Winterizing cabin (every other week)

[laketom2]

Menards has those tankless heaters on sale regularly. I would check to make sure they drain completly though. I bought a small point of use electric unit for a sink which has a U shaped coil that as mounted, does not drain all the way (I have not installed it yet).
One thing I do when draining the toilet is to push most of the water out of the bowl with a plunger so it takes less a/f. The water system is drained as a precaution though as I leave the heat on as I agree with others here that its not good to heat and cool the house frequently.

 

[snobuilder]

I also pull and dump the p-traps I have access to.

I'd also be cautious as to if the tankless heaters can be fully drained with ease.

 

[samc]

I drain the hot water heater,hook a air compressor to it,and use it as a air flask. This makes blowing out the water lines very easy and it gets all of the water out. Make sure all of your valves are open. That's where water tends to get trapped and freeze. Especially ball valves. If you have the inter web there,you can turn everything on from home. I just have a guy down the road from me turn on the heat before I get up there.

This is exactly how we drain the water and water heater in our cabin. I don't want to pay to heat the place if not there for sometimes up to 3-4 weeks. Doesn't take long to warm the place up to temp and draining the water isn't hard with all the ball valves and a small air compressor in the mechanical room to blow out the lines. 10 mins tops.

 

[Doo Dude]

water heaters aside any one putting any thought in to freezing cabin then reheating back to freezing every weekend? frost then water then frost then water in your walls then rot and mold. 40deg and be done with it cheaper in the long long run

I never gave this a thought as our cabin is all log so no where for the moister to get trapped...but if there wasdry wall I can see where there could be a issue.

 

[Polarice]

Our cabin is all wood so I don't think that there would be too much of an issue with moisture. It's well ventilated.

I just talked to the plumber who did the original work. In the Spring/Summer they're going to come out and show me how to do it. Also going to make any necessary changes as of where to drain all of the water out of the water heater.

It's going to be set up to use an air compressor to get all of the water out.

Thanks for all of your input.

I'm looking forward to next winter with a lot lower electric bill.

 

[sixball]

We have had our cabin from 1986 and never had any mold problem doing the shut down. We heat with wood so maybe its dryer.
It only takes an hour to have hot water after filling and turning the power on to the 40 gal water tank. Be sure you fill the water tank before turning on the heater elements or they will burn out. Same if its gas don't turn the burner on before filling the tank.
We have the cabin set up to open and shut down in a short time.