I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

On Aug 20, 11:24*am, Mikepier wrote:
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

I always turn mine to pilot when away for an extended period. I also
shut off the main water supply valve to the house as a precaution.
Some people will argue that allowing the tank to cool down subjects it
to stress and will result in earlier failure, but I've never seen that
backed up by an actual data. Also, the temp swing from 130 down to
65 isn't that large compared to other temp changes with a lot of
equipment that doesnt' cause failure.

Mikepier wrote:

I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

One-forty? Yikes. We had ours set to one-twenty but we've turned it down a
bit from that after noticing that the "Vacation" setting was just about hot
enough. When you think about it, if you have to add cold water to make your
morning shower comfortable then why spend money to make the water hotter
than you can stand in the first place? It's like driving with the parking
brake on....

On Aug 20, 12:13*pm, "DGDevin" wrote:
Mikepier wrote:
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

One-forty? *Yikes. *We had ours set to one-twenty but we've turned it down a
bit from that after noticing that the "Vacation" setting was just about hot
enough. *When you think about it, if you have to add cold water to make your
morning shower comfortable then why spend money to make the water hotter
than you can stand in the first place? *It's like driving with the parking
brake on....

Well, not exactly. Most of the extra energy is not lost. If the
water is hotter, you mix less of it with the cold to get the desired
temp. That also means that you can take more showers at your desired
temp before running out of hot water. The energy that is lost is
mostly the additional amount due to standby losses at the higher temp.

Most of the dishwasher manufacturers call for water that is at least
130.

On Aug 20, 11:48*am, wrote:
On Aug 20, 12:13*pm, "DGDevin" wrote:

Mikepier wrote:
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

One-forty? *Yikes. *We had ours set to one-twenty but we've turned it down a
bit from that after noticing that the "Vacation" setting was just about hot
enough. *When you think about it, if you have to add cold water to make your
morning shower comfortable then why spend money to make the water hotter
than you can stand in the first place? *It's like driving with the parking
brake on....

Well, not exactly. *Most of the extra energy is not lost. *If the
water is hotter, you mix less of it with the cold to get the desired
temp. *That also means that you can take more showers at your desired
temp before running out of hot water. * The energy that is lost is
mostly the additional amount due to standby losses at the higher temp.

Most of the dishwasher manufacturers call for water that is at least
130.

125 degrees is plenty for most

One-forty? *Yikes. *We had ours set to one-twenty but we've turned it down a
bit from that after noticing that the "Vacation" setting was just about hot
enough. *When you think about it, if you have to add cold water to make your
morning shower comfortable then why spend money to make the water hotter
than you can stand in the first place? *It's like driving with the parking
brake on....


Well in all honesty, I don't know what the temp is, I just said 140 as
a ballpark. But it probably is closer to 120 since I don't use a lot
of cold water when taking a shower.

On Aug 20, 10:24*am, Mikepier wrote:
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

Yes. Just turn the knob to 'pilot' . A pilot flame uses a very small
amount of gas while youre on vacation.

"Mikepier" wrote in message
...
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

I always turn it off--why run it---been doing it for years and have never
seen any adverse effect. Additionally, I also shut off the house inlet
water valve (even for an overnighter). Once OK, but twice shame on me---I
experienced a failure (toilet) when away on vacation a few years ago (opened
the front door and heard water running); 4 months and $25,000 later the
house was back to normal. Two bathrooms completely destroyed and while
things were being restored had to wash and shave in the kitchen sink, use
the toilet in a downstairs bathroom and shower in an upstairs bathroom for 4
months. What would you rather be---paranoid or sorry?
MLD

On Aug 20, 3:00*pm, Van Chocstraw
wrote:
Mikepier wrote:
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

Why don't you turn it to "off" instead of "pilot"?? Cut the main gas
feed to it off and kill the power to it, if any. Can't be that hard to
light.

Maybe because for the ~10cents worth of gas it isn't worth the trouble.

wrote:

Well, not exactly. Most of the extra energy is not lost. If the
water is hotter, you mix less of it with the cold to get the desired
temp. That also means that you can take more showers at your desired
temp before running out of hot water. The energy that is lost is
mostly the additional amount due to standby losses at the higher temp.

