3 Days Away from Home - Water Help Recommendation

[JeffStinson]

Hey Guys,

I’ve been burning solely with wood, no oil used, and only have turned on my electric heater when I’m re-starting up my stove if I’m gone for a few hours.

We will be leaving for 3 days for Christmas, and I’m afraid of freezing pipes. So I’ve thought about draining them, running the water out of them, then turning my water off for the 3 days I’ll be gone instead of running my oil heat for a few days.

What are your thoughts?
Jeff

 

[BurnIt13]

Does your oil burning heat source still work? Steam, forced hot water, or air? Our house is old and still drafty even though we insulated and air sealed a bit. We go away to my parents quite often for 3-4 days at a time. I leave the heat on 50 and forget about it. When we come back the basement is a little warmer than it is when we are home, burning 24/7 as the boiler kicked on a few times.

Do you have an unusually cold basement? What concerns you about the water pipes? How old is your home?

 

[JeffStinson]

It’s force hot air. It’s not too drafty, but I’m worried about freezing if not heating for a few days. I don’t have any oil in the tank at all, so that’s my issue. I was thinking about picking up some heating oil in the meantime from a local mini mart and putting in about 20 gallons and leaving the heat at 50. I’m just trying to save as I don’t have excess money to waste. Out home is 1978 – remodeled with new windows and reasonably insulated. The average basement temperature is between 48-55 degrees so far this winter, with some days having high gusts and low single digits.

 

[begreen]

Why not use the electric heater set to its lowest temp?

 

[USMC80]

anyone around you trust to run your stove?

 

[JeffStinson]

Why not use the electric heater set to its lowest temp?

It’s a non-programmable heater – a free standing no thermostat electric Convection Heater I would like to just leave it running upstairs and power it on, and set and forget it, as I think it could keep the temperature around 50 degrees.
What are your thoughts?
How are the safety of those though?

anyone around you trust to run your stove?

My family is all coming along with us or I would – close friends are miles away.

 

[begreen]

Personally I would always have a backup solution in place. You never know when there might be an emergency or illness that will require a backup solution.

A no thermostat heater makes me a little nervous. Also, is there a basement in the house? If yes that is going to need heat if temps drop too low there.

 

[begreen]

It's hard to advise here, every house is different. Some are more vulnerable to pipe freezing than others, especially if there is plumbing in the outside walls. Personally I would invest in a half-tank of oil and set the thermostat to its lowest setting. The alternative possibility of a freeze, then thaw and leak could be a whole lot more expensive to deal with.

 

[BrotherBart]

Also, is there a basement in the house? If yes that is going to need heat if temps drop too low there.

"The average basement temperature is between 48-55 degrees so far this winter, with some days having high gusts and low single digits."

 

[BurnIt13]

Personally I would always have a backup solution in place. You never know when there might be an emergency or illness that will require a backup solution..

I second this. It might not be a bad idea to have some oil in the tank just in case. And in your situation since you have forced hot air, and since it is only 3 days I'd drain my water lines. It is fairly easy at my house.

Since your house is probably better insulated than mine, depending on the weather you might find that your heat never kicks on. We left for my parents on a Thursday night and came back Sunday afternoon, almost 72 hours later. I made a fire before I left and put the thermostat on 50. It was 51 degrees when we got home and the heat never turned on. It was around 40 during the day and 20's at night.

I'd keep an eye on the weather.

 

[Treemoss]

Get 100 gallons of oil and have a worry free trip. As Bgreen says have a backup solution and oil it is.

 

[Dave A.]

I agree. Keep some oil in the tank. Set stat to about 50-55F. It prolly won't even come on unless the temp drops into the teens. And I'd keep the stat set that way all the time (not just when you're away) just in case of something unforeseen.

 

[JeffStinson]

Sadly, I don’t have an extra $400 for 100 gallons of oil with Christmas being next week + traveling money needed. Any other recommendations?

 

[begreen]

Ask if the oil company has a payment plan?

 

[BurnIt13]

This time of year is tough. I don't have $300 to spare either. At this moment if I were leaving for just a couple days and the weather wasn't going to be too cold I'd just drain my lines. Longer than that I'd make sure there was something to keep the place at a minimum temperature.

Moral of the story is always have some backup heat source on hand just in case.

 

[USMC80]

can you leave some faucets dripping?

 

[Boiler74]

Be careful. Although rare in the short span of time you're talking, you can freeze other than water lines. Toilet tank and trap, washing machines, faucet stems, and drain traps are all sources of freeze damage. I would not ever let my house freeze intentionally. I bought a foreclosure that hadn't been winterized properly and there was a lot of damage to repair not related to frozen water lines.

 

[SteveKG]

If can can really drain your pipes, that works as long as you pour some antifreeze in all your traps, including bathtub and toilet.

I don't have backup heat except hot air from our attached greenhouse. Had to leave the house Thanksgiving week for a week, unexpected family emergency. Got home to find our 30-deg temp's had unexpectedly dropped to -15, no higher than -2 F. for some days, plus very unusual run of cloudy, snowy days so no heat from the greenhouse. Uh, oh. Entire house frozen. Only time in 30 years. Luckily, after thawing [25 F. indoors when I arrived home] no leaks or damage I can see. Except the well supply pipe is frozen underground somewhere, so we may be without our well supply til summer.

 

[Biv]

3 days- you should be able to get away with getting about 15 gallons of kero or diesel, if you have the $ get 20 gallons for piece of mind. That should get you through- I burn about 4 gallons of oil in a day with 2 zones running at 66 in Jan. with no stove running. Every house is different but I think hitting the gas station for some kero is worth not wasting time draining water lines and hoping you didn't miss anything.

 

[Sons924]

i agree with the diesel fuel idea, then set the stat to 50. it will kick on just enough to keep the pipes from freezing. as said above, a 400 dollar oil bill will be pennies compared to redoing all the plumbing in your house.

 

[Dave A.]

Thought you could pick some up at a convenience store.

I was thinking about picking up some heating oil in the meantime from a local mini mart and putting in about 20 gallons

Doubt you'd even need ten for the 3 days with a stat set in the low 50's

 

[Treemoss]

Sadly, I don’t have an extra $400 for 100 gallons of oil with Christmas being next week + traveling money needed. Any other recommendations?

I would then drain all your lines and add antifreeze to the toilets and Tubs. instead of getting not enough oil and running out and freezing everything anyway and you'll end up spending more money for a plumber to come and fix broken pipes. If money is a issue.

 

[Jackfre]

Be aware that once you get some oil you will likely have to service the burner. Any residue or gunk in the tank will go into the filter and "hopefully" come out as clean. Having run the tank dry you have a rather high likelihood of needing a new nozzle. Maybe not, but in my experience, likely.

It is always best to keep the system up to date and ready to go, otherwise it is a liability because you can't. count on it.

 

[Dave A.]

Have heard that K-1 Kero acts as better clean out fuel for oil burners than regular fuel oil. Dunno if that's true or not, or even the price difference anymore between them since I stopped using oil a number of years ago.

 

[Stogiesaurus]

I would be careful with the pipe draining option. I'm sure most of you know this but I thought I would bring it up. Pipes burst when an ice plug forms and continues to freeze and flow toward a restriction (i.e. faucet, shutoff, another ice plug). This causes the water pressure to increase dramatically as the ice flows toward the restriction. Pressures can reach several thousand PSI. So closing the shutoff and draining the lines could leave some lines with water in them which could open you up to a broken pipe. You certainly can't drain the line between the shutoff and the lowest faucet. If it freezes above ground and continues to freeze and flow back towards the shutoff you could have an underground rupture.