When you’re away from home for a long period of time – such as when you’re on vacation – you want to make sure your home is safe.
Shutting off your water is one way to do this. Still, what effect does this have on some appliances, such as your AC?
In our article, we’ll take a look at how shutting off water affects your AC, how to shut off your water, and how to prevent your pipes from freezing in the winter.
Shutting off your water has no effect on your AC, but it can affect your heater. Most AC systems do not need water to run and have no connection to the drainpipes.
Turning off the water does not affect them.
What Effect Does Shutting Off Your Water Have On AC?
Most AC units tend to operate without water, so they are not harmed when you turn off the water supply.
Rather, the freezing temperature causes water droplets to form.
Why You Should Shut Off Your Water Before Going On Vacation
Before you head off on vacation, it’s important you turn off the water supply.
After all, you don’t want to come home from a lovely vacation to find your house flooded!
Forgetting to turn off your water can cause a lot of damage to your home.
Damage to appliances, frozen pipes, supply line leaks, and dripping water heaters are all potential consequences of not turning off your water supply.
Water damage can also be expensive to resolve. You need to dry out your possessions, clean them, and replace them if necessary.
Plus, you will most likely need to rewire your home.
It’s a good idea to switch off your water supply if you’ll be away from home for a while.
Especially when your area is experiencing unpredictable or poor weather.
4 Steps To Shut Off Your Water
Locate The Valve
The location of the main water shut-off valve may vary depending on the condition of your home and the weather conditions where you live.
The main water shut-off valve will either be a ball valve that has a lever-like handle, or it will have a gate valve that looks like a round spigot.
The valve may be inside your home, on an outside wall, or even close to the road. If the valve is inside the home, check your basement, laundry room, and other utility areas.
Valves inside the home are often found somewhere on the first floor.
But in warmer areas, a shut-off valve is often found on an outside wall. They are often near the outdoor faucet. You should also check for a valve close to the road.
There is often a water supply shut-off valve near your water meter too. This is likely to be near the street, below an underground access panel.
Turn The Water Off
To shut off the water supply, turn the gate valve clockwise a few times until you can no longer. To adjust the ball valves, turn the lever 90 degrees clockwise.
Run The Faucets
To release the pressure, drain the water that is already flowing in the pipes.
You should turn your lowest level sink on to make sure the water in higher level pipes flow down. Run the hot and cold taps until they are empty.
If there is any old water in your pipes that may have higher levels of metals (such as lead), then running the faucets can help to flush these metals out.
Turn The Water Back On
To turn your water back on, turn the valve clockwise before running a faucet. Wait a couple of minutes for the water to flow so you can be sure everything has returned to normal.
Why Should You Shut Off Your Water In Winter?
To save yourself a lot of heartache and frustration, turn off your water during the colder months.
It’s also a good idea to remove splitters and hoses from the spigot to keep your water lines safe.
How To Stop Your Pipes Freezing
To stop your pipes freezing, turning off your water is the best solution. To stop your pipes from freezing, it’s recommended to leave your faucets on a slight trickle rather than a drip.
Should You Turn Off Your Heater When Turning Off Your Water?
While it’s important to turn your water off before you leave for vacation, you don’t always need to turn off your heater.
If you forget to turn your heater off it’s not the end of the world, especially if your heater is on a low setting or if you have a smart thermostat. Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Your water heater stores water in a tank. If the water in the tank reduces for any reason then you should turn the water heater off.
You should switch off your heater whenever you turn your water off for a long period of time. Especially if you have a hybrid water heater or tank.
Your water heater will be fine if you leave it running during brief shutoffs until your water flows again.
Conclusion
We hope our article has given you better insight into what happens to your AC when you shut off your water, how to shut off your water, and why this is so important when you leave your house for a while.
It’s good to get into the habit of double-checking everything before you go on vacation, or when you leave home for an extended period of time.
Switching off your water reduces the chances of possible damage to your home.
By turning off your water, you can enjoy your time away from home in peace knowing that your possessions are safe.
When you switch off your water supply, you should also turn your heater off to protect your home and appliances.