|
Posted by jackson on November 30, 2006, 9:21 pm
> On 30 Nov 2006 16:46:33 -0800, lwatson@glomar-group.com wrote:
>
>>
>>I'm looking for suggestions on how best to finish my laundry room so
>>the water supply pipes for the washing machine won't freeze. Both the
>>hot and cold supply lines run across the bottom of the joists and then
>>down the basement wall. I believe there is only about an inch between
>>the pipes and the cement.
>>
>>Should I try and stuff insulation behind and in front of the pipes
>>before putting up vapour barrier and drywall? Should I build a box
>>around the pipes, leaving them exposed to the room and insulate/drywall
>>the rest of the wall? I'm at a loss as the best way to protect the
>>pipes while minimizing the amount of cold air coming off the cement
>>into the room.
>>
>>Thanks for the insights!
>>
>>Lorraine
>>
>
> Pipes don't need to be touching an exterior wall to freeze up. The
> important point is the ambient temp of the space around the pipes and
> how low does that get. Specifically, does it go below 32F for an
> extended period time.
>
> Insulation wrap around the pipe won't necessarily help either. It
> does preserve some of the latent heat from the water in the pipe
> itself, but again, if the water is standing still for long periods of
> time in a freezing location, the pipe will certainly freeze.
>
> There are also electric heat tapes to help with this condition. The
> problem is that they use energy, may be a fire hazard under certain
> conditions, and you generally have no indication when they fail (other
> then the pipes freeze up again).
>
> Best solution, keep pipes away from exterior walls and unheated
> spaces. Also, run the water a trickle when it gets super cold if you
> can't move the pipes.
>
> Beachcomber
Don't forget to think about the drain too. Nothing worse then having your
washer empty into a frozen drain pipe, now that's a mess!
>
>
>
>
| 
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap