Quote:
Originally Posted by LikeLakes
To answer your question, with valves open you only get water from the tank if you open a hot water faucet, or push a mixing valve (kitchen sink for example) toward hot. You're right, close both valves and you've "trapped" the water in the tank. I'd still rather leave them open and pressurized, just from my experience with house piping and winterizing, etc.
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In my house there are unavoidable mixing valves for the washing machine and shower.
You can't (shouldn't) draw water from the tank unless it's heated to minimum 120 degrees to avoid Legionnaire's bacteria. Thus water should not be drawn from a cold tank. Thus the tank would need to be completely closed off from the household pipes, no?
The presence of Legionnaire's bacteria in rain barrels would also limit the use of that water. Apparently even flushing the toilet with those bacteria present is unsafe. This is all new to me. Sounds important.