C/H in an empty house
 

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

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

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

With the C/H running, I can't turn off the gas or electric. What
about the water?
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"

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

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

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

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

I looked after an empty house for nearly a year, everything was left on, the
heating on a low setting, nothing went wrong, when I visited for the post
the house was pleasantly warm. This was also excellent for when potential
buyers went round to look.

mrcheerful

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

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

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

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

This house was empty when we bought it, heating was off and drained
down, mains off, all water drained down.

Alternatively leave it all on, including the mains water as you suggest.
I'd probably not bother with leaving the Hot water coming on but won't
do any harm.

Check you insurance as well. Ours requires either the it all drained
down, or left on to protect against frost.
--
Chris French, Leeds

Hugo Nebula wrote:

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

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

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

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

I had this prob when selling me mums (empty) house.

We left the services all connected and the CH coming on for an hour a
day in the wee small hours (coldets time) to prevent frost damage and
damp build up.

The water was left on, but you can get a reduction in council tax and
water rates for unoccupied premises.

The gas and electricity are metered anwyay, so you just get a rebate or
a low bill when the meters are finally read.

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

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

Ideally, it needs to be kept a few degrees above the outside
temperature to keep it dry, but at a minimum of 5 deg C to protect
against frost. As most control systems cannot do this, a reasonable
compromise would be set it to maintain 10 deg C 24/7.

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

You also need to leave that on.

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.org

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 08:01:44 GMT, "mrcheerful
.." wrote:

I looked after an empty house for nearly a year, everything was left on, the
heating on a low setting, nothing went wrong, when I visited for the post
the house was pleasantly warm. This was also excellent for when potential
buyers went round to look.

That sounds a very good point. Empty houses with the heating off can
smell musty very quickly. The radiators kicking in from time to time
will circulate the air.
--
On-line canal route planner: http://www.canalplan.org.uk

(Waterways World site of the month, April 2001)

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
The gas and electricity are metered anwyay, so you just get a rebate or
a low bill when the meters are finally read.

But make sure you're on a 'no-standing-charge' tarriff, certainly for
electric amd probably for gas (depending on how much you heat the house)

David

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 11:07:23 GMT, a particular chimpanzee named
Lobster randomly hit the keyboard and
produced:

But make sure you're on a 'no-standing-charge' tarriff, certainly for
electric amd probably for gas (depending on how much you heat the house)

I'm hoping it won't be for that long!

Anyone want to buy a two-bed house in Bath?
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"

Hugo Nebula wrote:
Anyone want to buy a two-bed house in Bath?

It's not in a "lively urban" area is it?

Owain

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

I've had to sort out similar situations for grand parents houses
in the past, one of which stayed like this for 3 years.

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

I thought of leaving the heating setting to 'On' permanently and
setting the room stat to low, just in case we get a late frost.

Yes. You could probably set the house to around 10C, unless it's
an older 9" brick wall construction in which case I found 13C was
required to keep any damp smell away.

Should I also set the hot water to come on for a few minutes, just to
keep the three-way valve turning, and also to ensure that the boiler
does fire up at least once a day?

No. Actually, conventional three-way valve connections are that the
resting position is hot water, and the fully driven position is
central heating. What you could do is fire up the heating for a few
minutes every time you visit, if the outside temperature is such
that it is unlikely to have run for some time otherwise.

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

I did turn off the water. On visits, check the level in the central
heating header tank. It will drop anyway -- I kept a saucepan in the
loft to top it up from the cold water storage tank. Might want to
check your boiler isn't going to burst into flames if a leak should
develop and empty the primary heating circuit.

I certainly didn't turn off the electricity. Various timers and the
like were rigged to make the houses look occupied (actually they
probably looked more occupied than when they were really lived in;-).

Probably not a good idea to do what one of my neighbours did though.
Each time I walked past the house, you could clearly see the giant
TV was on, but it was rather a giveaway that he apparently spent the
2 weeks watching a big blue screen with "No Signal" displayed on it;-)

--
Andrew Gabriel

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good luck with the new job.

In message , Mike
writes


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

A better option is probably to tell them.

My insurance requires that it is heated to minimum temp - i think 10C if
left unoccupied for more than I think 30 days
--
Chris French, Leeds

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 13:34:17 +0000, a particular chimpanzee named
Owain randomly hit the keyboard and
produced:

Hugo Nebula wrote:
Anyone want to buy a two-bed house in Bath?

