01/12/2024
No heat? Leaking? Not operational. The question is always "Should I drain it?".
Oddly you should not. If the unit is not heating but still moving water. It will not freeze. If it is leaking but the leak is manageable. Keep it topped off and hot.
If it is not operational at all. Close off any path for air movement to the equipment with rags or blankets and keep the cover closed until we can get to it.
Why? When a unit is empty. It's not actually empty. A full unit has several hundred gallons of relatively warm water in it. Once empty younhave reduced it to very small amounts of water trapped in low spots. These will freeze and break plumbing within hours. Lead times are less than a week, we can usually get to it before freeze damage occurs. If we need to, we can winterize the unit so that it can be repaired at a later date. We never recommend the use of space heaters, but realize that people will use them. The hazards there are fire from debris contacting the heater, or from an overloaded, or overheated extension cord. As well as the potential for electrocution should the heater not be connected to a GFCI receptacle.