insulating toilet tanks

[Jules Richardson]

Yeah, that's not a bad idea, or at least a few coils as someone else suggested. I've actually got around 60' of 3/4" copper that I'll be pulling out of the house (feeds to old water-filled radiators that we no longer need) - but that's only a little over a gallon if I have my numbers right.

Sticking one of the old radiators on the outside wall of the house and diverting water via that might work (after all, it's only a problem when the weather's hot :-) but then I'd have to remember to bypass and drain the darn thing during winter.

Adding some styrofoam seems like a cheap and quick solution and one that needs no maintenance - it's just down to a question of how thick to make it, how long it'll last, and what to attach it with.

cheers

Jules

[The Daring Dufas]

The reason I mentioned is because I often have to make such a heat exchanger for restaurant ice machines. A coil of 3/8" is attached to the ceiling of the walk-in cooler to chill the water supplying the ice machine to increase its efficiency. Quite often the ice machine is in a hot kitchen and the cold water lines feeding the ice machine picks up this heat and it can't produce much ice.

TDD

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Another potential problem with styrofoam is that is can displace just enough water to keep the toilet from functioning correctly. If the water level's already as high as it can be (based on the toilet's internals), there would be no way to compensate for the lost water volume.

[Jules Richardson]

Yes, this one's OK I believe - the level's quite a way below the inlet. I was planning on putting a housebrick or something in the tank first as a test just to occupy space and see if everything still worked :-)

[Jim Elbrecht]

Just to add to the negatives on Styrofoam-- Mine started breaking down after a few year and beads kept getting caught in the flapper. After about the 10th time that happened it was a major PITA to get the rest of it out.

Jim

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Duh. That's why there's scuba gear. Don't you know anything?

:-)

[jamesgangnc]

And as anyone with a hot tub and a cover knows, styrofoam eventually becomes water logged.

[RES]

Since it is "one of our." rather than "our only," then why not just use a different toilet? The water's temperature in the tank will soon exceed the dew point of the bathroom and the condensation will stop. If the toilet is the only one that's convenient, then the tempering tank solution would probably be advisable. If the toilet is essential to your bathroom décor, consider removing the old tank, scrubbing it out with an acid solution to get it perfectly clean, then spraying on an insulating, closed cell, foam on the inside. This should eliminate gaps. It sounds like you have an older toilet, and the reduction in flushing water volume would probably not affect the action. However, replacing the innards with a pressurized flushing system would eliminate the issue.

Nonny

[hrhofmann]

m...

Yeah, the trick is to use something with closed cells. There is a pinkish packing material that is somewhat denser than stryrofoam that seems to be closed cell that might work ok, but I don't now what it is called. I think anything over 1/4 inch would work, the trick is to keep water from circulating behind the material. The pressurized systems that I have seen/heard are too noisy to have to listen to in the middle of the night when someone flushes. I vaguely remember seeing toilet tank insulation kits somewhere. Have you googled on that topic???

[Michael B]

[Steve Barker]

MAN! ain't that the truth? Our hot tub cover got so heavy we could barely open it! I 'bout threw the new one off onto the ground the first few times i grabbed it.

[beecrofter]

Make sure it isn't running constantly and running up your water bill. When I had a toilet sweating problem it was a faulty ballcock letting a constant stream of cool water into the tank.

[krw]

They used to make tank covers to keep toilets from sweating. I haven't seen one for years, though. I have a broken tank lid (repaired but unsightly) and really don't want to replace the entire commode. :-(

[lorenzotor]