. Should I turn it back on?

I must tell you this: If you are a homeowner, (or even a renter) you
really should know how and where to shut off water main, hot water,
gas main and the shutoff for all gas appliances, and how to shut off
electric power. You want to know this stuff BEFORE an emergency, not
after.

You are right. I bought the joint and never met the former owner. I
have to find one soul who explains these things to me. I read a lot on
the Internet but in praxis everything looks different than on these
pages.

You must have a friend, relative or neighbor that is somewhat
handy to show you this stuff if you cant figure it out yourself.

No, I am alone, never had a dad, no older brother, and any handy
friends lives thousand miles away. My neighborhood is rather deserted.
The only other guy around here is a 90 year old man. I am afraid to
ask him as he could die going out in these temperature. The other one
is a non-American who asks me to pay him 150 Dollars the hour. And
then he comes over, does a lousy job, and I hardly understands what he
says.

Everyone over the age of about 10 who lives in a house should know
this stuff, males and females. In an emergency everyone should know
what to do, as well as how to operate a fire extinguisher.

I don't have any. A fire extinguisher is across the dirt street but I
wouldn't know how to operate it.

Here, I found a weblink with pictures of a water heater.http://www.exothink.com/Pages/waterhtr.html
On the top photo the control is on the tank, temperature knob is on
the front. The black thing on the top of that control is the ON OFF
knob. Just turn it to OFF. like turning a faucet.

Mine is a Rheem RUUD. It's modern and new. But it does not allow me to
turn it off completely, just back to pilot. I had hired a professional
plumber to install it but he does not work today and tomorrow.

Again: I turned the gas handle of the gas line to the tank to off. I
turned the handle of the gas tank to pilot as it does not allow me to
turn it off completely.

Gene.

Just so you know, you shut off the HOT water above the water heater.
Normally there is a valve above it, unless someone plumbed it without
one. If it's a hot pipe that broke, shut that valve off and you can
still have cold water. The hot pipes usually break first because
there is less oxygen in hot water. (or is it less oxygen?).

I got a brand new Rheem Ruud Water heater this summer for 1000 bucks.
But it has so many handles, I haven't yet figures out where the gas
can be shut of on that thing.

Gene

I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had
water dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I
opened the closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing
warm heat at the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main
water valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and
open the main water valve the next morning to protect the pipes?

Is there anything that speaks against shutting the main water switch
off every day?

What I am thinking is this: If the plummer is fixing the pipes on
Tuesday, it might cost me dearly. Then he goes, the next day, they
freeze again up on me, etc. And I have to fix them again, and again,
and again, till it is finally spring.

What do you think?

Gene

You're fine. On the PILOT setting you only have the pilot light. But
you shut off the gas to the heater. Just leave it till the plumber
comes. Ask the plumber to give you a tour of the house for shutoffs.
I'm sure he will. Take notes when he does.

I hope I find one on Tuesday. Problem is also that the shower pipes
are still frozen. He can't repair them then, can he?
Yes, I'll make notes.


You already know where the water main shutoff is. You are catching on
with the water heater, and hopefully you know how to shut off your
electric power.
I have a box inside the house with switches. The all show in the same
direction. In case off an emergency, I would switch them in the
opposite direction then.

Ask the plumber where your gas main shutoff is.

Yes, that is a good idea.

Thanks.

Gene

On Jan 20, 8:55 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:40:29 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

That is the problem. I am not sure if the heater stays full of water
or if it freezes too when no gas is in.

It's inside a heated part of the house, right?
It should not freeze if it is.

My pipes are also inside of a heated home, but not enough heat, I
guess.

Just be sure the heat gets to it, for example, if its in a closet,
open the door. You might turn your heat up a few degrees tonite if
that makes you feel better.

Not really. I hate that this has happen to me.I feel so stupid now.
And the winter is not over yet.

I bought the straw outside, and put it on the outside walls and
thought it would be enough. But then it got cold -bitter cold, despite
they fore-casted a warm winter. Yeah right! Wonder who did the
forecasting. Polar bears?

Perpaps I should build a second wall around the house walls that have
pipes on the inside and underground.

Gene

On Jan 20, 6:13*pm, wrote:
Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had
water dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I
opened the closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing
warm heat at the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main
water valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and
open the main water valve *the next morning to protect the pipes?

Is there anything that speaks against shutting the main water switch
off every day?

What I am thinking is this: If the plummer is fixing the pipes on
Tuesday, it might cost me dearly. Then he goes, the next day, they
freeze again up on me, etc. And I have to fix them again, and again,
and again, till it is finally spring.

What do you think?

