The good news is everything works just fine except for one minor little detail.
When you build a house elevated above the ground in a climate that does winter, even R-38 insulation won't stop water lines from freezing if the space they are in isn't a heated part of the house. All that insulation makes the heated part of the house as cozy as can be. It only delays the inevitable in the plumbing box.
After the first water line freezing incident Plan B was put into effect. A small fan and funnel with tubing were used to add even more heat in the plumbing box from the inside. That and the existing heat tape already in there were still not enough to compensate for gale force winds in the single digit range. A few of the water lines froze again.
I do not want to live with this aggravation for the rest of my natural born days. Luckily the PEX tubing used for all the water lines is resistant to freeze damage and upon thawing there have been no leaks. This is not something that can go on for ever though and continue to expect nothing to crack. I must come up with a plan C to solve this problem once and for all.
The heat tapes do work. I seem to recall they even came in 36 foot lengths. Perhaps all I need to do is open the plumbing box again ..... and put the heat tape on all the water lines instead of just two. I had hoped that little extra heat would stay inside the well insulated box and keep them all unfroze. Not. These heat tapes only have a range of something like 34 to 45 degrees before the shut off. Obviously not enough to keep the entire plumbing box cozy.
But that fix can wait until spring. Maybe even next fall.
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4 comments:
I so happy to hear that the PEX held up, But you are rght, it won't work forever. Crazy thoughts like putting in a recirculsting hot circuit come to mind. But that would mean even more fitings, less space and duh, more ways to leak. You are probably right, use a lot more heat tape, and maybe even set up aremote temp sensor to warn you if it getting cold in there. Brrrrrr!
This sure isn't like Maui Pomaika'i where water lines could sit on top of the ground and run under floors completely exposed.
So sorry for the freezing. I thought it had been resolved. But you are right, being in "mid air" sure creates a problem. Hope all will be ok.
The cold got the blooms on my magnolia. It was so pretty.
Stay warm.
We used to leave a nice hot incandescent bulb on in our pump house but it doesn't look like you have room in your little box, plus you'd have to hoard them!
At any rate, maybe the Winter that Wasn't is almost over.
bev
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