Most of the dishwasher manufacturers call for water that is at least
130.

Dishwasers have their own heating elements so they can warm the water to
whatever temperature they want. Dishwashers clean and (sometimes) sterilize
just fine with cold water.

In spite of what some might think, you should not add either bleach or
fabric softener to a dishwasher.

On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:12:18 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

wrote:

Well, not exactly. Most of the extra energy is not lost. If the
water is hotter, you mix less of it with the cold to get the desired
temp. That also means that you can take more showers at your desired
temp before running out of hot water. The energy that is lost is
mostly the additional amount due to standby losses at the higher temp.

Most of the dishwasher manufacturers call for water that is at least
130.

Dishwasers have their own heating elements so they can warm the water to
whatever temperature they want. Dishwashers clean and (sometimes) sterilize
just fine with cold water.

In spite of what some might think, you should not add either bleach or
fabric softener to a dishwasher.


Some have a booster heater; I don't think all do. And most of those
that do are intended only to boost ~20deg (from 120 to 140, allowing
you to set the WH to the suggested scald prevention temp). I'm sure
there are some with heaters designed to bring 40-50 degree water to
140, but they're rare.

Our Frigidaire has a small display (it usually shows the time left,
which is nice), but I'm always a little offended when it flashes "HO"
at us while it heats the water :-)

Josh

Van Chocstraw wrote:
Mikepier wrote:
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

Why don't you turn it to "off" instead of "pilot"?? Cut the main gas
feed to it off and kill the power to it, if any. Can't be that hard to
light.

All of the new gas water heaters I've installed have had
a push button piezoelectric igniter as a standard feature.

TDD

wrote:

Well, not exactly. Most of the extra energy is not lost. If the
water is hotter, you mix less of it with the cold to get the desired
temp.

If the hot water is already at a comfortable temperature for a shower
straight out of the water heater then you don't have to mix in any cold
water.

That also means that you can take more showers at your desired
temp before running out of hot water.

I find that one per day is usually sufficient, unless I mow the lawn on a
hot day or something like that.

The energy that is lost is
mostly the additional amount due to standby losses at the higher temp.

Exactly. I bet we don't have a hot water tap turned on more than twenty
minutes a day, the rest of the time we're paying to heat water that just
sits there in the tank.

Most of the dishwasher manufacturers call for water that is at least
130.

I'm the dishwasher more often than not, and I find water at 130 burns my
hands. ;~)

On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:24:25 -0700 (PDT), Mikepier
wrote:

I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?


Unless you need water pressure for sprinklers, turn OFF your water
main, turn OFF the gas, turn OFF the water heater. When you turn
your heater back on, follow the directions on the tank, it's usually
quite easy.

gnu / linux wrote:
On Aug 20, 11:48 am, wrote:
On Aug 20, 12:13 pm, "DGDevin" wrote:

Mikepier wrote:
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down
the T- stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is
lower than the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas
valve to "pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will
stay off?

One-forty? Yikes. We had ours set to one-twenty but we've turned it
down a bit from that after noticing that the "Vacation" setting was
just about hot enough. When you think about it, if you have to add
cold water to make your morning shower comfortable then why spend
money to make the water hotter than you can stand in the first
place? It's like driving with the parking brake on....

Well, not exactly. Most of the extra energy is not lost. If the
water is hotter, you mix less of it with the cold to get the desired
temp. That also means that you can take more showers at your desired
temp before running out of hot water. The energy that is lost is
mostly the additional amount due to standby losses at the higher
temp.

Most of the dishwasher manufacturers call for water that is at least
130.

125 degrees is plenty for most

The cooler the water is, the longer the internal heater will have to operate
with more expensive heat before the wash cycle begins.

If your water heater is gas, the expense is the same, but the time delay
remains.

Bob wrote:
On Aug 20, 3:00 pm, Van Chocstraw
wrote:
Mikepier wrote:
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the
T- stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower
than the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve
to "pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay
off?

Why don't you turn it to "off" instead of "pilot"?? Cut the main gas
feed to it off and kill the power to it, if any. Can't be that hard
to light.

Maybe because for the ~10cents worth of gas it isn't worth the
trouble.

