Can he shut his water off at the street? It takes a special key to do it, but as long as the turning nut for the valve is in good shape and not frozen, he should be able to do that.
We’re on vacation in western Michigan for Christmas. Our home in maryland has the heat turned down.
The house has a ball valve for the main water pipe. We always shut the whole system down when we leave town. If a pipe freezes it won’t be a big deal.
Roads here are really slick. My company car is a 4wd F-150. I don’t normally take it on vacation but decided to this time. My adult kids aren’t thrilled because they aren’t allowed to drive it.
I’m not one of those “I need 4 wheel drive” guys but it does track nice in the deep snow and ice.