It's not in a "lively urban" area is it?

Is that a euphemism for a war zone? If so, no. It's on the southern
slopes, on the edge of the countryside but with easy access to the
centre.
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"

"chris French" wrote in message
...

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

A better option is probably to tell them.

Unfortunately many won't cover the house after 30 days - even for an extra
fee.

In message , Mike
writes

"chris French" wrote in message
...

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

A better option is probably to tell them.

Unfortunately many won't cover the house after 30 days - even for an extra
fee.


I'm sure they won't.

But then I'd find one who will, I'm sure it won't be that hard. My
parents had to deal with this, and as it happens they had no problem
with the insurance co.

Fire while away from house. Oh where were the occupants? oh it's been
empty has it, oh dear, you aren't covered for the 30 grand of
repairs.......

It really isn't worth it
--
Chris French, Leeds

Im a plumber for a local council and carry out 20 30 drain downs for frost protection each year ch and domestic water you dont need to leave heating on to protect against frost you wasting money just drain everything down cold water storage tank central heating and hot water cylinder ( no water in pipework) don forget to turn all electrics off for central heating have a few lights come on by timer etc and turn gas off then forget it nothing more to worry about
kevin

Mike wrote:

"chris French" wrote in message
...

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

A better option is probably to tell them.

Unfortunately many won't cover the house after 30 days - even for an extra
fee.

AXA provide cover for up to 6 month absences.

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 21:25:34 +0000, chris French
wrote:

Fire while away from house. Oh where were the occupants? oh it's been
empty has it, oh dear, you aren't covered for the 30 grand of
repairs.......

Surely this would be covered if you had demonstrably made arrangements
for someone to visit the house on a regular basis just to check that
everything is in order?

I think I'd be worried about leaving a house completely unopened for
an extended period of time.

Andrew

"Andrew McKay" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 21:25:34 +0000, chris French
wrote:

Fire while away from house. Oh where were the occupants? oh it's been
empty has it, oh dear, you aren't covered for the 30 grand of
repairs.......

Surely this would be covered if you had demonstrably made arrangements
for someone to visit the house on a regular basis just to check that
everything is in order?

I think I'd be worried about leaving a house completely unopened for
an extended period of time.

We are at present "looking after" an empty house. The insurance cover is
minimal but does specify visiting at least twice a week.

In message , Andrew McKay
writes
On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 21:25:34 +0000, chris French
wrote:

Fire while away from house. Oh where were the occupants? oh it's been
empty has it, oh dear, you aren't covered for the 30 grand of
repairs.......

Surely this would be covered if you had demonstrably made arrangements
for someone to visit the house on a regular basis just to check that
everything is in order?

But that's not 'occupying' the house is it? - or at least I wouldn't
want to wait until a claim to find out what the ins. co thought about
it. The ins. co might be happy with that, but I'd want to agree it with
them. I just don't think it is worth the risk not to tell the co., to
pretend the house is occupied when it isn't - as was suggested by Mike.

They normally say 'you must tell us if the property is unoccupied for x
days ' etc. , not that they won't cover it, as I said my parents had no
problems with this. If an ins. co was awkward, then I'm sure another one
could be found easy enough

I think I'd be worried about leaving a house completely unopened for
an extended period of time.

Well yes, I would want visits to be made anyway, but that is a different
point.
--
Chris French, Leeds

John wrote:
"Andrew McKay" wrote in message
...

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 21:25:34 +0000, chris French
wrote:


Fire while away from house. Oh where were the occupants? oh it's been
empty has it, oh dear, you aren't covered for the 30 grand of
repairs.......

Surely this would be covered if you had demonstrably made arrangements
for someone to visit the house on a regular basis just to check that
everything is in order?

I think I'd be worried about leaving a house completely unopened for
an extended period of time.


We are at present "looking after" an empty house. The insurance cover is
minimal but does specify visiting at least twice a week.

Yes it just depends on the insurer. "Surely this would be covered" just
doesn't work - they will be very specific about their requirements for
empty properties; eg they may say someone needs to stay overnight in the
house at least once a month; or must be inspected once a week and a
written log of inspections maintained. I've experienced both of these
in the past. They may also reduce the level of cover, eg vandalism is a
common exclusion.

