Water supply for hot water baseboard boiler

Twagner

Can I shut off water supply during use without causing any damage?

Jamie Hall

Maybe. If there are no leaks in the system, it shouldn't use any water anyway. However, you would be well advised to have a low water safety cutoff of some kind on the boiler, whether the water supply is connected or not.

If your system is routinely adding makeup water, though, even in small amounts, I'd say no. And then I'd add find the leak or leaks and fix them, as soon as possible, as continuously adding fresh water to the system will lead to early failure of the boiler or piping or both.

newagedawn

why do you ask?

Twagner

Waterbill starts at $44.00. (Trash pickup, etc.)
Gone about 6 months during Winter.

Jamie Hall

Twagner said:

Waterbill starts at $44.00. (Trash pickup, etc.)
Gone about 6 months during Winter.

Ah. Now that's a different problem. Assuming that this is in an area where it freezes from time to time. You are presented with three options. First, you can shut off the water. In which case you should also shut off and drain the boiler and all your domestic plumbing, because boilers can and do decide to not run, usually on the coldest night of the year. Or you can leave it running with the water shut off, provided you have at least two low water controls on the system, at least one of which is a manual reset. Or you can leave it running with the water turned on. For both options two and three, you would be very well advised to have a low temperature alarm going to someone who will be able to respond on site within 12 hours (that's not you -- if you are in Florida and the house is in Ohio (or wherever), you won't be able to help at all).

We care for a couple of houses that are closed in the winter, but left at a low temperature so they can be re-opened when wanted. We visit them daily to make sure all is well. We are paid to do this. It's worth it for the home owners. We also care for a couple of houses which are closed in the winter and not kept warm (everything shut off and drained). We only visit them about once a week, and just to check they are secure. We're also paid for that -- but nowhere near as much.

If you are reasonably sure that you're not going to visit Camp Faraway in the winter, I'd shut it off completely and drain everything. Much safer. Much cheaper.

Whatever you decide to do, do NOT leave it without local support and the heating running, especially with the water shut off. The amount you save on the water bill wouldn't even pay for a visit from the local heating person to assess the extent of the damage if it freezes...