Leaving house empty - combi on water off?

[compynei]

Hi all - just after some advice.

I am working away and leaving my UK house empty for a while. I have taken appropriate insurance cover for this, but one of the terms requires that either the heating be left on constant at 15 degrees C between Oct and April OR the main water stopcock is turned off.

I would rather turn the stopcock off anyway incase of any burst hoses etc. I don't want to heat the house to 15 degrees all winter constantly it seems wasteful.

Can I turn the water off and still run the combi? I was planning to keep it around 7-10 degrees. Will be installing a Nest stat so I can have remote control. Boiler is Worcester Bosch Greenstar 30CDI.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Newboy]

Mains off, combi on - no problem.

 

[compynei]

Mains off, combi on - no problem.

Thanks newboy - that was my first plan but someone said about a melted heat exchanger if I did that?

Just leave water in the pipes?

 

[endecotp]

someone said about a melted heat exchanger if I did that?

Ignore "someone".

 

[Newboy]

someone

is talking shoemakers

 

[Phill Peck]

Providing you don't need to regularly top up the pressure.
Leaving the heating on would be fine.
Once you have remote access I'd periodically say once every couple of weeks turn the heating up.
It will cost almost nothing but will ensure the boiler fires.
Leaving at 7 might not fire the boiler for s very long time.

Also worth getting someone to go in occasionally if possible just check the place over.

Defiantly turn the water off.

Before you buy s nest have a look at hive.
They also do light bulbs and motion sensors and sockets.
Which would allow u to have lights coming on in the evening sometimes and also turn on tv.

Can make it look like there someone home.

 

[Agile]

As well as turning off the stopcock you are better opening all the taps including any garden taps to let the water out.

After that I would set the heating to 5-6 C and leave the doors open to let air circulate.

But do try to have someone in every week or two to collect mail and check it has not been burgled. And that the boiler pressure is still OK.

Tony

 

[DP]

Good advice Phill.
OP, think the issue through
Your boiler most likely will have pump exercise programme, so power needs to stay on for this function
Boiler will possibly try to maintain preheat, which obviously not required while you are away- call Worcester and ask them how or what to do
I would leave my programmer set to 10 - 12 degrees based on my reasoning that a freeze outside will result in boiler maintaining minimum house temperature of 10, 11 or what you decide. Higher temperature will fire the boiler ( in my own house I have seen the temperature dip to about 13 overnight). A much lower temperature may result ( not say will) as ambient temperature in the house is 'protected' by the building fabric possibly resulting in pipes that are underfloor, freezing
With smart programmer, you will obviously be able to fire the boiler at will
Good luck

 

[compynei]

Thanks all, appreciate the replies. People will be going in the house often, insurance cover is sorted.

I will run it on timer for an hour at morning and an hour at night anyway to heat up, see how the bills go.

Will drain water and turn taps on to empty the pipes if you guys think its a good idea.

Thanks very much

 

[AdrianUK]

Having just worked out the bill for heating my aunts' house (1980s build, mid terrace, 2 bed) over the whole winter (sept to april) while she is away in a residential care home....

I've calculate the costs to be 30kwh of electricity & 168 cft of gas, costing around £290 for the whole period.

I changed the wiring on the programmer so that the boiler & pump both operated together from the room thermostat (simple "standard boiler, pump, no motorised valves") and left the stat set at 16C. I set the programmer to perm ON. Out of curiosity I also wired an hours-run meter to count the number of hrs the pump ran through the winter - the total hours logged was 489 over 195 days.

Most insurers insist that the room stat be set at 16C or higher.... I don't know why, but they do!

 

[endecotp]

16! Continuously? Crazy.
My suggestion, if you have a wireless thermostat, would be to move it to the place where the pipes are most vulnerable e.g. in the loft, under the floor, north-facing room etc. and then set it to not much above freezing.

 

[ianniann]

Some home insurance has clauses about thermostat settings related to frozen pipe coverage. Make sure for yourself that the pipes aren't going to freeze (does this still happen in the 21st century?) and then feel free to ignore them. Check your policy in case they snuck in even more exemptions.

Worcester boilers allow you to easily disable preheat, which you should do if you are away. Typically there is just an "eco" button to do this. Light on means preheat off.

Worcester combi boilers (all?) also exercise the pump every 24 hours so no need to worry about that.