heat tape

Just bought a 100 yr old house in the northeast. the house was used as a summer vacation home, and shut down in the winter. It is built on a stone foundation, with a cinderblock crawl space under the kitchen. I put a 15ft heat tape (previously used in crawl space) on the two pipes, encased them in pipe insulation foam, then boxes the pipes, with insulation above and around. Yesterday cold water pipe froze.(outside temp 2, temp in crawl space

24) I turned on power to heat tape, and was surprized this morning to find the temp of the cold water about 100 degrees. Is this normal for heat tape. Should I be regulating the tape to limit heat. Does this seem safe from a fire hazard standpoint?
Reply to
Ken
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I grew up in cold country and all of our heat tapes had t-stats on them. They cost a bit more but my father, more likely mom was worried that we would forget about them in the non cold months.

Yes when the tapes are in direct contact with the pipes the water will get quite warm. Once you start using the water the pipes will cool down quickly.

Reply to
SQLit

Did you wrap the heat tape around the pipes. That is a no no in most areas. Fifteen feet of heat tape is usually for 15 feet of pipe. Even with that much insulation it shouldn't heat the water that much.

Reply to
Gino

I was suprised by how much electricity a pipe heater uses. They are about 500 watts. That is about $22 per month if the temp is below the thermostat setting.

Reply to
William W. Plummer

Good catch!

later,

tom @

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Reply to
newsgroups01REMOVEME

We get minus 30 here and I have 3 ft of semi exposed water pipe. I removed the heat tape 5 years ago to reinstall it correctly and never put it back. It's costs me nothing to crack open the laundry room sink tap. No water shortage here so I feel this is my best solution. Heat tapes not connected to a GFI have a nasty habit of lighting on fire as well.

Reply to
Gino

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