How to have a lamp turn on when inside temp drops below sixty.

[Robert Neville]

Looks like the low temp stops at 40F. Would be nice to have something like this to go down to 30F for a freeze prevention application.

[hallerb]

set heat to 50, if it gets down to 40 you have a problem, and some time to respond.......

[RickH]

Rather than bother the neighbor, get a sensaphone that will call you up when temperature or anything else changes.

By the time the neighbor drives by, the pipes could have frozen.

[Robert Neville]

This is a little different. It's a backup solution for a buried well house. The well house goes below the frost line, so the pipes should never freeze, but occasionally it gets really cold and penetrates enough to freeze up. I could just put a 60w lightbulb in there, but would like to have it on a thermostat so it isn't running continuously. Probably just be easier to use heat tape.

[dpb]

Robert Neville wrote: ...

Yeah, particularly since they're self-limiting whereas the bulb is a constant drain the heat tape is cheaper in the long run. Plus, being in contact it is more efficient preventing pipe freeze than trying to heat the whole volume to maintain the air temperature.

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[Pete C.]

A pretty good reason to pay for maintenance level heating while you're away is the rapid deterioration that is experienced in unheated, unoccupied buildings.

[DerbyDad03]

re: The well house goes below the frost line, so the pipes should never freeze, but occasionally it gets really cold and penetrates enough to freeze up

Many of the web definitions, such as this one from the US Army Core of Engineers, say something similar to this:

frost line - The limit of penetration of soil by frost.

Doesn't that mean, by definition, that the well house isn't *really* below the frost line?

Perhaps the published frost line, either now or when the well house was installed, is/was incorrect.

[Robert Neville]

I think the problem is that the well house isn't undisturbed soil. About 75% of the metal well house is exposed above grade, including an uninsulated manhole cover. The floor of the house is below the frost line where the booster pump and pipes are below.

[clare]

I can. Mabee you can. Can the OP? If he does it wrong and causes a fire? or a shock?

The ones I referenced are both UL and CSA approved.

[clare]

30F is no good for freeze protection. Need to keep above 32 - preferably closer to 40 because you don't know you have the coolest spot monitored.

[DerbyDad03]

That would certainly explain it.

BTW...I spent some time in Alaska, about 60 miles below the Artic Circle.

They speak in sort of opposite terms up there, referring to Perma Frost lines and Thaw Lines, instead of Frost Lines.

Did you know that even though the roots of the tundra can be within the Perma Frost layer, it's possible to build a bon fire hot enough to heat up the roots to such as extent that small fires erupt from underground hundreds of feet from the original bon fire?

Been there...done that. Lucky for me I was on radio watch the next day while the rest of the station used pitch forks and shovels to overturn the tundra in an effort to stop it from spreading.

[Robert Neville]

No, I didn't! That is just too weird.

[AZ Nomad]

Bullshit. Nmae one single building material that deteroriates when unheated.

[Grumpy]

Depends on how much cold you want to go.

[hallerb]

a great explnation of some of the issues which go beyond water and sewer lines.

the article points out freezing can damage electronics.......

you can all go read for yourself:)

I have seen plaster spall in unheated homes. moisture in plaster freezes, moisture expands and it literally falls apart.

doesnt appear to be a issue for drywall.

plus the expansion contraction can cause cracks, homes werent designed to freeze thaw

[RobertPatrick]

What happens if the bulb burns out and the neighbor thinks everything is OK, but it's not.

[AZ Nomad]

What building materials are anything but well preserved in the cold?

I've used vacation houses left ice cold except on weekends and they weren't affected in the slightest. Of course the water had to be drained, but that isn't a big deal.

[clare]

Due to condensation from temperature changes paint flakes, wallpaper comes off (or mildues) plaster can crumble, but more often drywall. The biggest concern, however, is frost getting into the foundation and heaving it - which cracks walls, cracks foundations, and can even go as far as cracking window glass and causing doors to jam.

[clare]

Better to have a lamp that goes OUT when it gets cold.

[Stormin Mormon]

Mildues? Is that like having Milqtoast for breakfast?