Safety of pipes over winter in empty house

Question

If a house is left empty over winter, is it at risk of frozen or burst pipes?

David · Answer

if leaving house unoccupied over winter, turn off main supply stop cock and drain hot and cold water from system, you can also drain central heating system or fit a frost stat to turn system on when it falls below 5 degrees c modern boilers have frost stat fitted .

Christopher · Answer

You could turn your stop cock off in home,And open taps to keep water out the pipes. All depends on home.

Philip · Answer

Only if its free,ing in the house. If your worried leave your rads on the ice symbol so your house will stay above freezing.

Brett · Answer

Depending if CH is going to be left on a frost setting or also turned  off? would turn water off in road, in property, and drain service system down, hot and cold.. if CH is not to be utilised, would also drain CH system down.
   Just an opinion!

Gary · Answer

Yes if there is no heating, you need to turn the water off at the main stop tap in the house or the one outside where the meter is, if you have one.
Open all the taps, and drain down the heating system. I had some students in a house we used to rent out, they all went home for Christmas and despite the estate agents telling them not  to do this rather than just turn it down low, the pipes froze. We had pipes burst in six different places, the boiler was trashed and the kitchen ceiling came down with the weight of the water, this was over ten years ago and it did over £5k damage then!!
Check with your water company on other things you may have to do, United utilities have some good advice on their site.

Jamie · Answer

Yes always isolate and drain down hot and cold pipes, also if the heating is going to be fully off and not on frost setting this would need draining also

John · Answer

Hello there, If there is no heating on and property empty, then with the weather such as what we are experiencing at the moment is like, then it most certainly is at risk. If the properties plumbing systems are not drained down properly and the water not isolated at the mains then significant damage can occur, especially in properties with loft header water tanks etc. So the answer, drain your plumbing systems down including your heating system and if possible isolated at the mains stop tap which is located outside of the property boundary, usually on the pavement, not just the one incoming to your property, which are quite often under a kitchen sink. If you can do this and your properties plumbing is correctly drained down, then the only risk of a pipe burst is outside of your properties boundary, which is then your water suppliers responsibility. Do make sure that the roadside mains stop tap does not isolate more than just your property, as in some older properties this can be the case and it shuts down the while row of terraces for example.  It is also worth ensuring all pipes are lagged in the property where possible as well, which is useful for when the plumbing is back in use, as when there is very cold weather, people often have the heating off or very low and in say a loft it can still be extremely cold if the outside temp is severe enough like it currently is. Could save you future problems. If you are not sure how to correctly get your plumbing system drained down and ready for a period of being empty, then consult a reputable plumbing company, who should be able to do this for you. We hope this helps.

HM PLUMBING &
MAINTENANCE SERVICES LTD

David · Answer

Pipes may need sleeves
Call D and S Builders. Nanpeon

Shammi · Answer

Hi, water inside pipes will expand when it gets close to freezing so the pressure builds up which causes the pipes to burst. Would be an idea to turn your main stop valve off to your property and drain the what water which is still in the pipes by turning all the taps on including any outside/garden taps.

Anthony · Answer

Yes if house not heated.
You need to leave boiler on and thermostat set to 10 o C.

If not
Turn water off
Open all taps 
Drain pipes for water 
Drain pipes for heating

Steven · Answer

Yes. It's better to turn water off and drain. If not that,then have heating coming on periodically to get some heat in the house.

Safety of pipes over winter in empty house

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