Well - Freeze prevention tips

[tankmcmanara]

I have a well, and the pipe comes out of the ground and is exposed to weather about 3 ft then goes back into ground to head towards house. I have wrapped the pvc piple with the black foam, then I also added a layer of insulation wrap (with the foil layer facing outward. Covered all that in plastic.

I was wondering how much protection I have from freezing with all this insulation? How low a temp will my insulation protect it? We have had low 20's, but I would get up every 3 hrs and so and run water in house until the well pump kicked on to re-pressurize the tank back to 60 psi. So far, no freezing yet. Not sure if that was necessary or not. Any tips and suggestion are appreciated.

 

[Valveman]

Heat tape.

 

[tankmcmanara]

Heat tape.

Is heat tape safe on PVC? I thought it only worked on more conductive metals, like copper or steel pipe.

Also, I have read that it would take at least 6 hours for PVC pipe to freeze at 20F. Is that accurate?

 

[bkspero]

First of all, insulating the pipe only works if the exposure to freezing conditions is short enough (insulation only delays freezing) & water is flows at least occasionally through the pipe (causing the pipe to be refilled with above-freezing water). You've experienced these effects with your use of insulation and periodic water draw.

I was in a similar situation with an installation of a 95% efficiency gas furnace in an unheated attic. It is a backup to the main house heat and only really operated at night, so it spends long times during the day with no fresh condensate flowing through the lines. How to keep the water in the PVC condensate trap and drain lines from freezing during cold daytime hours? I used EZ-Heat Freeze Free self regulating heat line (https://www.acehardware.com/departm...es/3018637?store=18419&gStoreCode=18419&gQT=0). It is heat tape that only conducts electricity when cold, and the colder it gets the more it conducts and warms. And, in a properly designed and installed installation as it warms it conducts less electricity and produces less heat until it settles out at a temperature above freezing but not high enough to damage PVC pipes. You can see in the listing above that it is approved for both metal and plastic pipes.

Its installation instructions give the number of wraps per unit length, amounts and types of insulation for different pipe sizes and materials and expected lowest temperatures. Has worked well for going on 6 New Jersey winters.

I've attached a copy of the installation instructions.

 

[Valveman]

Looks like good stuff suggested above. I use the regular heat tape, link below. As long as I don't wrap it around the pipe it doesn't get the PVC too hot.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frost-King-6-ft-Electric-Water-Pipe-Heat-Cable-HC6A/202262328

 

[MicEd69]

In industrial applications, I've installed "heat tapes" over lightly insulated plastic pipes and then insulated that assembly.