How To Turn Off My Gas Water Heater. A handle parallel to the pipe indicates an open valve. Goettl air conditioning & plumbing.
If you don't see a valve near the heater, follow the gas line until you find one. The valve will look similar to the one in the image below. If you turn off the water to the heater you must turn off the power.
Turn the gas valve 1/4 turn until the lever is perpendicular to the gas line to shut off the gas.
When you get home, you’ll be without hot water and might run into issues with turning the unit back on. Turn the gas valve 1/4 turn until the lever is perpendicular to the gas line to shut off the gas. You can also shut off the cold feed valve just to ensure no water is siphoned out of the tank if cold water is also used with the tank off. The heating mechanism may be gas or electric and is the most important part of the tank to shut off if you are concerned about an empty tank following a water shutoff.