How to keep water pipes frost-free?

[antoinet111]

I haven't seen a snowflake the whole season. it's hard...

[dedeleco]

I haven't seen a snowflake the whole season. it's hard...

The lucky guy right in the warmth of the Gulf Stream !!
Not far from Brest in nitrates?

[I Citro]

I haven't seen a snowflake the whole season. it's hard...

The lucky guy right in the warmth of the Gulf Stream !!
Not far from Brest in nitrates?

In 84-85-86 (well it was in the last century, before global warming ), it nevertheless snowed badly at Landivisiau.
I was "mobsnowsurfing" on the air base with the service moped which was towing a friend on a cardboard box.

They were trying to clear the airstrip with the jet engines and an armada of Gussians armed with shovels ...

[Forhorse]

After having a big problem of pipeline freezing in my farmhouse in Normandy (for now everything is temporary) and tried several solutions:
- Pipe insulation with foam sleeve = completely useless if the temperature drops below -1 ° C more than a few hours
- Same thing plus let a trickle of water flow = wasted effort when the temperature reaches -8 ° C
- Round-trip water circulation in a loop containing a small electric heater = effective as long as there is no power failure, otherwise everything freezes and we find ourselves at the starting point.

Finally I opted for the heating cables, bought from a well-known supplier of horse breeding equipment ... a little expensive (around 4 € per meter) but effective since despite the -10 ° C that we had certain nights in the Perche, the water always flows.

I still note the trick of the clothesline! it is well found.
We should even be able to improve it a little with some electronic component mounted as a current source, so that the current is constant whatever the length of cable used.

[Gaston]

Finally I opted for the heating cables,

Same limitation as the previous loop, right?
Effective as long as there is no power failure

But probably easier to install and use

[dedeleco]

I remind you that the earth remains frost-free and hot at more than 1m deep, as long as we are not in Siberia !!

So massive metal rods good conductor of heat (Aluminum, copper) effectively bring this heat of more than 1m deep to the pipes to keep frost-free, (if well designed with good insulation of the pipes), free of charge, even if failure electric !!

Weird, you don't believe in the thermal conductivity of these metals 7000 times stronger than that of air bubble insulators !!

[chatelot16]

at home the electricity comes from generator set stopped at night ... the heating wire does not heat any more at night but it does not matter, with the insulator it only forms a certain thickness of ice during the night and Isn't it completely frozen the next day? and it thaws completely with the flow

except certain day when I leave the power off for too long ... you have to wait for the heating wire to thaw ... so that it goes faster I replace the 24V by 48V the current goes from 1,5 to 3A and it heats 4 times more

most of my pipes are buried deep, a circulation pump between the buried parts and the parts above ground should suffice except that if it gets blocked by frost it can do nothing more: with the heating wire it can thaw .. provided that it is only flexible pipes which can freeze without bursting

other detail: never a spherical wood tap: when they are closed the volume enclosed in the frozen ball is burst the tap: prefer the good old screw tap: they can freeze completely without breaking, provided there are pipes flexible to accept the volume of ice

[Flytox]

Example of the system described by Dedeleco: This tap has been there for X years and does not freeze. The pipe is metallic and surrounded by a pvc pipe. At the top there is a little bit of polyurethane foam to seal. The total length of the above-ground pipe is about 60 cm.

Note: the barbed wire is not a constant current electronic protection device ..... it is the anti naughty doggie device that regularly eats the house wire right next to me ...