I have a cabin that we like to use during the winter. The well is down in a crawl space and not easy to get to. We leave the furnance on at
55 when we are not at it. I worry that if I don't shut the water off and the furnance was to stop I would have a mess. The question I have is is it OK to turn the water off just at the breaker box and then drain water out of the faucets?
I have to shut the breaker off. Open valves positioned to be the lowest point of every line. Close them again. Put compressed air on the system. Open every valve to let the compressed air force the water out. Open the drain valves again. Open a drain valve just before the pump. Pump water out of the toilets and dishwasher sump. Put antifreeze in the dishwasher, clothswasher, toilets, and all traps.
Even then I had two broken pipes last year (though they were my first in 7 years.)
Good Luck.
Yes, but if the heat does go out, any pipe that has water in it will still freeze. The only difference is, fewer pipes will burst.
If you have reason to believe that your heat will go out, invest in a Honeywell 'Winter Watchman'. It's a thermostat that plugs into a 120VAC receptacle and will turn on a lamp at between 30 to 60deg.F. When the lamp is placed in a window, it can warn neighbors that you have a problem. If the neighbor thing isn't possible, you can always let the water on, and open the faucets slightly.
The Honeywell part number is S483B1002, and their retail consumer version part number is CW200A1032.
Everytime I leave my vacation home I always shut the pump breaker off, regardless if it's summer or winter. In case a pipe would break it would prevent the pump from constantly running. However as the other poster stated, you could just winterize the entire cabin and just leave the furnace off. However it would be a bit of a pain if you had to winterize the cabin everytime you turned on the water and it was time to go back home.
allowing a building to freeze that has plastered walls is a royally bad idea, the plaster will break and spall from freeze thaw cycling.
friends with camp ALWAYS turn off breaker when not there
in winter they turn off and drain system.lowing compressed air thru all lines
ask your camp neighbors what they do!
Yes, but you need to do more than that. You need to drain ALL pipes, right down to the pump, and that includes draining the pump or it will crack, unless its a submercible (In the well) pump. You need to drain the toilet tank or that will crack. Your toilet bowl needs to have some antifreeze put in or that will crack. Anything else with water, such as the pump inside a wash machine can also be damaged. Drain it all.
You might be best getting some electric baseboard heaters and put them on a thermostat to turn on around 40deg. At least you got backup heat, unless the electricity goes out completely.
ALWAYS shut off the breaker on a pump when you are to be away for more than a few days. If a pipe breaks, the pump will keep running and flood everything.
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