Pro Handyman Blog

I got a call from a friend last week asking if it was okay to turn off his water heater while he went out of town. I asked why he wanted to do that and he said he wanted to save the money, and he could save the energy. That makes sense, but I told him to consider just turning the water heater to the “Vacation” setting on the thermostat. He didn’t know what that was.

Turning the water heater off for the days you are away from the house is fine. The water in the tank will gradually cool and so when you get back you will have to relight the pilot (if you have a gas water heater). This is normally not a problem, but if it’s late and you are cranky, you may not want to take the time to read the instructions printed on the side of your tank.

Turning the water heater to “vacation” setting will keep the pilot lit while lowering the temperature in the tank. So when you get back home from vacation, you will turn the thermostat from vacation to whatever heat setting you desire. Generally speaking, 120 degrees at the tap is recommended. You can test the temperature at the tap by running the water until it is hot, filling a tall glass with the hot water, and using a cooking thermometer placed in the glass.