What You Should Know Before Shutting off the Water - Wisler Plumbing & Air

It’s a good idea to shut off the water to your home’s plumbing before heading away for vacation, but you should keep a few considerations in mind. For starters, make sure you know what’s connected to your system. Some homes have automatic appliances (like an ice maker, water treatment, tankless water heater, or hot water recirculation) and you wouldn’t want to shut off the water without turning these appliances off as well.

I had a client who turned off the water without knowing it would impact their hot water recirculation system. The cleaning personnel ended up using all the water left in the system during the course of doing their job. Because the recirculation pump ran with no water, the motor ended up burning out. These are the kinds of issues that can occur if you aren’t aware of the automatic appliances that are connected to your system (and don’t shut them off along with the water).

All homes will have some sort of water heater, and another option besides turning it off completely would be to simply put it into vacation mode. (Most tankless water heaters have a built-in vacation mode.) If you have a Navien tankless water heater this can be done by simply pressing a button. The water treatment systems we install also have a vacation mode which is activated by a button press.

If you choose not to shut off your home’s water, it would be wise to ask a trusted friend or neighbor to stop by and check everything daily or a couple of times a week (especially in areas like basements). If you do have a leak, you’ll stand a better chance of getting it caught before it causes major damage.

By and large, most homes will not be a problem when you decide to shut off the water. It’s just a matter of making sure you know your system. The next time someone on our team is already at your home, you can ask if there’s anything you’ll need to consider if you want to shut off the water.

To reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing and Air, contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.