advice on draining electric water emersion

[martyn94]

[Florence]

We used to have the tank in the loft. We did have a problem once when we were away for a few weeks in winter and the house wasn´t heated. But it was the pipe that froze, the tank was OK. We´ve since moved it down to the garage and put a cover on it. No more problems now

[Allan]

We used to have the tank in the loft. We did have a problem once when we were away for a few weeks in winter and the house wasn´t heated. But it was the pipe that froze, the tank was OK. We´ve since moved it down to the garage and put a cover on it. No more problems now

You were lucky, a tank or hot water cylinder will rarely freeze but if a pipe freezes it can split.

Once the pipe thaws, the water in the tank can empty through the split.

[martyn94]

We used to have the tank in the loft. We did have a problem once when we were away for a few weeks in winter and the house wasn´t heated. But it was the pipe that froze, the tank was OK. We´ve since moved it down to the garage and put a cover on it. No more problems now

You were lucky, a tank or hot water cylinder will rarely freeze but if a pipe freezes it can split.

Once the pipe thaws, the water in the tank can empty through the split.

I’m not going down to the cellar to look, but I recall that my cylinder has a little red stop cock near to, or built into, the pressure release valve. It won’t stop your cylinder freezing up (in a thousand-year freeze, down here) but it might stop it dumping 200l of water all over the floor. It would be my cellar floor in my case, so I don’t much care. But it might be worth switching it off before you leave, if you are leaving in the cold months,

[Richard and Sharon]

If you want a plumber to sort it out, I can recommend Christophe Docus. He is a fairly local to you, very helpful, speaks English and his rates are very reasonable. His contact details are jcdocus@bbox.fr or call 06 43 00 28 40