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Need to keep water pipes from freezing help
Ruger4me
Member, Moderator Posts: 3,797 ******
Had a new well pump installed and had to tear down the old well house, I'm in the process of framing a new one with a shed attached but no roof on it yet and we are supposed to get to single digits in the next couple of days... what is the best way to keep the exposed pipes from freezing?
Comments
Cover your frame with a tarp and put a light bulb inside or if that isn't enough buy a heat tape. Bob
Some foam pipe insulation wouldn't hurt either, but it might not work with the heat tape.
bob pretty much got it covered........
I am trying to picture your well set up. If the pipes are below the frost line there shouldn’t be any concern about pipes freezing. If there is a pipe that comes up above ground with a spigot, the kind with the handle that you lift to turn it on and push down to shut off, there shouldn’t be any problems with freezing. When you shut the spigot off the water in the pipe will go back down the pipe and seep out of the pipe though a bleed hole below the frost line.
Now if you have a dug well and the pump it self is in the shed above ground that will have to be heated to keep the pump from freezing, I can’t imagine them leaving it that way though. Pumps are usually at the bottom of the well. I would suggest calling the people that installed the new pump and talk to them.
Let some water run if you have to.
Here is a picture from before I got the walls framed, the pvc pipes are kinda covered with some temporary insulation board and then I have also wrapped in plastic since then but it has only been about 30 degrees cold so far, gonna get colder so I need to add heat or something else.
The walls are partially framed, but no sheeting yet.
I like the tarp and the light bulb.
Yep, I'm gonna head out and get a tarp and a heat lamp, I have one already but it's being used in the chicken coop... Thanks for the ideas guys!
Can you contact whoever installed it. I'd give it everything that's been suggested. Make sure you include the pressure tank too. You could also double or triple up on the light bulbs. Maybe get 300 watt flood light bulbs and place them reasonably close. Then cover it with a blanket of fiberglass then a tarp with a bunch of weight holding it down. Basically, overdo it.
I can see now that it is above ground. I would suggest until you get it cover with a frame and insulated, maybe keep water flowing slowly through the pipes went it forecast to drop below freezing.
last year I had a water pipe bust under ground that came from the well to the house, I understand your concerns. Good luck.
I had a similar set-up with the tank in a well house. Standard bulbs only last so long, so I used a dimmer switch on the circuit. Of course, insulate the walls & ceiling around the tank & then 2 or 3 - 75 or 100 watt bulbs dimmed down, depending on the expected temperature. The bulbs will last all season & you'll have insurance incase 1 goes out.
What about making a small cover with the 2" hard foam insulation, with a light inside? You're going to have to make some kind of frame for the tarp anyway so it doesn't touch the bulb. Might be just as easy to duct tape a few pieces for a shelter. Then you could use it for wall insulation when you're done with it.
Yeah, those lines going out look really shallow. Your might want to spend some time and pile as much dirt as you have laying loose on them. The nearest equivalent of burying them deeper.
Make a temporary building from straw bales more insulation value then from a tarp
There you go, what savage said.
Also, remember that a faucet dripping in your house is not adequate to keep exposed pipes from freezing. You need a light stream of cold water running in one sink and a light stream of hot water running in another sink. The water needs to be continuously moving.
I learned this through life's lessons. I also keep cleaned gallon milk jugs of water in unused cabinets in case of power outages so I can flush the toilets. Again, a life lesson. My tank and pump are not wired to plug into a generator. This is on my to-do list. Well, not me, an electrician. The jugs are also on standby for the animals when their water bowls freeze.
If that water is for your house why isn't your pressure tank in your house too
^^^^^^^^This!^^^^^^^^
Then stick one of those oil filled radiant heaters in there. Don't want to set the hay on fire...
Lots of good ideas thanks everybody.
In the past, with exposed pipes like that (or even with some plants), I have run an extension cord and wrapped everything thickly in cheap (i.e. not LED) Christmas lights. Always generated enough heat to keep things unfrozen.
Ummm, I hope everyone's light bulb suggestions were for actual heat lamps and bulbs! A regular light bulb will not heat any structure nor keep pipes from freezing.
Wrap the pipes, tightly, with pipe insulation. If you have it enclosed, then by all means install a heat lamp near the pipes.
If it gets down to single digits, I would also let a sink run with a small stream of water during the coldest periods.
Insulation provides no heat. It only slows the rate of heat loss.
Just rip it all out and put in new stuff that freezing water won't break. Problem solved.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
A regular old 60 watt light bulb kept my pump house from freezing for decades. Those standard bulbs put out 60 Watts (but I went to public school). Look at any heater and you will see how many watts it puts out. Watts are watts.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
I have 2 100 watt standard light bulbs in my well house connected to a thermostat. Regularly gets into the low 20s here. Works like a charm.
I have to agree temporary shelter with heat lamps I have 250 and 500 watt lights in the chicken shed
A portabe electric heater works also as we do that when Temps drop below zero
The house built of straw is a good idea we still pile straw bales up to help insulate
Now one warning using straw if the big bad wolf shows up and huffs and puffs
Bets are off Lol
"If that water is for your house why isn't your pressure tank in your house too" --notnow
Good question. My pressure tank is in my basement. The pressure tank should be in the basement or crawl space.
You can move the pressure tank inside. It is hard for the well head itself to freeze.
No matter your heat source, don't get it too close to anything flammable. Tarp, pvc, abs etc. -------Ray
Pressure tanks can be placed anywhere. Some even bury theirs.
may put foam board and blankets over the light bulb area......
Watts are NOT watts. A 60 watt heater uses those watts to produce heat. A 60 watt bulb uses the watts to produce light, a small amount of heat is a by-product.
Apples and oranges.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Big pile of loose hay and a tarp
TIMING IS EVERYTHING🤔
Been using old style incandescent light bulbs all of my life. As long as th e bulbs didn't burn out we never lost a pump Those that did freeze I could usually repair them by brazing the parts back together. We always kept one or two pumps in the barn as spares just in case. Electric spce heaters work well when wired thru a thermostat.
What's a electrichester?🤔
Fat fingered typing ..... electric heater .
That is what I figured, you must have been thinking Winchester at the same time.
Winchesteritus is terminal at the least.
Try holding on to one for a while and see how "small" the heat they produce is.
I think I would try a combination of all of these. Cover them with dirt, heat lamp/engine heater, tarp and then water running.
Put a couple bales around everything, then to try to keep the wind from blowing away the heat. Check as often as you can to make sure it is OK.
It is going to get really cold.