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I have an unoccupied house on the market with little prospect of an early sale (this is West Yorkshire BTW). Should I drain the central heating system or add a central heating specific antifreeze. Obviously, draining would be the safest choice, but a additive would be simpler.
Definitely drain eveything. Why waste money on anti-freeze and what will you do about the "fresh water" bits of the house plumbing?
It wouldn't be entirely wasted as the antifreeze also contains a corrosion inhibitor which I would have to add when refilling the system anyway, but I take your point, thanks. The hot and cold water is another issue I have to tackle.
Or leave the ch on a low frost setting.
If there are any viewings, it would be better to turn the ch up for a couple of hours in advance.
Very difficult to drain everything as there is probably pipework underfloor that will not drain.
Usually suggest leaving the heating on low on a frost setting and turning the mains stopcock off to limit the amount of water in the house.
BUT check your insurance policy as it may state what has to be done in case of long term unoccupation.
Just checked my unoccupied house insurance (which costs a small fortune, BTW!). States that the CH must be drained October to April or left on a low setting. So draining it is then!
The trouble with draining it down, and letting it dry out is that there is likely to be a lot of crud/muck/dust in the system. This will cause a coating on many parts, which will solidify, and can congregate in one place and could cause a blockage when refilled. There will always be parts of the pipework that cannot be drained, these will be more susceptible to freezing and splitting, due to the smaller volume of water in the pipe.
Joints that are perfectly fine may start to weep, as they have a chance to corrode from the inside. I changed a copper cylinder that was leaking last year. The system was left for a month dry. When I refilled, 2 pipes started leaking, on inspection, there were lots of pinholes in them, presumably finally breaking through after the corrosion was able to get a hold on the semi-dry / drying internal walls.
I would always leave it at a frost setting, or between 5 and 10 degrees. This will also protect the house water pipes, as well as keeping damp in the property to a low level.
The cost to you will be £150 or less for the winter for the gas.
It could save you more, or make the house more sellable - who would be interested in a cold damp house when one down the road has the heating on and smells nice?
If you've ever seen what water damage can do to a house, you would do everything you can to prevent it happening. I knew a house that burst a pipe even though the central heating was left on. The problem came from the toilet, which froze because the water wasn't running. So don't forget your mains water pipes as well!
Thanks, alanl, a good point well made - I'll leave some heat on then instead! On the other hand, have you had any experience with anti-freeze additives? Surely someone must use them.
We had a burst pipe in my parent's cottage 2 years ago over winter. System was drained, but one pipe, behind the kitchen, in a false wall, still had water in it:
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/10571342674/ ]Untitled[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/brf/ ]brf[/url], on Flickr
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/10571556253/ ]Untitled[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/brf/ ]brf[/url], on Flickr
Right PITA to find, I could hear it leaking, but didn't know where it was, so had to hack loads of plaster board / cupboards apart to find the actual leak.
Thanks for the horror pics, footflaps, I have trouble sleeping as it is!
had a plastic speedfit fitting crack open last Christmas on my flat I was renovating. Normally I would turn the water off every time I left but I forgot on my last visit before taking Christmas off. I had a weird feeling over Christmas there was a leak and when I went to the flat in the new year I could hear "shhhhhhhhhhh" i opened the door. The fitting had cracked around the lock nut and was spraying out water.
It was one of the only fittings I didn't do and one of the 'plumbers' did.
Fortunately my flat is the basement one but the water had wicked along the fresh floor screed channels with the new pipes in all over the flat. I had foil on the floor under the laminate underlay which saved the laminate so the fibreboard underlay was the only victim apart from my time ripping up the floor, drying it out with weight on it and then relaying. Could have been a lot worse.
PS that wasn't due to cold. The flat is very protected from cold and heat.