Does anyone here know anything about using recirculating pumps to prevent frozen pipes in a house? I have a general idea of how they work but I've got specific situation I'm interested in.
I've just looked at a house that a family member is thinking about buying. The current owner disclosed that they always shut off the water to the first floor powder room when the temperatures won't get above the teens (°F). Here's why:
1920's house. The back porch was enclosed and turned into a powder room. The powder room is over an unheated crawl space. As shown in the link below, the pipes to the powder room originate in the basement laundry room, go through the rim joist into the crawl space and then up into the powder room. The pipes in the crawl space are sealed in insulation, but I guess not enough.I know that heat tape is an option, but that would require working in the tiny crawl space, removing the existing insulation, etc. I'm wondering if a recirculating pump could be placed in the powder room loop to keep the water moving and warm. If that would work, I could put it in the laundry room where there is room to work, power is available, etc.
Here's the layout. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.