Good day, probably stupid question, do i have to shut down the main gas valve if i am shutting down the main water valve due to being away.
My water heater is running on gas, if there is no more water will the heater keep heating up without water in it?
Or should i shut down the main water valve and the gas isolation valve to the water heater keeping the main gas valve on? This does not seem to make any differences as the pilot 🔥 is gone too.
Thank you.
Storage.
Depends then on how long you're going to be away. Check the guidance for your jurisdiction on turning off hot water systems; if you're not using hot water there's very little saving - and a public health caveat to be aware of.
Look, if you are away a long time, see if there is a pilot light only setting.
(Turning down the temperature to a lower setting is all you may want to do for a short time).
Turning off the gas is beneficial if your copper pipes are exposed to the outside and someone comes and steals the piping (copper as a scrap metal), which does happen to older houses. You will need to be okay to re-light the pilot light if you turn off the gas completely (for storage hws).
If the instructions are faded, you can easily look up the information on-line.
Same goes for the water, stealing the copper water pipe is a problem in older houses.
The electricity may well turn on night lights, power security systems and keep the fridge functional. So that should be left on.
I imagine that a neighbour/friend may be clearing your letterbox to help you?
Bacteria is not something to consider.
It is chlorinated water after all.
Just flush out the water when you return.
@marcozmitch: My information is factual, however you're free to disregard it. It's not enforced for homeowners. If you or any of your housemates contract Legionnaires Disease no one will care.
@marcozmitch: But if OP's HWS if turned off it's within the realms of possibility it won't stay at 60°C. You'll may want to complain to your own government about their alternative facts
@marcozmitch: Thanks mate, I was reading the user manual on my HWS - It does not specifically has a vacation mode. It does mention 'Turn the gas control knob to the * pilot position. this setting will leave the pilot flame alight however the main burner will not be able to light'
My dumb question is, won't the water in the HWS dried up or burn up the HWS if I am wanting to turn off the main water valve?
Thanks.
Generally speaking …
Storage hot water heaters, should have a "vacation" or "away" setting … Still heats water, but at far lower temp.
I would be looking for such a function - rather than turning off BOTH water/gas at mains.
+++ what about your retic/garden/lawn - esp coming into summer. Surely they need watering too.
If you do go with what you are suggesting above … Make sure that you 100% drain heater of water otherwise will breed BAD bacteria) … Online threads, then also mention about "flushing" the heater when re-filling.
Unless you will be away for 4+ months … Far better to use vacation setting.
That’s nice. I didn’t see any vacation mode in side my HWS. Is this setting generally inside the tank if this feature is available? It is vulcan 4.
@kiitos: Yeah, thanks, nah, I don't think my HWS has this feature, it has the knob to turn from 1 to 6, * and 0. But primarily, I want to turn off the main water valve to prevent leakage while i am away, and because there is no water supply to tank, i have to turn off the HWS either via main gas valve or the isolation valve to the tank.
I wouldnt be turning off any main gas or water valve.
I don't isolate either but if u do one, you may as well do the other
No. There should be a gas valve near the gas HWS and this is the one you turn off just for the gas HWS, but if you are going on holidays it is better to turn off the main gas valve.
If i turn off the gas valve to the gas HWS, wouldn’t the flame goes off and i would have the issue of water in storage tank growing bacteria?
We always turn our hot water off if we are going away and never had an issue (shutting off the gas line when we had gas, and then the electric boost when we switched to solar). I had heard when the water is reheated on your return so long as it gets up to 60~70 degrees that will kill anything living in the tank (so no problem there), only an issue if you use the water before it has properly been reheated. Of course I am neither a plumber nor a doctor though, either of those might have a different opinion!
Yeah. So i am thinking of draining the water tank either by taking long showers or release it via pressure valve. Before i go, i will turn off the isolation water and gas valve to the tank, used up all the hot water then turn off the main water and gas valve.
When back, blast the flame on max to heat up the tank filled with fresh water.
@OhNoUShiz: Check out google for what you are going to do before you do it. Good luck and best wished for this when you get back and then for the next year you use the HWS.
@OhNoUShiz: I don’t think you can empty a mains pressure hot water tank doing that. If there is no water going in there will be no water going out after the pressure is released as the cold goes in the bottom inlet and the hot water out the top
May be check out google before posting to learn about the real world and how to keep healthy. There is a big difference between theory and practice for some thing. Unfortunately social media is not very good with this.
Google "what temperature does bacteria grow at" and have a read.
Ok I did that and it said 40C and dies above 65.
So now what?
i think the real question is "Should I not Shut The Main Gas Valve?"
What would Jesus do?
I'm not sure I understand the rationale of turning off mains water at all. Can someone explain that? Unless there's a leak then your consumption should be zero.
I wouldn't be turning off the gas either, assuming it's in reasonably well insulated (touch your storage to see if it feels warm) maintaining the full tank at a steady temp uses next to no energy. Maybe a few $ in savings if you're going away for an extended period.
When you then turn your tank back on you have to heat all of that water back up to 65+ which will consume a lot of energy. You'll also be getting rid of the hot water you've already heated which already cost you a lot to heat up.
I have two electric hws tanks (on timers) and when I was away for 3 weeks recently there was no real additional electricity consumption from my baseline during that period.
In case anything bursts you won't flood the house.
yeah, exactly because of this reason, not so much about saving the costs to keep tank heating.
So do you turn the water off everytime you leave the house. Same probability of something bursting and if you are not home, same flooding
@mattmel96: I think the amount of time that , in the event of burst pipe, the water is leaking unnoticed is the factor.
Eg pop down to the shop - water maybe leaking leaking for 1 hour , Vs : fly to the USA -water maybe leaking for 2 weeks
Perhaps you could ask the HWS manufacturer for advice?
Oh, yeah, that is one option too. I did check the online manual nothing about away and what you should do before and after. I can perhaps try to contact them.
Is your HWS storage or continuous flow?