What are my options to keep a small section of exposed water line from freezing?

[Egon]

insulated pipe shrouding with self regulating heat tape on the pipe. Pretty standard commercial installation.

 

[JOE G]

I really like the idea of putting the heat line in the pipe, It is off the ground because I was able to come out though wood instead of Concrete when exiting the house. The Porch bottom is closed off solid on 2 sides and open with lattice on the one and open so i can get under on the other. I do store some stuff under there. I guess I could insulate and close off the rest just not sure the cost would justify it just for this.

 

[JOE G]

Would Pipe insulation be enough if it was used by itself? I am guessing not. I don't want to leave it run all winter as It'll just add to my ground water here and waste my well.

 

[ponytug]

"Hey doc, will I be able to play the violin after surgery?"

The upside to insulation is that it is passive. A power outage or a rodent isn't going to cause it to fail. How much insulation you need is a function of how exposed it is, how the wind blows through your porch, and of course, how cold it gets. Tough to forecast.

I would suggest bringing the pipe down the foundation wall, and under grounding it by at least a few inches, so you can put four inch thick foam boards 12" across on top of it, and against the wall. That will help actively add waste heat from the house in the pipe and geothermal heat from the ground, which will be better than wrapping the pipe with insulation which does not have a lot of R value. If that is too much work, you could even just put the pipe on the ground, add the foam boards on top, and put cement tiles on top to hold it in place.

I don't recommend fiberglass pipe insulation for cold water; it tends to accumulate water and then it has very little insulation value. It is generally recommended only for hot water and steam. Closed cell foam is more reliable.

All the best,

Peter

 

[crreed67]

A bale of hay or straw on top will help a lot and easy to get rid of in spring.

 

[Jstpssng]

I agree that insulating is best, but will caution that mice love to chew and nest on blue styrofoam. If going with heat tape the type inside the pipe is best for a long term solution.
I still would be tempted to shut the valve off inside the house when not in use... “just in case”.

 

[CobyRupert]

I agree that insulating is best, but will caution that mice love to chew and nest on blue styrofoam. If going with heat tape the type inside the pipe is best for a long term solution.
I still would be tempted to shut the valve off inside the house when not in use... “just in case”.

I wouldn’t shut off valve inside of house just in case line freezes. This gives no place for expansion of ice and something has to give/burst. With valve open, the pressure in the line can go back into the water system/ballast tank or is lessened as soon as someone cracks a faucet anywhere else in the system.
This isn’t fail proof as ice in the line can trap other downstream sections of the line that are freezing and it will burst anyways.

 

[grsthegreat]

Heat tape works great. I have lots of houses in north idaho using this method. Also, just because you dont get 100% of water out of lines by blowing out water, doesnt mean it will break. Even blowing 50% out would allow room for expansion when water freezes, thus preventing line breakage. Been blowing out sprinkler lines here for 25 years,…no breaks yet.

 

[Jchonline]

Heat Tape and insulate. Heat Tapes need to be on a GFCI circuit.

When blowing out water lines, you never get all the water out so you have been lucky so far.

Yes this, and I would still recommend you figure out a way to bury that pipe below the frost line.

 

[Root Cause]

I have done it in the past but I quit blowing out water lines in my RV a few years ago.
No one knows just what is in that air tank- mold or ???

I still run a little clorox in some water to sanitize the tank and lines in the spring as well.

 

[PILOON]

They also make excellent heat tapes that can be run inside the water line providing that both ends are accessible and have no close 90s. These can be ordered with thermostats and or timers and leak-proof fittings.

Yep! that's the way to go.

I have installed my fair share of them and the best is the internal self regulating kind.

Every 12 inches is like a short heat section and only the sections that are in 'freeze' zone gets heat so they are electrically economical to use.

I.E., no current draw if above freezing so U can actually leave it live year round.
Usually available in either 110 or 220 VAC.
Often 2 wattage choices, the lower will prevent freezing* but the higher wattage will actually thaw a line that did freeze, like during a prolonged power outage.

And YES a G.F.I. circuit protection device should be used and is required to meet code.

*have heard that U can apply 220 on a 110 traced line to thaw a frozen line. (I never tried since I always opted for the higher watt option)

Addendum:
If U are not in a hurry, I recently found super good pricing on some Asian web sites for the raw tracing material. (To be 'code complaint' you need the versions that have shielding incorporated.)

 

[JOE G]

Any links to the recommended in line heaters?

 

[dlctcg]

I think it was a little over a year ago... but the plumber installed a product by HeatLine on a project we were on. I know the customer has been happy with it (we still do work for them); & it didn't require a GFI Out let because they install an inline one on the system.

HeatLine

 

[grsthegreat]

Yep! that's the way to go.

I have installed my fair share of them and the best is the internal self regulating kind.

Every 12 inches is like a short heat section and only the sections that are in 'freeze' zone gets heat so they are electrically economical to use.

I.E., no current draw if above freezing so U can actually leave it live year round.
Usually available in either 110 or 220 VAC.
Often 2 wattage choices, the lower will prevent freezing* but the higher wattage will actually thaw a line that did freeze, like during a prolonged power outage.

And YES a G.F.I. circuit protection device should be used and is required to meet code.

*have heard that U can apply 220 on a 110 traced line to thaw a frozen line. (I never tried since I always opted for the higher watt option)

Addendum:
If U are not in a hurry, I recently found super good pricing on some Asian web sites for the raw tracing material. (To be 'code complaint' you need the versions that have shielding incorporated.)

i used self regulating heat tape on my patio cover and associated gutters and downspout due to icing issues and leaking a few years ago. stuff is amazing. i can clamp an ampmeter on the circuit and verify that after ice is melted the power use drops to next to nothing.