The heating season is quickly approaching, and many homeowners wonder whether they should insulate their water pipes. It’s a good idea to do so if you live in an area that gets sub-zero temperatures for long periods during the winter. Insulating your water pipes can help keep them from freezing, which could cause burst pipes or other damage to your home. This blog contains information on whether you should insulate your water pipes or not.
Should You Insulate Your Water Pipes?
Yes. During the winter, water pipes can freeze and cause them to burst or crack. This could cause significant damage to your home and a huge mess that you will then have to clean up. Insulating your pipes is an easy way to save yourself the cost of costly plumbing repairs later on.
Insulation works by creating an air pocket around the exterior of the pipe. When the air inside the pocket is warmer than outside, heat loss to the surrounding area is reduced, and pipes are less likely to freeze.
Insulation comes in different forms for this purpose. Pipe insulation sleeves can be purchased at hardware stores. These fit around your water pipes and insulate them from the cold walls of your home’s exterior. Pipe insulation sleeves are meant to be installed around your water pipes while they are still in the walls or floor of your home.
For pipes that stick out of the ground, like those located in crawl spaces and basements, you can use heat tape or heat cables to keep them warm. This type of insulation is tough to install yourself, so you may want to hire a plumber for this job.
What You Need to Know About Insulated Water Pipes
If you decide to insulate your water pipes, here are some things that you should consider:
Insulating your water pipes can only help to an extent. If the temperature outside regularly drops below zero degrees Fahrenheit, it will be difficult for the insulation on exterior pipes to keep them from freezing entirely. This is why it’s a good idea to keep a little bit of breathing room between the insulation and your pipes.
In some cases, it may be necessary to drain water from exterior pipes to install the insulation correctly. This isn’t as common as lining interior pipes with heat tape or heat cable, but it’s something that should be considered before you insulate your water pipes.
There are several things you can do to prevent your pipes from freezing or bursting during the winter. Insulating your water pipes is just one part of this process, but it’s an important one that shouldn’t be overlooked. If you are in Indianapolis and you need your pipe insulated, be sure to reach out to Peterman Brothers.
Pipe insulation sleeves and heat tapes both work well for keeping water pipe temperatures steady. However, it would be best if you were cautious when using heat tapes for this purpose. To prevent damage to your home’s electrical wiring, ensure that the tape does not get wrapped around the wire or any other part of your home’s electrical system. Wrapping heat tape around an electrical wire will cause it to overheat and start a fire when your home’s circuit breaker is switched on.
There are many benefits to insulating your water pipes. In addition to using less energy, you will have the peace of mind that comes from knowing your home is protected from costly water damage during the winter months. Below are some of the benefits of insulating water pipes.
Lower Energy Bills
Insulating your water pipes can help lower your energy bills. This is because you won’t have to let your faucets drip all day to prevent them from freezing and bursting, which would then cause you to use more hot water. You’ll also save money on electricity by not having to heat your home as much due to the warm air trapped in the insulation.
Keeping your water hot requires lots of energy. This is especially true if you heat your home with a gas or oil furnace. Insulating your water pipes can help lower the amount of energy needed to heat your home by reducing the amount of heat loss.
Increased Energy Efficiency
Insulating your water pipes helps to improve the energy efficiency of your home’s plumbing system. This is because it reduces heat loss and makes less heat necessary to heat your home. Insulating exterior water lines can also prevent hot water from cooling down as quickly, saving you money on your utility bills.
Using less energy means that there will be less energy wasted. This is especially true when it comes to heating your home’s water supply. Insulating your hot and cold water lines helps reduce the amount of wasted energy, which can help lower your monthly utility payments and keep more money in your pocket.
A Safer Home
If you don’t insulate your water pipes, they are more likely to freeze and burst when it gets cold outside. To prevent this, homeowners in colder areas must let their faucets drip all day to keep them from freezing. This causes a more significant strain on your home’s water system, and the chance of a burst pipe is increased.
Insulating your water pipes can keep them from bursting, which not only keeps your home safer but it also prevents you from having to deal with a huge mess and the cost of fixing the problem.
When Should You Insulate Your Water Pipes?
Most people choose to insulate their water pipes in the fall when it starts to get cold. This is because most people don’t need hot water during the summer, and any energy needed for heating is saved throughout the warmer months of spring and summer.
Insulating your water pipes in the fall will help keep them safe while you are using up last year’s hot water supply. This prevents you from needing to let your faucets drip all day in the middle of winter when it is cold outside.
Insulating your pipes in summer can be an even more effective way to save money on energy costs throughout the year. However, most people don’t want to insulate their water pipes during this time. This is because they want to keep their home as warm as possible to reduce the need for hot water.
How to Insulate Your Pipes
Insulating your water pipes is a reasonably straightforward process. However, you will need to turn off the main water supply for your home to insulate the exterior water lines. This prevents any accidental freezing of the insulation itself when it gets cold outside.
To insulate your water pipes properly, you will need:
- Heat tape kit with cable clamps
- Stripping tool
- Caulking gun and caulk
- Screwdriver to turn the water supply off and on
The first thing you need to do is determine how many heat tapes you need to cover your exterior water lines. Once you have made this determination, use a stripping tool and cordless drill to strip the insulation off of the water line and install cable clamps. Then, roll out heat tape and secure it with cable clamps as well.
Once you have insulated your exterior water lines, turn your main water supply back on and check for leaks. You can use a screwdriver to turn it back off if you notice any leaks or for safety purposes if you are concerned about the possibility of a leak.
Now that your water lines are insulated, you will need to insulate your hot and cold interior home water lines as well. This can be done by wrapping them with insulation or using pipe covers. Using insulation is much simpler than using pipe covers; however, it is not as aesthetically pleasing.
Contact the Professionals
Peterman Brothers is a reputable heating and air conditioning company well known for its outstanding services. If you need any help with your cooling, plumbing or heating equipment, reach out to Peterman Brothers. Whenever you call us you’re sure to experience outstanding service.
