Water Heater ON or OFF

[PTBUXTON]

With naming names I have on 2 occasions in the past 12 months,asked our resort about switching off our hot water heater if the apartment is unoccupied for a long period of time.The reply I get is that it is unwise to do so without any clear reason why,and that if I did give instructions to switch it off it would need to be drained completly.Could anybody give me some guidance on this issue.

[laserblazer]

Is it solar heated?

[Farol]

We turn both the gas and water off to ours when we are not there. We do not drain it. We have never had a problem in ten years.

[EMM]

If you have a solar panel you should cover the panel when not in residence.

In periods of long sunshine the glycol can boil and is released by the safety valve resulting in your system failing ( no hot water ).
This has happened to us and others.
A glycol refill is not cheap.

[widge]

If you have a solar panel you should cover the panel when not in residence.

Gosh, are you sure ??????????

I have never seen anybody clambering around their roof to cover up their solar panel. I've had mine 8 years & they're each 4 metres by 2 metres that's a big cover!

[EMM]

We know of one villa that " blew " within a few weeks of installation last summer. The owners were away in June and July.
If the water does not circulate there is nothing to cool down the glycol. Its the transference of heat from the glycol into the watertank that heats your water.
You may already have lost glycol at some time in the past and your system will not be as effective as it could be.
It took us a few months to discover it had happend to us as the water was not heating up as quickly as it should even on sunny days.
Rather than cover water should be run off on a regular basis. The cold water refilling the tank cools down the glycol.

[widge]

Rather than cover water should be run off on a regular basis

That's better !!!

[PTBUXTON]

Our's is a conventional hot water system,ie hot water cylinder heated by electricity, not solar any idea's or comments, thanks PT

[widge]

I have one of those too. I switch mine off every time i leave the villa. simples!

[ceh]

I turn mine off too

[Aldo]

Me too and not had a problem

[RichardHenshall]

Maybe there's a misunderstanding about the difference between turning off the water supply rather than the electricity supply. If you're turning off the water supply you obviously must ensure that the electricity is off too.

I can't imagine why anyone would leave an electric water heater switched on in an empty property unless the advice comes from the person who has to make a special visit to turn it on before the next occupation (and that person is not paying for the electricity used in the mean time).

[LICY]

We know of one villa that " blew " within a few weeks of installation last summer. The owners were away in June and July.
If the water does not circulate there is nothing to cool down the glycol. Its the transference of heat from the glycol into the watertank that heats your water.
You may already have lost glycol at some time in the past and your system will not be as effective as it could be.
It took us a few months to discover it had happend to us as the water was not heating up as quickly as it should even on sunny days.
Rather than cover water should be run off on a regular basis. The cold water refilling the tank cools down the glycol.

In april when our electricity was turned off we had our panels covered until the water could again circulate within the nainsook cylinder. Widge as our houses have been well used over the hotter months, ie June to September I presume we are OK. I certainly would not want to be the one to cover ours as they are on the highest point above the staircase on the flat roof and you know how high that is.

[widge]

We know of one villa that " blew " within a few weeks of installation last summer. The owners were away in June and July.
If the water does not circulate there is nothing to cool down the glycol. Its the transference of heat from the glycol into the watertank that heats your water.
You may already have lost glycol at some time in the past and your system will not be as effective as it could be.
It took us a few months to discover it had happend to us as the water was not heating up as quickly as it should even on sunny days.
Rather than cover water should be run off on a regular basis. The cold water refilling the tank cools down the glycol.

In april when our electricity was turned off we had our panels covered until the water could again circulate within the nainsook cylinder. Widge as our houses have been well used over the hotter months, ie June to September I presume we are OK. I certainly would not want to be the one to cover ours as they are on the highest point above the staircase on the flat roof and you know how high that is.

Don't you go clambering around on your roof space Licy. Ask one of your neighbours !

[maccasa]

When I was in CVO in Novemebr the thermostat had stopped working on my 320 l water heater in the week before whne some pals were there - the service engineer came and replaced it FOC and the weather was actually fine after that so we never used the electricl heater - typical!. However I asked him this question and he said it depends on the size of your cylinder - basically, larger ones ~ 200l and above dont need to be covered.