Closing a house in the northeast next winter. I will shut off the heat. I know I have to drain the plumbing, baseboard up stairs and put rv fluid in the drains. What about the boiler in the basement? Will the basement in an unheated house freeze? It gets 20 below zero here but the basement is tight and normally 72 degrees with the heat on. The washer is also in the basement. So what do others do in the north?
Never did it myself, but I wouldn't let my house sit over the winter unheated. I'd keep it at least 40F or so, and have somebody check it at least a couple times a week.
--Vic
If the power goes out or something breaks at -20 things freeze in hours if its kept at 40, and even at 40 pipes to near to exterior walls can freeze at -20. Relying on a neighbor may also not work. best is winterise everything and shut everything down.
a vacant home needs a monitored security system ..... 40 is kinda cold
50 degrees is far better
Most insurance policies require that a house be adequately heated even while unoccupied. Better check yours beforehand.
Well, you do what you gotta do. Draining, anti-freezing what you can is sure a good idea if you don't heat. I wouldn't worry about anything freezing here at 40F as the heat is pretty consistent on the piping, none close to a touching an outside wall. I don't know what would happen to the water service if I let the temp get to -20F. It's a lead pipe coming a couple feet out of the concrete floor to a valve then the meter, and can't be drained. Meter is full of water and would have to be drained too. I'd be concerned about walls cracking, nails popping, etc. Just something I'd not be willing to do. But you do what you gotta do. Since I haven't done it, I'm just guessing.
--Vic
Our place sat empty over an entire winter in northern MN before we bought it - as far as I know the previous owners just drained the plumbing completely and left it at that. Power was shut off. I don't believe anything special was done to the drains, either (although the outdoor run to the septic system isn't particularly long).
Someone did come and check on it every couple of weeks, so it's possible they turned the power back on and ran the electric heaters up, but I'm not sure how much that'd help vs. just keeping the place on tickover anyway.
We've got no heat in the basement, but it seems to stay at around 55F year-round no matter what the outdoor temperature - I'm not sure how much further it'd fall if the place were left unheated though (the couple of times we visited prior to buying, the owners had run the furnace up beforehand). I suspect it'd stay above freezing, but possibly not by much.
cheers
Jules
LSMFT wrote in news:F7S8p.3149$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe07.iad:
U R crazy.
Agreed, a fully shutdown "abandoned" house will deteriorate very rapidly, which is why most insurers won't insure one.
I'd setup remote monitoring which is easy to do these days, and have contact information for a local heating company you can call for emergency service should the remote alarm go off. Of course drain down all plumbing and toilets, RV antifreeze all drains, etc. so that they aren't at risk should heating fail.
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