Water tanks/pipes and leaving the house for 1 week

Girsl - not going away for Christmas but will be going the first week in Jan for 1 week. House is 12 years old. Plastic tank in attic - seems to be well covered in Pink Insulation stuff. Never had any internal water probs - burst pipes etc Water went at mains last year Have heat normally on at intervals throughout the day and night. What steps will we take to try to ensure that the pipes/tank don't burst while we are gone ? Is leaving the heat to come on at intervals like it is now enough ?? Last Jan the tank in the attic in my Grandma's house burst and destroyed everything so have seen the affects of this kind of thing.

I think all you can do is set the heat to come on for a few hours each day. Open the trapdoor to your attic so the heat goes right up there- this will help to keep internal pipes from freezing. I suppose the biggest danger would be if a thaw happens when you're away and some pipes start leaking and aren't attended to immediately. Just cross your fingers that it won't happen.

Thanks Teapotty. Will do that so. I am thinking of giving a set of keys to a friend who lives up the road from us. Ask her to check it every other day maybe ? Our closest friends have keys but they will be away too.

Just leave the tap running for a week. Sure it might be bad for the environment, but who cares? [size=50:3fd86edp]I'm joking by the way!!![/size:3fd86edp]

zoesmama, the only way to ensure that internal pipes & tank don't burst and flood the place is to actually turn the water off at the mains coming into your house. This is usually under the sink or sometimes outside maybe on your path or driveway. When you return, turn it on slowly and watch the tank & pipes in attic so see if there are any leaks. If you can keep the tank & attic flowing as it is now by leaving on heat / infra-red bulb / insulation etc. you should be safe enough anyway. I guess it's a case of trying to predict that all that will be sufficient enough if temps dropped any lower. You'd certainly hope so!!! I think if you give the keys to a friend and tell them check the water each day that should be ok. If they do happen to find that pipes or tank has frozen in meantime, tell them to make sure to then turn water off at mains. Last thing you need is for them to thaw & burst. I had to clean up same mess as happened at your grandmothers last year. You do not want to arrive home from hols to that.

Ok Question for you Jane Smith - if we turn off the mains and empty the tank in the attic before we leave can we still leave the heat on while we are gone - the timer on the boiler does not allow me to separate heat and water - so if i have the heat timed to come on the water is automatically heating too - is this ok ?

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[quote="MichelleMyBelle":8mw9ofon]Just leave the tap running for a week. Sure it might be bad for the environment, but who cares? [size=50:8mw9ofon]I'm joking by the way!!![/size:8mw9ofon] [/quote:8mw9ofon]

[quote="zoesmama":fszaelsn]Ok Question for you Jane Smith - if we turn off the mains and empty the tank in the attic before we leave can we still leave the heat on while we are gone - the timer on the boiler does not allow me to separate heat and water - so if i have the heat timed to come on the water is automatically heating too - is this ok ?[/quote:fszaelsn] Oooh, good question and I don't know the answer to it now zoesmama. I have gas heating and it would be ok but I don't have a boiler like you refer to. I know in our home house years ago we would have had a back boiler and you would have to have water there to heat otherwise you could have cracked the pipes. But that was the old system where the boiler would be behind the range. It might be worth giving a buzz to a plumber to check that point out.

[quote="Jane Smith":ycyffdir][quote="zoesmama":ycyffdir]Ok Question for you Jane Smith - if we turn off the mains and empty the tank in the attic before we leave can we still leave the heat on while we are gone - the timer on the boiler does not allow me to separate heat and water - so if i have the heat timed to come on the water is automatically heating too - is this ok ?[/quote:ycyffdir] Oooh, good question and I don't know the answer to it now zoesmama. I have gas heating and it would be ok but I don't have a boiler like you refer to. I know in our home house years ago we would have had a back boiler and you would have to have water there to heat otherwise you could have cracked the pipes. But that was the old system where the boiler would be behind the range. It might be worth giving a buzz to a plumber to check that point out.[/quote:ycyffdir] No we have Gas heating too. But the timer still has only 2 options - 1 is for HW only and the other is Heat & HW. Really want the heat to be coming on while we are gone.