We drain our water heater at the deer lease every time we leave. Right after we switch the breaker off. Then when we return, just open a couple hot water faucets and turn the main supply valve back on. When a steady stream of water comes out of the faucets, it is safe to turn the power back on. Would work the same if it is a gas system. 🍻

 

He said his is a gas system.

 

To answer your question, no it would not likley drain the hot water heater. MOst will not drain by shutting the water off and opening all of the faucets. You would need to connect a hose to it if it is located inside the house or attic and drain it separately. With that said, if the water heater is drained, he will need to turn off the gas heating element so it doesn't overheat with no water inside.

 

(contractor here) Water heater supply & return lines are on the top of the tank. Draining the house pipes won't drain the water heater (water is trapped). Same goes for "p-traps" in sinks/toilets. bss1 is right on draining the water heater. Toilet & sink traps aren't really drainable, so just pour a little anti-freeze in them and don't worry about it.

 

Correct. Sorry I forgot to mention that we drain ours from the bottom.

 

Make **** sure to turn off the water

 

If he wants to prevent major damage from a burst pipe, turn off the water and open all faucets and hose bibs.
If he gets a real hard freeze he may or may not get a cracked pipe, but the damage will be limited the the cost to fix the pipe.

To 100 per cent ensure he will not have a cracked pipe he needs to turn the water off at the meter and blow the water out of the pipes with an air compressor.

 

Drain it all and turn the heaters up higher to heat walls etc.
This also heats the attic since some stupid individual decided to install
hot water heaters and pipes in the attic of most houses here.

 

If you have some areas that are hard to drain, I found it helpful to hook up a piece of tubing with a water hose fitting to the air compressor….connect to the outside faucet. I have a faucet right by the main valve that I use.

Turn the pressure down to 30 lbs or so….and blow air through the lines with valves/faucets open on the other end.

You don’t need to blow much water out…just enough so there is room for expansion if it freezes.