Question about a GE 60 gallon gas hot water tank

We had a GE 60gallon (gas) hot water tank installed in our house two years ago. It runs very well. A week ago, our family came to China for a two-monh vacaion and will stay until the 5th of March. We shut off he water supply before leaving the house, but forgot to shut off the gas. Now I am worried because no more water will be supplied into the hot water tank,and remaining water will be heated until dry. Is this an dangerous situation? I am wondering if the hot water tank or the furnace has any protection feature to shut off itself. Otherwise I 'll have to cancel my vacation and go back to take care of that. Can anybody help to explain? Thanks a lot.

Reply to
jennyzhu99
Loading thread data ...

We had a GE 60gallon (gas) hot water tank installed in our house two years ago. It runs very well. A week ago, our family came to China for a two-monh vacaion and will stay until the 5th of March. We shut off he water supply before leaving the house, but forgot to shut off the gas. Now I am worried because no more water will be supplied into the hot water tank,and remaining water will be heated until dry. Is this an dangerous situation? I am wondering if the hot water tank or the furnace has any protection feature to shut off itself. Otherwise I 'll have to cancel my vacation and go back to take care of that. Can anybody help to explain? Thanks a lot.

Reply to
jennyzhu99

Not a problem (unless you were staying away till 2011 :-)

And, yes, the control has protection against overheating (as in the case of running dry).

Jim

Reply to
Speedy Jim

As a closed system you don't have to worry about your waterheater running dry.

DK

Reply to
DragonKnight

Yes. While you could have saved some energy by turning it off, there is no place for the water to go, it won't run dry and will be fine.

Reply to
trader4

Surely there's someone who you could have go over and check on it or turn it off eh?

Reply to
Steve Barker LT

ideally set to vacation, but dont worry about it. if gone a long time its best to have someone check on home, just in case.

someone tries to break in, furnace quits, moving drapes and collecting junk gives home that lived in look, which helps deter vandals

Reply to
hallerb

jennyzhu99: Did you leave any hot water faucet in your house not completely closed (turned off)?

If all hot water faucets are completely closed, there's no way the hot water vapor at the top of the full hot water heater tank can escape from the system and evaporate. Therefore, the tank water level cannot decrease over time. Therefore, it will continue, even for years, to safely operate identically to the way it operates when you are at home and not using your hot water. In other words, there is no danger.

Even in the rare event of operating dry, I believe a correctly designed hot water heater would have a safety thermocouple sensor, thermal fuse, or otherwise be able to detect local overheating, and shut itself off.

But next time, turn the hot water heater control to "Vacation" mode, which eliminates high heating and pressure, saves energy, but at the same time, prevents the tank water from freezing by maintaining a water temperature of only 13 degrees C.

By the way, unless you live in a very hot climate, did you leave your house air heating system on with the thermostat set to 13 deg C (55 deg F) during winter months, to prevent water pipes from freezing? During warm months, leave the house air cooling system thermostat set to 32 or perhaps 34 deg C.

Reply to
dhn

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.