Maybe running the pilot light is more the 10 cents. At least it was for my old
furnace. Turning off the pilot saved me several dollars a month.

"DGDevin" wrote in message
om...

enough. When you think about it, if you have to add cold water to make
your morning shower comfortable then why spend money to make the water
hotter than you can stand in the first place?

To prevent Legionella bacteria from growing, for one. (Legionaire's disease)

Bob M. wrote:
"DGDevin" wrote in message
m...

enough. When you think about it, if you have to add cold water to
make your morning shower comfortable then why spend money to make
the water hotter than you can stand in the first place?

To prevent Legionella bacteria from growing, for one. (Legionaire's
disease)

Right. LD thrives at 90-120° and the recommended minimum temperature is
140°F. However, clorination kills 'em.

DGDevin wrote:
Mikepier wrote:

I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

One-forty? Yikes. We had ours set to one-twenty but we've turned it down a
bit from that after noticing that the "Vacation" setting was just about hot
enough. When you think about it, if you have to add cold water to make your
morning shower comfortable then why spend money to make the water hotter
than you can stand in the first place? It's like driving with the parking
brake on....


Hmmm,
Why not? You use less hot water if it is hot and mixed with cold water.
So what's the difference in energy cost?

Bob F wrote:
gnu / linux wrote:
On Aug 20, 11:48 am, wrote:
On Aug 20, 12:13 pm, "DGDevin" wrote:

Mikepier wrote:
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down
the T- stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is
lower than the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas
valve to "pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will
stay off?

One-forty? Yikes. We had ours set to one-twenty but we've turned it
down a bit from that after noticing that the "Vacation" setting was
just about hot enough. When you think about it, if you have to add
cold water to make your morning shower comfortable then why spend
money to make the water hotter than you can stand in the first
place? It's like driving with the parking brake on....

Well, not exactly. Most of the extra energy is not lost. If the
water is hotter, you mix less of it with the cold to get the desired
temp. That also means that you can take more showers at your desired
temp before running out of hot water. The energy that is lost is
mostly the additional amount due to standby losses at the higher
temp.

Most of the dishwasher manufacturers call for water that is at least
130.

125 degrees is plenty for most

The cooler the water is, the longer the internal heater will have to
operate with more expensive heat before the wash cycle begins.

If your water heater is gas, the expense is the same, but the time
delay remains.

Oops. That should be "If your water heater is electric".

Tony Hwang wrote:
DGDevin wrote:
Mikepier wrote:

I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the
T- stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower
than the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve
to "pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay
off?

One-forty? Yikes. We had ours set to one-twenty but we've turned
it down a bit from that after noticing that the "Vacation" setting
was just about hot enough. When you think about it, if you have to
add cold water to make your morning shower comfortable then why
spend money to make the water hotter than you can stand in the first
place? It's like driving with the parking brake on....


Hmmm,
Why not? You use less hot water if it is hot and mixed with cold
water. So what's the difference in energy cost?

Losses due to the higher temp. That's it.

wrote:
On Aug 20, 12:13 pm, "DGDevin" wrote:
Mikepier wrote:
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?
One-forty? Yikes. We had ours set to one-twenty but we've turned it down a
bit from that after noticing that the "Vacation" setting was just about hot
enough. When you think about it, if you have to add cold water to make your
morning shower comfortable then why spend money to make the water hotter
than you can stand in the first place? It's like driving with the parking
brake on....

Well, not exactly. Most of the extra energy is not lost. If the
water is hotter, you mix less of it with the cold to get the desired
temp. That also means that you can take more showers at your desired
temp before running out of hot water. The energy that is lost is
mostly the additional amount due to standby losses at the higher temp.

Most of the dishwasher manufacturers call for water that is at least
130.
Hi,
DW is not a problem, most has it's own water heater. When I need to fill
Jacuzzi tub I can't do it if the water is 120 deg. At 140 I can. Even
with two tanks, when 3 or 4 bathrooms going some times...... We also
use stored rain water for indoor plants. We have half dozen rain barrels
around house.

DGDevin wrote:
wrote:

Well, not exactly. Most of the extra energy is not lost. If the
water is hotter, you mix less of it with the cold to get the desired
temp.

