Turn off heat or just lower it

[Chaoster]

For those that travel an extended amount of time in winter. Do you lower your thermostat or just turn the heat off?

 

[jonestavern]

We have some pretty cold weather here in the sticks on the windy little mountain, so no, we do not turn off the heat. We turn it to 58--but all our pipes (except where it comes in from the well) are on interior walls & insulated.

Most people around here have their homes checked once a day just in case the furnace dies or the electric goes off
Others will drain their lines entirely.

Jean

 

[fatuhiva]

Lower it. If you turn it off you run the risk of pipes freezing if it gets too cold. Happened to DH's friend last winter when he turned the heat off for a week - came home to a whole lot of damage to his house.

 

[treehugnmama]

we turn ours down can't turn it off or our pipes would freeze....lol at 58 degrees/ I keep my house at 60 when I am home

 

[tlh0726]

Our house in the poconos is currently under renovations thus no heat system. We actually had to winterize the house (drain the pipes, water heater, toilets, etc) and the water company came out and removed the meter in the crawl space to keep it from freezing and busting (thus flooding from the broken pipe)

Lower the temp and open the cabinet doors under all your sinks (kitchen and bath)

 

[Darcy03231]

We have a vacation home that we don't use in the winter and don't heat it. We drain the system (pipes, hot water heater, toilet, etc) and put this special red liquid stuff in it to keep it from freezing. We have heat tapes on the pipes.

 

[Chaoster]

Thanks. I'll lower the heat. I thought it was fishy when someone said turn it off. The house would not get that cold where the pipes will freeze.

 

[Justsyd2]

My DH, the HVAC guy, says to lower the heat. If you turn the heat off, the cold air will contract the molecules of everything in the house, and when you return, and turn the heat up, everything expands back to the size it was before you left. Expansion and contraction is hard on wood surfaces, plus, you have the pipe issues mentioned above.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

What's a good temperature to lower it to, assuming the house is well insulating?

 

[dpratt68]

For a peace of mind they also sell alarms. My parents go for 4 months and sisters and I aren't able to check the house daily so we bought this alarm for about $100 for them. It is programmed to call us if temp falls below certain level, if they take in water (there is a wire sensor a few inches above the floor) and a few other things. It allows them to relax.

 

[wdwfan16]

For those that travel an extended amount of time in winter. Do you lower your thermostat or just turn the heat off?

If we travel during the winter we turn our heat down to 55. We never turn it off to prevent pipes from bursting.

 

[Melrosgirl]

We turn it to 58. Don't shut it off completely.

 

[kleubanks]

Don't think that the inside of your house cannot get cold enough for water to freeze...

A few years ago we had a terrible ice storm that knocked out the power for 2 and 1/2 days (the day before Christmas!). We went to a hotel because it was so cold. My husband drained the pipes and as much of the toilet water as he could.

When he went back to check on the house, the remaining water in the toilet had a layer of ICE!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We just lower it if the pets are getting boarded.

If they aren't, we keep it the same as normal but that's usually only if we are gone camping for a weekend.

 

[Green Tea]

I turn off breakers for our hot water heaters when we go on vacations. Just turn the HVAC to either really warm in the summer or not much different in winter, a few degrees.

 

[bettymae1121]

Ditto, our pipes would freeze. I think I set it somewhere in the 50's. I also turn my water heater to "vacation" (that's what the dial says!).

 

[puffkin]

We don't adjust ours when we go away for a week in the winter, but we normally keep our house at 60 anyways. I probably should turn it down to 58 but I am just too lazy.

 

[thebeesknees]

We keep ours at 55 when we go away, and also shut off the water to the house and drain it out the lowest faucet (for us, it's a sink the the basement). Turn the hot water heater to "vacation" to avoid unneccessarily heating the water. We have been away several times over very cold spells and never had a problem with frozen pipes when we do this. We did have an acquaintance that went on a 2-week cruise in October and came home to find his basement 4 feet deep in water because of a frozen and burst pipe going to the sprinkler system (that had not yet been drained) that leaked into their basement window and just kept on running the whole time they were gone. What a mess!