Gene

You are a moron that should live in a hospital or a POS ****in TROLL
id say ****in Piece Of **** TROLL

On Jan 20, 6:13*pm, wrote:
Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

I have straw outside my crawl space home to warm the pipes. I had
water dripping from the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. I
opened the closets underneath the sinks. I had a space heater blowing
warm heat at the pipes, nevertheless they FROZE and bursted today.

I don't think that I get a plummer before Tuesday.

I shut the main water valve off.

Now, my question is: As I am living alone, would you shut the main
water valve off every day before you go to bed and empty all pipes and
open the main water valve *the next morning to protect the pipes?

Is there anything that speaks against shutting the main water switch
off every day?

What I am thinking is this: If the plummer is fixing the pipes on
Tuesday, it might cost me dearly. Then he goes, the next day, they
freeze again up on me, etc. And I have to fix them again, and again,
and again, till it is finally spring.

What do you think?

Gene

What a bunch of BSS

On Jan 20, 9:44*pm, wrote:
On Jan 20, 8:52 pm, wrote:





On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:31:04 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Jan 20, 7:50 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:57:49 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Jan 20, 6:45 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:13:44 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Do I have to shut off my hot water tank? I never did that before. How
do I turn that thing off? How to get the water out?

You dont have to drain the water heater, but shut off the gas or
electric. *Electric should be a breaker in main panel. *For gas, there
is a control on the heater, shut it to OFF.

My water heater is gas. If I shut the gas off, my kitchen will be
cold. I still have some space heaters.

I didn't tell you to shut the gas off for the whole house, just shut
the water heater off. *There's a knob on it that says ON - PILOT -
OFF. *Turn it to OFF. *If it is an electronic model it wont says
"pilot". *It may have a removable tin cover over it. *Look near bottom
of the tank.

I checked there. It is a new model Rheem Ruud. Yes, it says ON - Pilot
- OFF. I turned it around and it did not allow me to go to OFF. So, I
turned it back to PILOT.
Behind it there is another switch on the gas line. I turned that to
off. My gas oven still operates.

If you dont drain the tank, you can probably just leave it on.
Electric heaters are the ones that can blow an element if the water
gets cut.

Now I turned it off. Should I turn it back on?

I must tell you this: *If you are a homeowner, (or even a renter) you
really should know how and where to shut off water main, hot water,
gas main and the shutoff for all gas appliances, and how to shut off
electric power. *You want to know this stuff BEFORE an emergency, not
after.

You are right. I bought the joint and never met the former owner. I
have to find one soul who explains these things to me. I read a lot on
the Internet but in praxis everything looks different than on these
pages.

You must have a friend, relative or neighbor that is somewhat
handy to show you this stuff if you cant figure it out yourself.

No, I am alone, never had a dad, no older brother, and any handy
friends lives thousand miles away. My neighborhood is rather deserted.
The only other guy around here is a 90 year old man. I am afraid to
ask him as he could die going out in these temperature. The other one
is a non-American who asks me to pay him 150 Dollars the hour. And
then he comes over, does a lousy job, and I hardly understands what he
says.

Everyone over the age of about 10 who lives in a house should know
this stuff, males and females. *In an emergency everyone should know
what to do, as well as how to operate a fire extinguisher.

I don't have any. A fire extinguisher is across the dirt street but I
wouldn't know how to operate it.

Here, I found a weblink with pictures of a water heater.http://www.exothink.com/Pages/waterhtr.html
On the top photo the control is on the tank, temperature knob is on
the front. *The black thing on the top of that control is the ON OFF
knob. *Just turn it to OFF. like turning a faucet.

Mine is a Rheem RUUD. It's modern and new. But it does not allow me to
turn it off completely, just back to pilot. I had hired a professional
plumber to install it but he does not work today and tomorrow.

Again: I turned the gas handle of the gas line to the tank to off. I
turned the handle of the gas tank to pilot as it does not allow me to
turn it off completely.

Gene.

Just so you know, you shut off the HOT water above the water heater.

I agree with the guy who said this was a troll.. You guys always fall
for these things.

This guy bought a home with winter damaged pipes but knows nothing about
the house..?

He had the pipes repaired but never entered into a conversation about
how it happened or how to keep it from happening again..?

He owns a home but doesn't know how to shut off the water, gas or
electric..?

Come on...?

You guys love the posts from the ones that give the 'apperance' of
cluelessness..
CP

On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 23:50:49 -0500, (Charles
Pisano) wrote:

I agree with the guy who said this was a troll.. You guys always fall
for these things.

When a poster seems clueless, they lure people who want to feel
superior. Some of these folks don't get many opportunities to feel
superior.

Bernardo