If the hot water is already at a comfortable temperature for a shower
straight out of the water heater then you don't have to mix in any cold
water.

That also means that you can take more showers at your desired
temp before running out of hot water.

I find that one per day is usually sufficient, unless I mow the lawn on a
hot day or something like that.

The energy that is lost is
mostly the additional amount due to standby losses at the higher temp.

Exactly. I bet we don't have a hot water tap turned on more than twenty
minutes a day, the rest of the time we're paying to heat water that just
sits there in the tank.

Most of the dishwasher manufacturers call for water that is at least
130.

I'm the dishwasher more often than not, and I find water at 130 burns my
hands. ;~)


Hi,
For sanitary reasons we mostly use DW only when it's fully loaded. No
matter how well you wash with hands, it is not as good as DW. But
washing hands is good. Think swine flu.

Mike rock wrote:
One-forty? Yikes. We had ours set to one-twenty but we've turned it down a
bit from that after noticing that the "Vacation" setting was just about hot
enough. When you think about it, if you have to add cold water to make your
morning shower comfortable then why spend money to make the water hotter
than you can stand in the first place? It's like driving with the parking
brake on....


Well in all honesty, I don't know what the temp is, I just said 140 as
a ballpark. But it probably is closer to 120 since I don't use a lot
of cold water when taking a shower.
Yup,
If I need hot, I use Sauna.

MLD wrote:

"Mikepier" wrote in message
...
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

I always turn it off--why run it---been doing it for years and have
never seen any adverse effect. Additionally, I also shut off the house
inlet water valve (even for an overnighter). Once OK, but twice shame
on me---I experienced a failure (toilet) when away on vacation a few
years ago (opened the front door and heard water running); 4 months and
$25,000 later the house was back to normal. Two bathrooms completely
destroyed and while things were being restored had to wash and shave in
the kitchen sink, use the toilet in a downstairs bathroom and shower in
an upstairs bathroom for 4 months. What would you rather be---paranoid
or sorry?
MLD
Hmmm,
My alarm system monitors such disaster.

Van Chocstraw wrote:
Mikepier wrote:
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

Why don't you turn it to "off" instead of "pilot"?? Cut the main gas
feed to it off and kill the power to it, if any. Can't be that hard to
light.
Hi,
By doing that, what would be actual saving $$$ for a week?
One purpose pilot is on always is to keep the moisture away.

On 8/20/2009 3:01 PM Josh spake thus:

Our Frigidaire has a small display (it usually shows the time left,
which is nice), but I'm always a little offended when it flashes "HO"
at us while it heats the water :-)

At least it doesn't read "U A HO".


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

On Aug 20, 10:24*am, Mikepier wrote:
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

Its only a week the tank wont cool to room temp for maybe 3 days, id
just turn it down. Be sure to turn off the water incomming main
incase a pipe breaks, that can ruin a house in days. I used to leave
for 3-4 days and turn off my tank, it was electric and still had maybe
80f water after many days. 140f costs alot more money than 120, I only
heat my tank to what is needed for a hot water only shower.

The tiny bit of heat from the pilot helps keep a small air
flow. Holds down humidity, so it doesn't rust out. Or, so
I'm told.

Same deal with furnaces. Pilot light models, leave the pilot
light on at all times.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


" wrote in message
news:a71da754-6cbe-41cb-9daa-

Yes. Just turn the knob to 'pilot' . A pilot flame uses a
very small
amount of gas while youre on vacation.

Stormin Mormon wrote:
The tiny bit of heat from the pilot helps keep a small air
flow. Holds down humidity, so it doesn't rust out. Or, so
I'm told.

Same deal with furnaces. Pilot light models, leave the pilot
light on at all times.

I seriously doubt that this makes any difference. Turning off the pilot, even
for a week, and the water won't even get down to room temp. Even if it does, it
shouldn't be an issue. High efficiency water heaters and furnaces shut off the
pilot themselves, and they don't have a problem.

I suspect that the burning pilot could create more corrosion problems, as the
resulting moisture from the pilot condenses on the cooler metal it can't really
heat.

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
The tiny bit of heat from the pilot helps keep a small air
flow. Holds down humidity, so it doesn't rust out. Or, so
I'm told.

