Heating house while away in winter (1 Viewer)

[TG1903]

As a plumber ,In my opinion if leaving your home for an extended period in the winter switch off all water and drain heating and water systems , if you boiler or any other components fail you would not have any frost protection regardless of what your thermostat is set at .

 

[The Wino]

When I said expensive I meant compared to fitting a programmable roomstat myself http://www.screwfix.com/p/drayton-digistat-3-room-thermostat/75750

less than £60. Easy to fit and can program different times on and off 7 days a week of course it depends how the week goes as we are at work the weeks don't vary that much.Don't know how much the hive is fitted but as I said great if your week varies a lot. I set the room stat to turn the heating on to a low temp first (so doesn't come on at all if not cold) then higher when really needed so can come on only just before required if not so cold. At work we have zoned the building into 3 areas so can have heating on and off separately at different times of day at different temperatures different days of the week. Its great not to use energy you don't need.

 

[Ivory55]

This is where people with storage heaters can feel a little smug over us gas boiler people, haha.

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[Mikeco]

We turn off the gas boiler which is powered by an LPG tank in the garden and use three oil or as they are now oil free freestanding radiators scattered around the bungalow on timers. These come on for a few hours during the night but have thermostats on them so will come on if required.

 

[MillieMoocher]

As a plumber ,In my opinion if leaving your home for an extended period in the winter switch off all water and drain heating and water systems , if you boiler or any other components fail you would not have any frost protection regardless of what your thermostat is set at .

Wise words...

Not many people are aware of the potential for their condenser boiler to fail them just when they need it.

Some interesting info in this link: http://www.theaa.com/home-insurance/advice/condensing-boiler-tips

 

[treetops1]

When we turn ours to off it automatically goes to frost stat and it does cut in when nec ,being working ok last two years.

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[bertiebasset]

I am an ex trucker but could not find an engineer to fit my NEST in my house. Back boiler, no thermostat and pumped heating. Managed to get correct wiring from their help forum and am well pleased.Cost of installation was zero. Has halved my heating bills over last 2 years and as said previously, can be adjusted on phone when away, has frost protection (9 degrees) and links to 2 smoke alarms so will cut off the gas boiler in event of fire. Wonderful piece of kit.

 

[Hollyberry]

We are thinking of going away for a month or two early next year.
Plan to switch off water at the meter and drain the pipes (french houses don't have cold water tanks).
Switch off CH system but that contains anti-freeze so should be ok
Will check with insurance co to see if they have any special anti-payout rules.

May have to continuing living in MH for a day or few when we get back though.

Check your insurance carefully. I had a burst ( well a few burst pipes) I think it was 2011. Coldest winter for about 60 years. I was at home but usual story in France, huge old house, solid walls. Wind was coming from East and hitting exposed side of house. First question insurance asked was " was your central heating system on?"
It was a bad year for burst pipes. Heard of one woman who'd gone to the UK, stayed on longer than she'd intended, not turned water off and returned to a swimming pool in her cellar. And a very large water bill.

A lot of French insurance policies pay 80% of a claim and the final 20% only after you submit all receipts from registered plumbers/ plasterers etc..

 

[Lot lover]

Not sure how water-free pipes would burst so pls enlighten me.

Thanks

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[Minxy]

Not sure how water-free pipes would burst so pls enlighten me.

Thanks

Not sure which post you're questioning but generally unless you can get all of the water out of a system there will still be some in which could freeze and burst, or put a leak into a joint etc, which you wouldn't know about until you turned the water on again, however if the vast majority of the water is out it would allow for any remaining water to expand along the pipe if it freezes, rather than towards the sides of it, but you'd need to leave all your taps open so it wasn't a sealed system.

Its the same reason when you drain off your MH's water system in winter than you put the taps in the open position so that any water left in them can escape if freezing occurs rather than damage them.

 

[pappajohn]

If you actually looked at my Hive screen capture - you might notice that Hive monitors current house temperature & target temperature - so no "thinking" involved... .
System monitors ambient & switches on heating if necessary
So sarcasm aside - it is a wonderful device .

That does make it a wonderful device then.
Our heating is by oil, and is old enough to be able to use fossil fuel with the bones and plants still in, i obviously havent used one so was guessing on the way it works.

 

[Langtoftlad]

That does make it a wonderful device then.
Our heating is by oil

It works with oil fired central heating - in fact the fitter who came round said he had oil fired & it worked really well.

TBH - I got it, not for burst pipes prevention - but because I needed a new programmer/timer & thermostat, which I would have needed to be fitted because I'm DIY incompetent.
The room stat was an old bimetal one which was vague +/- 5 so I'd end up being far too hot before it turned off, then far too cold before it kicked in again.

So yes, standard replacements would have been a bit cheaper but I was swayed by the promotional "save the cost in a year"*, the comfort & the convenience given my [then] erratic work schedule.

*I've no idea if this is even close to being true - as I keep changing my Utility supplier, and since installation I went part-time then retired, so at home more frequently.

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