"SQLit" wrote in message
...
"Mike" wrote in message
oups.com...
We live in the Boston area. We bought our current house a year ago. The
attic is finished with heat. This past winder, all the water pipes to
the attic's bathroom got frozen on a very cold day. We had some
temporary solutions so that the pipes didn't freeze again.
Now I am trying to find a perminant solution. I opened the attic
bedroom's wall and found that the water pipes laying on the floor of
the unheated trangular area behind the wall. Because of the ventilation
required, I guess the area where pipes are can get very cold. Currently
there are some tapes wrapped around the pipes but not completely.
I am thinking of buying more tapes and wrap the pipes more carefully
and tightly. Also, put some extra insulation on top of the pipes. Is
this enough? Last winder the lowest temp was -10F here.
If not, what's a good solution of the problem.
Thanks,
-Mike
Another solution might be to install a hot water recycle pump up there.
You
could put it on a t-stat so that it would run on the coldest days. And
or
add a push button for getting hot water up to the area faster. These
connect under the sink and it pull hot water and injects into the cold
water
pipe. Moving water does not freeze as fast.
I grew up in Iowa and we had a well, if it stayed below -10 for a couple
of
days dad would just put the kitchen sink on slow drip so that during the
night the pump would have to turn on and run a couple of times.
I agree, especially if the system is one that returns the (cooled hot) water
through the cold water line rather than a dedicated hot return. If you use
a hot return pipe, you can couple the pipes together so the hot pipe can
keep the cold one from freezing.
If rebuilding the pipe space (to keep it in the heated space), or hot water
return are not practical solutions then an electric pipe wrap would be
apporpriate. Basically an electric blanket for the pipe. Need to inspect
it yearly the verify its always working though as they can deteriorate over
time.
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