It may seem like a simple way to save money to turn off your water heater while you’re away, but it’s not always a good idea. You must be aware of the following.
Leave it alone generally
should you turn off your water heater when you go on vacation? When you switch off your water heater for a vacation, you risk harmful bacterial development in addition to not saving any money.
Keeping the water in the tank hot first and foremost protects your health and keeps you secure. Water that is too warm or too cold promotes the growth of harmful microorganisms. For instance, if legionella bacteria are present, they proliferate quickly in water when the temperature drops below 108 °F. The legionella (and other bacteria) in the tank must be killed by hours of high heat when you eventually turn the water heater back on.
Second, while turning off your tank does save money, the amount depends on the heater’s efficiency, age, and how long you leave it off. As a result, the savings are probably extremely little. Even worse, you could save a little money on heating expenditures yet eventually have to replace your water heater. While it’s unusual for a relatively new water heater to break down after being off for some time, older water heaters are often happiest when left on. Leaks or component failure might result from repeatedly cycling between a high working temperature and room temperature.
Keep Your Vacation Time In Mind
It just doesn’t make much sense to deal with the trouble of shutting off your water heater to save some money for the duration of a regular trip (or even less).
If you’re planning a multi-week or longer trip away from home, you might want to turn the heater off or, if it has one, use the “vacation” setting. In this mode, the heater remains on but is set to a significantly lower temperature; it functions as a middle ground between paying to keep the water hot and letting the heater’s parts sit idle.
In any case, switch on the heater as soon as you come inside and remember to wait several hours before using hot water (and cleanse the pipes first) to get rid of any potentially hazardous bacteria in the tank.
Insulation helps you save money all year round.
The bottom line is that it makes more sense to concentrate on saving money all year long rather than stressing about saving a few dollars each time you go on vacation.
A more effective way to save money than fussing with your water heater before and after holidays is to put an insulating jacket to your older water heater and affordable foam pipe insulation to any exposed hot water pipes in your home.
Three Motives to Stop the Water While You’re Away
A call or finding out when you come home that there was an inside flood might rank among the worst vacation experiences ever. Here’s why it actually pays to check that the water is turned off before taking off.
- Potentially significant harm can be caused by leaking water heaters, faulty pipes, supply lines, or other factors.
- Exorbitant expenditures associated with repairing ruined carpets, floors, walls, electronics, and other objects. Even if your homeowner’s insurance coverage does cover some of these expenses, it can be weeks or even months before you get any compensation. Checking your policy straight soon to see if coverage is worthless if the water supply isn’t turned off while you’re away from home for a predetermined amount of time is a smart idea.
- Extremely bothersome stress while you await the arrival of the plumber, the water removal service, and the insurance money to fix the situation. Another cost is the emotional toll that losing sentimental stuff like pictures or family heirlooms has on you.
I am Jones Smith and I am here to share my experience and expertise in writing. I’ve been writing articles for different publications for more than 6 years. I have a varied range of interests and that’s why I love blogging about different topics. In my opinion, blogging is a lot like acting, and I consider writing blog posts as an acting job. I am an entrepreneur by heart and there is nothing big or small when it comes to starting a business.