Same deal with furnaces. Pilot light models, leave the pilot
light on at all times.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.


" wrote in message
news:a71da754-6cbe-41cb-9daa-

Yes. Just turn the knob to 'pilot' . A pilot flame uses a
very small
amount of gas while youre on vacation.

We have a vacation setting on ours and an electronic pilot. Ours in located
in the garage and the water is distributed through the attic. We live in
Vegas and went away for 4 days so I turned it to the vacation setting.. We
went came back, I forgot to turn it back up. We both showered and didn't
notice for three days, since there is so much heat in the garage and attic
during the summer here. But it's a dry heat grin 110 today.

MLD wrote:



I always turn it off--why run it---been doing it for years and have
never seen any adverse effect. Additionally, I also shut off the house
inlet water valve (even for an overnighter). Once OK, but twice shame
on me---I experienced a failure (toilet) when away on vacation a few
years ago (opened the front door and heard water running); 4 months and
$25,000 later the house was back to normal. Two bathrooms completely
destroyed and while things were being restored had to wash and shave in
the kitchen sink, use the toilet in a downstairs bathroom and shower in
an upstairs bathroom for 4 months. What would you rather be---paranoid
or sorry?
MLD

My father twice filled his finished basement with water while he was
away on vacation. The neighbors noticed the water pouring out of the
little windows near the basement ceiling. You'd think he would have
learned the first time.

What I do is turn the water heater down to the lowest setting and turn
the water off to the house even if I'm gone for a night. It only takes
me less than a minute.

On Aug 21, 5:25*pm, John wrote:
MLD wrote:

I always turn it off--why run it---been doing it for years and have
never seen any adverse effect. *Additionally, I also shut off the house
inlet water valve (even for an overnighter). *Once OK, but twice shame
on me---I experienced a failure (toilet) when away on vacation a few
years ago (opened the front door and heard water running); 4 months and
$25,000 later the house was back to normal. *Two bathrooms completely
destroyed and while things were being restored had to wash and shave in
the kitchen sink, use the toilet in a downstairs bathroom and shower in
an upstairs bathroom for 4 months. What would you rather be---paranoid
or sorry?
MLD

My father twice filled his finished basement with water while he was
away on vacation. *The neighbors noticed the water pouring out of the
little windows near the basement ceiling. *You'd think he would have
learned the first time.

What I do is turn the water heater down to the lowest setting and turn
the water off to the house even if I'm gone for a night. *It only takes
me less than a minute.

So here is my theory...
Even if you have a pressure regulator on the cold water input to your
home, most of these have a back flow prevention....so if you use some
hot water, then stop using water, all the spigots are closed. Then
when the water heater comes on to re-heat the water, the pressure
builds and cannot back flow through the regulator so it just builds
and builds. And when you go away on vacation, the cycling on and off
of the heater with NO use of water allows the pressure to build more
then usual. So I always turn off the water heater when going away
for a while just to keep the pressure from being able to build.

The best answer is an expansion tank or pressure relief valve. I'm
surprised this pressure build does not cause more problems then it
does.

Mark

John wrote:
MLD wrote:



I always turn it off--why run it---been doing it for years and have
never seen any adverse effect. Additionally, I also shut off the
house inlet water valve (even for an overnighter). Once OK, but twice
shame on me---I experienced a failure (toilet) when away on vacation a
few years ago (opened the front door and heard water running); 4
months and $25,000 later the house was back to normal. Two bathrooms
completely destroyed and while things were being restored had to wash
and shave in the kitchen sink, use the toilet in a downstairs bathroom
and shower in an upstairs bathroom for 4 months. What would you rather
be---paranoid or sorry?
MLD

My father twice filled his finished basement with water while he was
away on vacation. The neighbors noticed the water pouring out of the
little windows near the basement ceiling. You'd think he would have
learned the first time.

What I do is turn the water heater down to the lowest setting and turn
the water off to the house even if I'm gone for a night. It only takes
me less than a minute


Hmmm,
Wonder what was basement drain doing? Basement may get wet little bit in
such case but water pouring our thru window? I can't fathom such an
incident.

