Temperature in house to avoid pipes from freezing?

Question

I live alone and travel often. I live outside Philly, so it's fairly cold right now. When I travel, I turn down the heat to lower the bills......but does anyone know the safe temperature I need to leave my house at to avoid the pipes from freezing. Right now, I'm leaving it around 58 degrees...and my bills are still high. Guess I'm asking how low can I go without causing a major pipe problem?

Answer 1

I regularly deal with homes which are vacant and not winterized, and live in Wisconsin, where it's a WEE bit colder than is Philly (you guys have GREAT cheese steak sandwiches..:)

It's common to visit such properties where the thermostat is set to its lowest possible setting, and no damages occur. All you really need to do is insure that it stays around 40F, and you won't have issues.

But, use caution if you have live houseplants. 40F will cause them to be dead as stones when you return.

Using these lower temps, it's also advisable to turn off the water pressure at the main entrance valve, if possible. That eliminates the pressure in the lines, and keeps the potential of damage lower.

Good luck !

Answer 2

There is no certain answer. I would think 58 is OK, or even 50. Here is the question: If you have a pilot light on the furnace and it went out the 1 hour after you left town, how long would it take for the temperature in the house to reach 32 degrees? It would depend on the outside temperature and how long you were gone. Same answer if you have an electric igniter, and your power goes off because of an ice storm or whatever. Talk to some of the neighbors who are native to the area and get their comments.

Answer 3

Well your pipes are outside so shut water off and drain exxes water out of lines,think about buying some heat tape to for your pipes,it takes hardely any effort to wrap your pipes with heat tape,then plug tape in and i dont care if it's 50 below o in your place,every thing will be fine,and it's worth it,i wraped all mine up here in NY back in summer,so all i had to do was plug it in,get the tape at Lowes,Home Depot i think i got mine at lowes,any way you'll get a good 3 to 5 yrs before you have to replace the tape.Oh and drain your water heater to,cause tape only works on the pipe,then i'd turn your thermostat down to about 50 degrees.The tape uses hardely any power at all,like a night light running full time is all.

Answer 4

Turn off the water at the street level and make sure your outside faucets are off (sounds funny but a small drip can wreck havoc. I live in Indy and the temps here have been to about 24 degrees and my pipes on a vacant house have not frozen. I also poured antifreeze done the pipes (used for de-winterizing) and eveything is ok.

Answer 5

Have you tried shutting off the vents and closing doors to all the rooms without plumbing? You don't need to heat them at all.

If your place is well insulated, you might be able to go a little lower but I wouldn't go too much below 55. The problem is that while you're gone, a really sub 0 temps could move in.

Best thing would be to have someone who could go check if the temp really drops and kick the stat up a couple degrees.

Answer 6

Probably a temperature above 32F... which is when water freezes.. which is in your pipes.

Answer 7

My heat can go down to 55, and that's where I set it when I'm away. Its been OK so far. Anything above 32' F should do it.

Answer 8

I wouldn't go below 55. Don't forget to leave your faucet dripping a little. (You don't have to have a steady flow, but a drip every once in awhile.)

Answer 9

I have a vacation house above the snow line. I keep it at 36 and have never had a problem.

Answer 10

I would say to be safe around 50.