Opinions please

Jason_22

We have actually done this twice before. Once was at my boss's lake house that is occasionally shut down.
Thanks all who have responded.

Jason_22

We recently installed a Weil-McLain Ultra for a customer.
She is insisting that she can go away in the winter and
turn the water off to the house and leave the heat on.
We know this is possible and she may never have a problem
but we are looking for opinions on doing this. Thank you.

ALH_4

Water

Why wouldn't this be ok? I prefer that makeup water is shut off on all systems after the initial purge anyway. If the water pressure is dropping, there is a leak that must be repaired.

JoeV_2

If she wants to pay to heat an empty house and wants to count on the low water cutoff funtioning 100% of the time, why not?

Jason_22

That is basically how we feel. I am not saying that it is o.k. at all. We would rather not do it.The boiler is not meant to run without water to it.I guess we wanted other opinions before telling her that we wont be responsible if
there is a problem.

ALH_4

Leaks?

Is this an open system? I assume that if the system has no leaks and an appropriately sized expansion tank it will run for years without problems. The only way this could be a problem is if the system develops a leak, and then there are other problems like water damage, particularly if the makeup water is left on.

Jason_22

I'm sorry Andrew, I thought you were saying it was definately a bad idea.

jackchips_2

Why would

you or she consider it your problem if something happens?

People do what she wants to do all the time but they should have either someone checking the house periodically or have some type of alarm system monitored by an outside source.

Jack

ALH_4

Safeties

Sorry about that. There are dangers either way. The choice seems to come down to which safeties you trust more.

Jason_22

She actually has floor leak detection alarms in place.
My boss just really feels that turning the water off to
a boiler is a bad idea.

Paul Fredricks_6

Theoretically, it would be fine. If there's no leaks where could the water go? Of course, Ive seen many boilers out of water and found the feeder off. Turning it back on revealed no leaks and once purged the system worked fine.

Why? I don't know.

Of course this shouldn't be your problem if they want to turn the water off for the time they are away. But I know the people we deal with and they will justify blaming you and getting the lawyers involved.

All you can do is give her the pro's and con's and let her decide for yourself. Recommend that she have someone check the house often and document that it is her decision.

Bruce_26

LWCO

Did you install a low water cut off on this boiler? If you did not, you should.

Jason_22

Thank you for the replies. This woman is very hard to deal with.

Rocky_3

How about an Axiom tank?

Some sort of make-up tank that has a defined amount of capacity. Take the boiler feed off the domestic water system. Much like a glycol make-up system, only with water. Again, if a leak develops you will eventually run out of fluid in the tank, but for periodic "boiler top-offs" to keep the system pressure up, it seems like it should work fine, as long as a LWCO is installed. that way you can drain down domestic side in case boiler should go down so you won't lose all the domestic system. is the heating system running glycol? If so, you could fill the Axiom tank with 50/50, install a LWCO, blow down the domestic side and call it good.
Just my HO
Rocky

Darrell

Any boiler will use water over a period of time through the air vents if no place else. The system should have an expansion tank...let's say an Amtrol #30...and at its fullest it will only hold about a quart of water. If the system will use more than that...the system will go to negative pressure in the off cycle and suck air. One way to dodge the bullet is to over size the expansion tank and allow it to function as a holding tank as well...not its intended purpose but it will work.

If she leaves the house unattended for any length of time she needs to have a freeze alarm or some means of calling somebody when the heat goess down...which it will, components failures and such being considered.

If shes on a well, I have my customers run the water as they leave the house until the pump kicks on and fills the well-tank, and then shut off the breaker to the well. 10-15 gallons of water is standing by then and any flood is limited. You can even supply the boiler ahead of a valve that isolates the house piping.

There are monitors available that go on the water feed to the house, and you can program a certain amount of water passsage before the monitor closes a valve to prevent leaks. These works great on artesian wells...I set them fairly light so that the boiler, icemaker, etc can fill but the valve will close and need to be manually reset in the event of a larger draw/leak.

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ScottMP

Does the Ultra

have a low ressure cut out like Buderus has ??

I tell all my customers who go away that its in thier Best Interest to have someone check the house every couple of days.

Scott

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Rich Kontny_3

What

If there is great pressure but an ignition failure or gas supply problem. Unless someone watches this house or there are some ambient warning devices that activate on lets say less than 40 f temperature I would have this owner sign off on the liability if a freeze occurs. The system could be 100% tight and a frozen loop or electrical failure could cause major problems. I am with your boss this one it is like rolling the dice to me.

Toddid Goldsmith's

Tell the customer

Jason Have the lady contact her the insurance co. that provides her homeowners insurance. Have her tell them she is going to be away all winter, she is leaving the heat operating (with or without the water on) and no one is going to be in the house, see what they have to say about it. It may not be a bad idea to talk to your own insurance carrier, document your co."s position, and have her sign it. I've been there.Todd

bruce_21

Make sure you get her to sign a receipt for your letter warning her of any potential problems. You can be sure she'll try to come after you if something goes wrong and she will 'not recall' that she was ever warned about anything.

Mitch_6

In the past I have run a dedicated line

from the meter right to the boiler so the rest of the house can be isolated but the boiler has a water supply.



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Mad Dog_2

We have remote boilers running snowmelt and other systems

that because of freezing concerns are isolated from their "make-up" water. The boilers and systems have glycol-filled and have lwcos as well. As long as you are functional lwcos and have her acknowledge - in writing - the risks, I wouldn't worry... Mad Dog

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