Tony Hwang wrote:
John wrote:
MLD wrote:



I always turn it off--why run it---been doing it for years and have
never seen any adverse effect. Additionally, I also shut off the
house inlet water valve (even for an overnighter). Once OK, but
twice shame on me---I experienced a failure (toilet) when away on
vacation a few years ago (opened the front door and heard water
running); 4 months and $25,000 later the house was back to normal.
Two bathrooms completely destroyed and while things were being
restored had to wash and shave in the kitchen sink, use the toilet in
a downstairs bathroom and shower in an upstairs bathroom for 4
months. What would you rather be---paranoid or sorry?
MLD

My father twice filled his finished basement with water while he was
away on vacation. The neighbors noticed the water pouring out of the
little windows near the basement ceiling. You'd think he would have
learned the first time.

What I do is turn the water heater down to the lowest setting and turn
the water off to the house even if I'm gone for a night. It only
takes me less than a minute


Hmmm,
Wonder what was basement drain doing? Basement may get wet little bit in
such case but water pouring our thru window? I can't fathom such an
incident.

Of the houses I have seen personally, probably less than 1 in 3 had
basement drains, unless you count the sump pit and pump. You can only
have floor drains if there is some place for water to go, and in much of
the country, the sewer exit is halfway up the basement wall.

Having said that, I think these people who turn WH and water supply off
for anything short of an extended trip, are deluding themselves. The
odds of a catastrophic failure while they are gone are so low, that the
additional wear on the valves probably cancels any benefit. Life is too
short, etc. Just keep the house in good condition, and don't worry about it.

--
aem sends...

"aemeijers" wrote in message
...
Tony Hwang wrote:
John wrote:
MLD wrote:



I always turn it off--why run it---been doing it for years and have
never seen any adverse effect. Additionally, I also shut off the house
inlet water valve (even for an overnighter). Once OK, but twice shame
on me---I experienced a failure (toilet) when away on vacation a few
years ago (opened the front door and heard water running); 4 months and
$25,000 later the house was back to normal. Two bathrooms completely
destroyed and while things were being restored had to wash and shave in
the kitchen sink, use the toilet in a downstairs bathroom and shower in
an upstairs bathroom for 4 months. What would you rather be---paranoid
or sorry?
MLD

My father twice filled his finished basement with water while he was
away on vacation. The neighbors noticed the water pouring out of the
little windows near the basement ceiling. You'd think he would have
learned the first time.

What I do is turn the water heater down to the lowest setting and turn
the water off to the house even if I'm gone for a night. It only takes
me less than a minute


Hmmm,
Wonder what was basement drain doing? Basement may get wet little bit in
such case but water pouring our thru window? I can't fathom such an
incident.

Of the houses I have seen personally, probably less than 1 in 3 had
basement drains, unless you count the sump pit and pump. You can only have
floor drains if there is some place for water to go, and in much of the
country, the sewer exit is halfway up the basement wall.

Having said that, I think these people who turn WH and water supply off
for anything short of an extended trip, are deluding themselves. The odds
of a catastrophic failure while they are gone are so low, that the
additional wear on the valves probably cancels any benefit. Life is too
short, etc. Just keep the house in good condition, and don't worry about
it.

--
aem sends...

Are you nuts?? You're worried about the wear and tear of some valves (mine
are all ball valves now and have never had to replace any of them) that
probably only get exercised several time a year at the most. Low odds or
not--how many catastrophic failures are you willing to put up with? Once is
enough for me.
BTW, how many faucet failures-kitchen, bathroom, etc.--have you experienced
and over what time frame between them? Based on your comment, perhaps you
ought to leave them on all the time instead of turning them on and off.