If you don't like the T&C imposed by the insurer, then just change
insurer! But you have to be up front with them and jump through any
hoops they stipulate. It's just not worth it not to.

David


They

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 19:58:16 -0000, a particular chimpanzee named
"Mike" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Unfortunately many won't cover the house after 30 days - even for an extra
fee.

I've just spoken to my insurance company, and cover applies up to 365
days after being unoccupied. All that happens is that after 30 days
and 90 days, the excesses increase. A little loophole for me is that
it's only _consecutive_ days, so I could stay overnight once a month
in order for the cover to stay as it is.
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"

Hugo Nebula wrote:

I've just spoken to my insurance company, and cover applies up to 365
days after being unoccupied. All that happens is that after 30 days
and 90 days, the excesses increase. A little loophole for me is that
it's only _consecutive_ days, so I could stay overnight once a month
in order for the cover to stay as it is.

If you do that, just make sure you document it or better yet keep some
form of proof that you have stayed overnight, because if the place
burned down between visits you can bet your life the insurance co will
do their damnedest to prove otherwise!

David

Lobster wrote:

If you do that, just make sure you document it or better yet keep some
form of proof that you have stayed overnight, because if the place
burned down between visits you can bet your life the insurance co will
do their damnedest to prove otherwise!

I always make sure to use my landline - the bill shows the time and date.
Of course, that doesn't help, if you've had the phone disconnected!

Sheila

On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:58:18 GMT, Lobster
wrote:

If you do that, just make sure you document it or better yet keep some
form of proof that you have stayed overnight, because if the place
burned down between visits you can bet your life the insurance co will
do their damnedest to prove otherwise!

Even better, offer free bed and lodgings for Dr Evil or someone like
that when it comes down. You get the insurance payout and do the world
a favour at the same time :)

Andrew

"Andrew McKay" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:58:18 GMT, Lobster
wrote:

If you do that, just make sure you document it or better yet keep some
form of proof that you have stayed overnight, because if the place
burned down between visits you can bet your life the insurance co will
do their damnedest to prove otherwise!

Even better, offer free bed and lodgings for Dr Evil or someone like
that when it comes down. You get the insurance payout and do the world
a favour at the same time :)



I assume that such insurance would exclude flood damage....


--
Richard Sampson

mail me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

I've lived without central heating in my particular house for donkey's
years, and from experience I know this place isn't plagued with damp or
burst pipes at the coldest or wettest of times. I'm putting in CH as I speak
(well write... well while I'm writing this I'm not putting in CH but you
know what I mean...). Personnally I wouldn't leave it on unoccupied in the
winter, let alone now and in fact plan to turn it *off* during cold snaps to
keep the bug population down. I would drain the system, esp tanks in summer
months.

Then again I live in a terraced in a dry-ish part of the country, if the OP
has a cold, damp detached in Scotland or on Lizard Point or in a flood plain
that might make a difference, but otherwise think of your bills and the
planet!.

DIYSOS

Andrew McKay wrote:
If you do that, just make sure you document it or better yet keep some
form of proof that you have stayed overnight, because if the place
burned down between visits you can bet your life the insurance co will
do their damnedest to prove otherwise!
Even better, offer free bed and lodgings for Dr Evil or someone like
that when it comes down. You get the insurance payout and do the world
a favour at the same time :)

That would invalidate the claim on the grounds you'd had a tenant in the
property ...

Owain

In article ,
RichardS wrote:
Even better, offer free bed and lodgings for Dr Evil or someone like
that when it comes down. You get the insurance payout and do the world
a favour at the same time :)

I assume that such insurance would exclude flood damage....

;-)

--
*Pentium wise, pen and paper foolish *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Mike" wrote in message
...
[snip]
Also a good idea to leave heating on so that your insurance company
will
believe that it hasn't been unoccupied should the worst happen.

Why would the insurer be so gullible ?

On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 07:38:25 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named
"Fergus O'Rourke" randomly hit the
keyboard and produced:

"Mike" wrote in message
...
[snip]
Also a good idea to leave heating on so that your insurance company
will
believe that it hasn't been unoccupied should the worst happen.

Why would the insurer be so gullible ?

Indeed; the complete lack of furniture, the 'For Sale' sign outside
and the contact details two hundred miles away are clues to a trained
claims investigator that the place is not occupied.
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"