I live in Austin and we are going to have some pretty cold weather in the near future. I recently bought a house that I'm not living and since the electricity is out (and cannot be turned on until an electrical inspection is completed), the heater won't be running there. In order to prevent any pipes from bursting, I was thinking about maybe shutting off the water to the house, draining the pipes, and just leaving all the faucets and hose bibs open while it's cold. Any reason not to do that?
Post snowpocalypse update
I thought I would follow up with what I ended up doing and how things worked out. Local news recommended (very adamantly but without explaining why) that people do not drip outside faucets, inside only. So we decided to wrap the outside faucets very well and put hand warmers on them for an extra punch of heat and not drip them. We did leave the water on and drip the inside faucets.
We did this at both houses and basically everything worked out fine. We did have older hose bib crack and gush water. Luckily I had a replacement bib so we were okay. I know other people that dripped their outside lines and were fine. I also know someone who just turned the water off and it was fine. I also know a lot of people who had pipes burst, including my wife's parents in Dallas. They left the house for a few days and didn't come back until after things thawed out. A pipe in the ceiling burst near the kitchen and flooded the much of lower floor of the house. Not great.
Anyway, thanks again for all the advice. It was a pretty crazy week, but we made it through without any major issues.
Best Answer
Shutting off and draining the water is a good idea. If for no reason other than an unnoticed leak could cause considerable damage. Don't forget the water heater and fridge if it has an icemaker since the power is off. Also the toilets, flush them after you have the water off. Then use a large sponge to sop up the water in the bottom of the bowl. Dip the sponge in and wring it out into a bucket. For extra insurance pour some RV antifreeze into the toilets and sink traps. Use RV antifreeze not automotive antifreeze as the RV type is nontoxic and flushable. When it comes time to turn the water back on remove all the faucet aerators or they can become clogged with sediment. Run the water until clear before reinstalling them.