With respect to the following comment:
"What I do is turn the water heater down to the lowest setting and turn the
water off to the house even if I'm gone for a night. It only
takes me less than a minute"

Now that is a potential catastrophe in the making. If you have an expansion
tank, no problem. If you have a relief valve on your water heater (T&P
Valve), no problem (if it works per design intent)--just some water on the
floor. If there is no relief valve in the system (or it doesn't work
properly) then you have a scenario that can result in a failure of the
weakest link in your plumbing system----the water heater, a solder joint
washing machine hose etc--. Water is not incompressible. It expands as
it's temperature is increased--Example: Auto cooling system: every car today
has an overflow tank to catch the coolant that comes out of the radiator as
it is heated and expands. Almost all radiator caps are set to crack at 15
psi before they open. Without doing the math, increasing water temperature
from room temp to about 140+F can increase the pressure of a closed system
(no relief valve/expansion tank) to the 1000+ psi level. That's high enough
to start breaking things. If you're interested:
Delta P=BM*(Delta V)/V

Whe Delta P is the change in pressure
BM=Fluid Bulk Modules
Delta V=Change in fluid volume (expansion as it heats up, can be calculated
based on change of specific gravity vs temperature
V=Volume of fluid in the closed system

Granted, compressibility is not an everyday concern but it is an extremely
significant factor in servo systems and can be the difference between a
stable or unstable system.
MLD

On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:27:42 -0400, "MLD" wrote:


"aemeijers" wrote in message
...
Tony Hwang wrote:
John wrote:
MLD wrote:



I always turn it off--why run it---been doing it for years and have
never seen any adverse effect. Additionally, I also shut off the house
inlet water valve (even for an overnighter). Once OK, but twice shame
on me---I experienced a failure (toilet) when away on vacation a few
years ago (opened the front door and heard water running); 4 months and
$25,000 later the house was back to normal. Two bathrooms completely
destroyed and while things were being restored had to wash and shave in
the kitchen sink, use the toilet in a downstairs bathroom and shower in
an upstairs bathroom for 4 months. What would you rather be---paranoid
or sorry?
MLD

My father twice filled his finished basement with water while he was
away on vacation. The neighbors noticed the water pouring out of the
little windows near the basement ceiling. You'd think he would have
learned the first time.

What I do is turn the water heater down to the lowest setting and turn
the water off to the house even if I'm gone for a night. It only takes
me less than a minute


Hmmm,
Wonder what was basement drain doing? Basement may get wet little bit in
such case but water pouring our thru window? I can't fathom such an
incident.

Of the houses I have seen personally, probably less than 1 in 3 had
basement drains, unless you count the sump pit and pump. You can only have
floor drains if there is some place for water to go, and in much of the
country, the sewer exit is halfway up the basement wall.

Having said that, I think these people who turn WH and water supply off
for anything short of an extended trip, are deluding themselves. The odds
of a catastrophic failure while they are gone are so low, that the
additional wear on the valves probably cancels any benefit. Life is too
short, etc. Just keep the house in good condition, and don't worry about
it.

--
aem sends...

Are you nuts?? You're worried about the wear and tear of some valves (mine
are all ball valves now and have never had to replace any of them) that


My neighbor came back from a 4-week vacation with $34,500 damage due
to an ice-maker line leak. The damage included furniture, walls, the
ceiling below, etc. Now, he turns off the water main before
vacation.

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:27:42 -0400, "MLD"
My neighbor came back from a 4-week vacation with $34,500 damage due
to an ice-maker line leak. The damage included furniture, walls, the
ceiling below, etc. Now, he turns off the water main before
vacation.

I have a well and electric water heater. I always turn the breakers off
when leaving overnight. This means I could get whatever is in the tank and
no more water. Moved in this house about 4 years ago.

The other house was fed by a comunity well and a gas water heater. It was
built around 1965. The water pipes started getting pin hole leaks about 10
years ago. I had the pipes replaced after patching them about 5 times over
a couple of years.
After moving and while trying to sell the house I left the water on. Came
in after being gone 2 days and found one of the hoses of the washing machine
had broken and was leaking very bad. Just lucky it was a house where the
washer was in the little room of a carport so there was no real damage done.
I then cut off the water and turned the water heater to pilot unless I was
at the house.

Mikepier wrote:
I'm going away for a week and I wanted to put my gas HW heater in
"vacation mode". In the past I noticed that even if I turn down the T-
stat dial, it still comes on, although the water temp is lower than
the usual 140 deg. Am I better off just putting the gas valve to
"pilot" instead of "on", that way I know for sure it will stay off?

Just put it on pilot. Mine's a power vent , and i just shut it off
when we leave for more than 24 hours. 'Course the water gets shut off also.