Water Heaters - Question @ turning off water to water heater.

We have a well that funishes 3 homes on our property. The other 2 are summer dwellings and are seldom used. Only now a nephew is using one of them a few times a week and there is a leak somewhere between the well and his dwelling. This is making the only pump we have turn on every 20 minutes. I would like to turn off the water to his place when he is not there. Do I have to turn off his water heater if I turn the water supply off to his home?

Your reply is greatly appreciated as it is a long walk to his dwelling and I'm not getting any younger.

Thanks,
Becky

If the water heater some how drains and is electric you could melt a heating element. If it is gas/propane you could damage the unit or melt the filler tube inside.

What would cause it to drain?

You never till it happens then it is too late. A leaky faucet might siphon out enough water over a period of time. It could be perfectly ok but if it is electric it is easy to shut off. If gas at least just set it to pilot only. But wait and see what the experts think.

Thanks Ray....it's electric and he is there with the water turned on every few days.

How about, "hey nephew, WE have a problem". Since he is using the place, and I'm guessing without charge, his future water use could be based on his willingness to chip in for repairs.

I suppose that repairing the leak is out of the question?

How about, "hey nephew, WE have a problem". Since he is using the place, and I'm guessing without charge, his future water use could be based on his willingness to chip in for repairs.

Yeah ...I know...but these poor relations can be a bit tricky.

I suppose that repairing the leak is out of the question?

That would be wonderful. But it doesn't seem to be anyplace obvious so it must be underground and it's through the woods and under the road and that part of it is not my responsibility it's getting the sister who lives 60 miles away to deal with it. It gets complicated. I just want to turn it off and let them worry about it when they take a notion.

So from what I'm hearing the hot water will leak back out of the tank if the pressure from the well is not going to it? Correct?

By the way...how hard is it on my pump to run every 20 min? It's a 60 gal. i think.

It's hard on the pump and KILLING your electric bill. I would fix the water leak!

Shutting off the water isn't going to drain the tank and cause damage.

Since fixing the water leak would pose a major problem, shutting off the water to the house when not in use would be reasonable. Shutting off the power to the water heater to avoid stand by heat losses that will cause the power to turn on to keep the water how would also be a good idea.