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Author Topic: Winter Shut Down  (Read 4775 times)

anightd

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Winter Shut Down
« on: November 02, 2012, 08:30:07 AM »
I will be away from my furnace this entire winter.  What should I do.  Drain it, Put anti Freeze in it, Keep it circulating, Nothing.  The temperature in the house will be maintained at about 50 degree with out gas furnace.
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woodman

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Re: Winter Shut Down
« Reply #1 on: November 02, 2012, 07:30:30 PM »
What type of hx do you have in your furnace?
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jbc

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Re: Winter Shut Down
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2012, 07:41:21 PM »
Well there's a number of different things that "could" happen--personally I would let it run (circulate) and when the water goes inside, the water will be heated by the air--plus circulating water won't freeze.

If you drain the water, the exposed metal inside will begin to corrode as soon as the water is emptied...Plus how could you ever make sure ALL the water is out of all your underground lines???...I guess you could call the lawn sprinkler company and they could evac them with air--but again not practical.

The expense of antifreeze in the amount of lets say 100-150 gallons of antifreeze @ $10 a gallon...well that's out as far as I am concern.

The only problem with letting it run is if you develop a leak--then the water would not circulate and begin to freeze and cause all kinds of problems....Or if you have a lengthy power outage, the system will once again begin to freeze----

IMO anyone not having the ability to pay 100% attention to the system--will encounter a lot of potential problems.
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willieG

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Re: Winter Shut Down
« Reply #3 on: November 04, 2012, 08:08:06 PM »
drain it if you will be away for a lengthy period of time

Running water will freeze, it just takes colder temps and a little longer (i have seen a 15 pound boiler system freeze with an insulated line running 15 feet over head in extreme cold)

i would not count on the homes heating system to keep your outdoor boiler from freezing (it may work but if you lost power to the home you might end up with a burst water line in the house and that would be a big enough headache without having a split boiler or frozen line there too)

i would drain the system and if my pump was out side i would take it off and store it in the house. Drain the lines going to the home as best i could and then fill them with plumbing atifreeze that will not harm the envirement or the system...head to florida and worry no more about it. and for the price of plumbing antifreeze i would pu tone in the bottom of the boiler as well
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