House water shutoff valve

[Bwana]

I've got a place in Santa Fe, NM, that we get up to every 6-8 weeks or so. It's a regular house in a subdivision with all the usual amneities, not something out in the woods. In-floor heating thruout the house, including the garage (why I'm posting it here).

A couple of months ago, we had a whopping big water bill which we don't know was a result of theft (drought?), leaks (none we could find), or meter reading error (probably). Now the water bill has reverted back to what it usually is when we're there perodically.

So my question is: Is it OK to shutoff the house water shutoff valve and leave it for a month or more? I'm not planning to turn off the water heater. The main shutoff valve stops all the inside and outside water sources and might stop any makeup in the floor heating. I haven't looked into the system split that closely yet.

So can I leave the water off (the heat is on but low) while we are gone? Do I need to leave the water heater on or off? I'm going to leave the floor heat on, I guess I'll have to figure out what the makeup water operation is.

Thanks

 

[HOTFR8]

If it was me I would turn it all off. If you have no water going to the heater I believe it is asking for trouble. Turn it all off.

 

[Tweeker]

Someone filled their pool?

 

[The Cobbler]

as already said, turn everything off, including in floor heat

 

[Lassen Forge]

Shut everything down when you leave... it takes no time to fire everything back up when you get there, and keeps this from happening. Better, some meters have a valve with holes in the arm to lock it off... if you can do that so much the better.

What happens when you leave, the kitchen main blows an hour later, and you come back to a flooded house and an even bigger bill.

BTW - If your water usage is justs "back to normal" you were ripped off... were it a meter reading error you would get a huge credit on the next bill when they read it.

 

[Jagmandave]

I don't have floor heat to deal with, but I turn the whole house water off even when we're out of town for weekend, let alone a month or more!

 

[coljar]

In your situation, I too would shut everything down and write down what is valved off and turned off in case you never make it back there. That way your wife or someone will know what to do.

 

[BillK]

Have you talked to the water company about it ? Is there any chance they had not been actually reading the meter regularly and made a one time correction on that bill ? If you have not had problems in a long time, I am not sure if I would worry about it ? You mentioned theft ? How many gallons over was that bill compared to the usual ? If you have outside spigots, can they be turned off instead of the entire system ? My biggest concern would be turning off the water but leaving the water heater and radiant heat turned on. If I was going to turn the water off I think those two things would also be turned off.

 

[RossABQ]

Have you talked to the water company about it ? Is there any chance they had not been actually reading the meter regularly and made a one time correction on that bill ? ....

I'd bet on that being the case.

If your radiant system has an Amtrol type expansion tank, I wouldn't expect any problems turning off all water at the meter, as long as your system doesn't have any leaks AND you shut the water valve at the makeup to the system FIRST. If you do turn it all off, turn the water heater all the way down.

 

[plott hound]

Someone filled their pool?

what a dirty trick that would be.

 

[HoosierMark]

I thought it was common that people would turn off their water whenever they are away. It is just not worth the risk to leave it on. I would basically shut most of the electric off as well. Why heat the water if it will not be used, even if I was only gone for a week or two,, I would turn the breaker off. Gas I would set to pilot light or at a minimum turn the temp setting to as low as it will go. In my cabin I wired the water pump up to a switch by the back door. I turn it on when we will use the water. Many times we are only there for a few hours and the pressure tank has enough for the few flushes of the toilet. The water heater breaker is off most of the time unless we are going to use hot water. It has never been a problem for us.

 

[southalabama]

Dad turns off the lake house water

A friends daughter left the dishwasher running at their beach house. Some type water leak ensued. Particle board subfloor. Bad bad damage

 

[1jjpop]

When we leave for a day or more we shut off the water , where it comes into the house. If only for a day or 2 , we leave the gas water heater on ,if for longer we turn water heater to pilot. When we get home turn water on & turn water heater to on position. Works good for us......

 

[HOTFR8]

Someone filled their pool?

what a dirty trick that would be.

It happens. You even hear of rainwater tanks being pumped dry here.

 

[Bwana]

Thanks for the tips guys! Yes, the water company did give me a credit for that month under some sort of once per year "leak", "misread", etc. waiver. Pretty cool in my opinion, I didn't even have to threaten or plead with them.

I'm concerned about turning everything off, especially the floor heat. We can set it down to 50 or so but it's cold enough there in Santa Fe to freeze inside the house if we're gone for a while during the winter. Don't whant that to happen. I'm there this month, I'll check out the ststem and report back!

 

[kbs2244]

Put a small well pressure tank right after the valve.
Only about 10 gal.s
That will be enough the take care of any heating needs and yet no be so much as to wreck the house if something starts to leak.

 

[tomd]

could have been from a toilet running?

as said above: shut it all off. I make a list, then attach orange ribbon to each valve so I can easily instruct others to "open" up the house.

 

[rlitman]

I'm concerned about turning everything off, especially the floor heat. We can set it down to 50 or so but it's cold enough there in Santa Fe to freeze inside the house if we're gone for a while during the winter. Don't whant that to happen. I'm there this month, I'll check out the ststem and report back!

Install a "low water cutoff" on the heat. It's a requirement in a steam system, and not normally used with hydronic, but is seen in commercial hydronic systems.

Then you don't need to shut the heat when the water is shut off.

 

[CNGsaves]

Shut off water when you leave. Winterize toilets, sink traps, etc if you might be at risk of power going off and house freezing.

Turn ON video SECURITY so you catch the water capers !!

 

[Casey69]

a buddy of mine was going on a weeklong trip & one of those flexible hoses that attached to his kitchen sink failed. fortunately, he was home & heard it spraying in the cabinet, but that would have been a disaster if it happened after he departed.

i now turn mine off even for overnight trips.

 

[epmills]

a buddy of mine was going on a weeklong trip & one of those flexible hoses that attached to his kitchen sink failed. fortunately, he was home & heard it spraying in the cabinet, but that would have been a disaster if it happened after he departed.

i now turn mine off even for overnight trips.

A co-worker of mine had the hose to his main floor toilet burst, unfortunately it happened while at work. His homeowners insurance covered the mess (he had a finished basement as well), but what a nightmare. I turn my main off anytime im gone for the weekend or longer.

I also have a friend that had one of those toilets that really never totally shut off, it would just kind of trickle all the time. It got slightly worse but she never did anything about it. Until the 800 dollar water bill. With that said a normal water bill is well under 50 every 2 months for a person living alone.

 

[HoosierMark]

If you really want a reason to shut things down, think about the wash machine hoses. I have seen several with rubber bubbles on them. One broke in a condo near mine and it was not a pretty site. Those hoses are typically installed and forgotten by most people.