Turning off power while gone for extended period of time (washer, Lowes)

[Statz2k10]

Usually once a year I'm gone for a full week & I started to think that maybe I should turn off my hot water heater while this happens. I have an electric hot water heater so through out the day quite a few times it runs to keep hot water available. Anytime this happens you can see it's using some energy because the needle spins a lot faster on the meter.

I might be going on a trip later on this year for 10 days so seems like it might be something I could do to save 10-15 dollars in an electric bill.

It's not just the money either but the actual working of the hot water heater. The more it gets used the less time you have left technically.

Any problem with doing this?

[Ohiogirl81]

Does your water heater have a "vacation" setting? Use it.

[North Beach Person]

For 10 days, why bother? If you're not using the water then it shouldn't cycle into heat that often. You could turn the thermostats on it down a bit, just don't forget to reset them up when you get home.


What you should turn off is the water supply to your clothes washer.

[Labonte18]

Just turn off the breaker. Honestly, over 10 days.. It'll probably turn on 2 or 3 times.. That's it. Not really alot of savings.

There's not a problem doing it. Half the time, I turn mine off for 3 or 4 days at my house.. I'm one person, just take a daily shower most times.. Hot water lasts 3 or 4 days.

[Moby Hick]

If you're gone ten days, you might want to consider shutting off the water to your house at the main and draining the pipes. Takes two minutes (assuming your shut off is accessible) and it prevents any small plumbing problem from being a disaster because you aren't there to notice.

[Brian_M]

Don't bother. As said though, turning off the water could save you from a nightmare (I turn mine off anytime I'm gone for more than 24 hours), draining is a waste of time if the temps are above freezing through.

I'll unplug things I'd hate to lose and don't NEED power (computers mostly) if there are supposed to be storms while I'm gone or it's more than 10 days, and turn off breakers when I'm gone for More than 2 weeks.

That said, do it if you want. It will save money, but you have to deal with the fact that you can't take a shower immediately upon returning home (something we value highly, but have family that can stop by to turn everything on).

[CatwomanofV]

We go away every year for about 6 weeks. We turn our hot water heater on vacation mode when we do. We leave everything else in place because we have 3 cats who stay at home. (A friend comes in to feed them & such.) But we do turn the heat down a bit.

At our vacation home (which we are only there for 6 weeks out of the year), when we leave, we turn off all the breakers except the one for the refrige. It is in the tropics so we don't have to worry about pipes freezing or anything like that. But, we still turn off the water.



Cat

[LoriNJ]

Agree with the advice to turn off the water. I've had 2 family members come home from vacation to utter disasters because they did not turn the water off.

[mmyk72]

I'd say don't mess with the breaker. You don't want to accidentally turn off your fridge and end up with a mess of rotted food and stinky house.

Just turn down the heater to the lowest possible (coldest) setting. Turn off the water at the main. I also flush a toilet which drains most of the water from the system. If there will be freezing temps, I keep the thermostat set to 50F (some people go higher) - Mine can be programmed with a countdown function so it goes back up on the day of my return.

[North Beach Person]

Something about turning off the house power. If you're in a humid environment you may not wish to turn off the air conditioning for that time. If you do you might end up with a mold problem when you come back.