Winterizing
What Should I Do With My Plumbing Before Leaving My Toronto Home Empty for the Winter?
Shut off the main water supply, drain the pipes, and keep the heat on at a low steady temperature before leaving a Toronto home vacant for an extended period in winter.
If you're heading south for a few weeks or leaving a Toronto property vacant over the winter, the short answer is this: shut off the main water supply, drain what you can out of the pipes, and keep the heat running at a low but steady temperature. A frozen pipe doesn't care whether anyone's home to notice it — and a burst one can run for days before a neighbour spots water coming from under the door.
How do I shut off the water before I leave?
Find your main shut-off valve — usually in the basement near where the water line enters the house, close to the water meter. Turn it clockwise until it stops. This cuts water to the whole house, so nothing can leak or freeze and burst while you're gone, even if a fixture fails on its own. If you've never located yours before, do it now, in daylight, rather than hunting for it in a panic later.
Should I drain the pipes too, or is shutting off the valve enough?
Shutting off the valve stops new water from coming in, but the pipes still hold water that can freeze if the house gets cold enough. After you close the main valve, open the highest and lowest faucets in the house (a top-floor bathroom and a basement laundry tub work well) to let water drain out and air in. Flush each toilet once to clear the tank and bowl, and if you have an older home without pressure-balanced valves, it's worth draining those too. For a long absence — a month or more — this step matters more, not less.
What temperature should I leave the thermostat at?
Most Toronto plumbers and insurers recommend never letting the house drop below about 13 to 15 degrees Celsius while you're away in winter. Pipes run inside exterior walls in a lot of the city's older housing stock — the Beaches, Leaside, parts of Etobicoke — and those walls get colder faster than you'd expect. Even with the water shut off and lines drained, keeping some heat on protects anything still holding residual water, like your water heater tank or dishwasher lines.
What about the water heater while the house sits empty?
If you've shut off the main water supply, turn the water heater to its lowest setting or vacation mode rather than fully off — this avoids the tank cycling uselessly and reduces wear. Don't drain the tank completely unless you're also shutting off its gas or power, since an empty tank with the heating element still on can damage it.
What if something still goes wrong while I'm away?
This is where having someone check the house matters more than any single step. Ask a neighbour, friend, or property manager to walk through every week or two, and consider a water sensor near the water heater and any floor drains — inexpensive ones will send a phone alert the moment they detect moisture. If a pipe does freeze and split, a plumber visit to find and repair a burst section typically runs $350 to $850 depending on access and the extent of the damage, and catching it within a day or two instead of a month makes a real difference to that bill.
Who else should know I'm going away?
Besides whoever is checking the house, let your home insurance provider know if you'll be away more than a few weeks — many policies have specific requirements for vacant properties in winter, and meeting them in advance avoids disputes later if something does happen.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to drain the pipes if I'm only away for a weekend? No — for a short trip in winter, leaving the heat at a normal setting and skipping the drain step is fine. The draining routine is really for extended absences of a few weeks or more.
Can I just turn the heat off completely to save on bills while I'm gone? It's not worth the risk. The cost of heating an empty house at a low temperature for a month is far less than repairing even one frozen, burst pipe.
Does shutting off the main valve stop all risk of freezing? It stops new leaks, but water already sitting in the pipes can still freeze and crack the pipe itself. Draining the lines after shutting off the valve covers that gap.
Going away this winter and want someone to double-check your shutoff before you leave? — request a plumber or message us on Facebook. Free for homeowners, care of GetFixHero.
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