What to Do With Your Water Heater When You Go on Vacation

Your water heater runs continuously, heating 40 to 75 gallons of water to 120°F around the clock — even while you're away for two weeks in Hawaii. That's money spent for no reason. Here is the right approach based on how long you'll be gone.

Trips of 3 Days or Less: Leave It Alone

For a long weekend or a 3-day trip, the math doesn't support adjusting the water heater. The unit will cool down slightly while you're gone, but the energy saved doesn't offset the cost of reheating a full tank from a lower temperature when you return. Leave the thermostat where it is.

Trips of 1–2 Weeks: Use the Vacation Setting

For a week or two away, switch the thermostat to the "Vacation" or "VAC" position — or to the lowest available setting if your unit doesn't have a dedicated vacation mode. This maintains the water temperature around 50°F, which keeps the unit active (important for freeze protection in cold climates) while dramatically reducing the energy consumed to maintain temperature.

Savings estimate: A gas water heater running in vacation mode for 10 days saves approximately $4–$8 in gas compared to normal operation. Not life-changing, but also not nothing — and the habit is worth building for longer trips.

Trips Longer Than 2 Weeks: Turn It Off

For extended absences of 3 weeks or more, turning the water heater off entirely makes economic sense and also eliminates the small but real risk of a slow connection leak going undetected and causing water damage while you're away.

Gas water heaters: Turn the thermostat dial to the "Pilot" position or to "Off" if you're in a climate where pipes won't freeze. Leaving it on "Pilot" keeps the pilot light burning (if applicable) while shutting down the main burner entirely.

Electric water heaters: Go to your electrical panel and turn off the circuit breaker for the water heater. This is the cleanest shutdown — no energy use whatsoever.

When you return, restore the thermostat or breaker and allow 30–60 minutes for the unit to heat back up before drawing hot water.

One More Step: Shut Off the Water Supply

For any trip longer than a few days, consider shutting off the main water supply to your home or at minimum the cold water inlet to the water heater. This prevents a slow developing leak from the water heater connections or T&P valve from running continuously while you're away. A small connection drip that would normally be noticed and fixed in a day can cause significant damage over two weeks. The cold water inlet valve is at the top of the water heater on the cold supply pipe — turn it clockwise to close.

What Not to Do

Don't turn an electric water heater off at the breaker without first verifying the tank is full when you restore power. Don't set the thermostat below 50°F in climates where pipes could freeze — the water in the tank and connecting pipes needs to stay above freezing. And don't completely drain the tank unless you're going to be away for months — the anode rod needs to stay submerged to function, and draining a tank accelerates corrosion.