Can water be turned off hot-water heater

Karen · 2005-01-14T15:28:17+00:00

We are leaving town for a month and want to turn off the water to thehot-water heater. It is natural gas with a pilot light that stays litall the time. Can the water be turned off without turning off the gas?My husband says this is dangerous because the gas will come on when thewater cools down and evaporate it all out and burn the bottom out of theheater or blow up. Could this happen? Any suggestions?Neither one of us can re-light the pilot light

Jan 14, 2005 25 Replies

Rate this thread:

Bob S. 21 years ago

To say the least! It took 10 days of professional size fans & dehumidifiers to dry the house to where repairs could start. All because a Fluidmaster plastic fill valve broke in half about an inch above the bottom of the tank. As I mentioned the problem to quite a few plumbers, none were surprised. Some said Fluidmaster valve failures are a large part of their business. With all the hardware stores selling them I thought they were decent quality. No more for me - all mine are now brass. If there is a humorous note to my problem, we stopped at a casino while on vacation and I won $250. Of course that had to be the amount of the insurance deductable! BTW, talking to the city waterworks and showing them the repair bill resulted in them writing off 1/2 of the water bill. Not great, but better than nothing. Bob S.

Vote

MLD 21 years ago

Went away for a few days---Toilet shut off flapper had a small leak--started refill process--Fluidmaster shutoff "didn't"--overflow tube handled most of the water, the rest leaked out of the tank through the lever (handle) hole. Wiped out two bathrooms, one on top of the other. Professional restoration company came in. 2 to 3 people for one week of drying everything out, tearing everything apart-walls, tiled floors, vanities, tiled shower et al. $23,000 and six months later we were put back together. I must admit though, despite all the aggravation, we were able to significantly upgrade both bathrooms and ended up better than we started out. Not that you want this to happen again but if it does, don't deal with it yourself----call in a Public Adjuster. Even though it costs, you will end up better off--they deal with the insurance company and will get a better settlement. MLD

Vote

Stormin Mormon 21 years ago

A water heater can burn otu the bottom of the tank if the tank goes dry. This is unlikely with turning the water off, but leaving the gas on. (assuming you leave the water in the tank, and don't open the drain at the bottom).

"evaporate it all out", well, where is the vapor going to go? From water to vapor, the volume expands times 1800. And it's a sealed system, not like a soup kettle which is open on top.

But why take the chance? I suggest either leave the water on, or turn them both off. Of coruse, the relighting problem. Got any neighbors to relight it for you? Relatives?

Vote

Mark 21 years ago

If you're going for a month, why pay to have the gas keep a tank of water warm that you won't be using? Shut the gas off to the heater.

I shut the gas off to my water heater even if I'm just going away for a long weekend.

Vote

Mark 21 years ago

Then just turn the water temp down as low as you can on the heater. That's better than leaving it up high for a month.

I would suggest you shut the main water to the house off. Not just the water heater and other appliances. A month is a long time to have a leaky pipe running.....

Vote