Preventing small Well pump house frome freezing

[Jstpssng]

I've used a light bulb in a well insulated pump house years ago, and last year used a heat lamp in my henhouse to keep the eggs from freezing. and if I'm not mistaken it gets much colder up here. The drawback is when the bulb burns out... after buying two heat lamps last winter I realized that my eggs weren't worth it. This year I'm trying an oil filled electric radiator with an inline thermostat http://cgproducts.johnsoncontrols.com/MET_PDF/121040.PDF.

 

[PlumCrazy814]

Easy Heat Freeze Free self-regulating electric "pipe heating system" kits (or similar) are what I have used in the past on water supply lines. You don't have to worry about overlapping it and it can be used on plastic pipe. Not sure how well it would work on the pressure tank if at all, though

 

[dstig1]

A couple inches of foam and you could avoid adding heat to the pump house. You are in Texas after all...the freezing you get has got to be mild and short duration. A good continuous 2" layer of XPS should cover you just fine, though I can't say I have looked it up.

 

[turnkey4099]

Thx everyone. I have power to the pump house but it's 220v, not 110. House is only 8ft away so I could probably run another dedicated line underground.

I'll look into that well house Hester.

I dunno if it is legal but you can tap 110 off a 220 feed.

Harry K

 

[SPYDERLK]

This self regulates, adapting to specific need at all points in its length. Choose category "Ready-to-Use Self-Regulating Heat Cable" McMaster-Carr

You can overlap. It just turns down its output in that spot. As it warm it lowers its output.
larry

 

[KYErik]

Buy a couple of 4x8 sheets of 1" thick styrofoam at a home improvement store and duct tape together a box that just barely fits over your pump and bladder tank. It will need to be airtight to insulate properly. Install a wireless thermometer sensor inside the well house and you can monitor the temperature. If you see it is getting close to freezing, turn on a tap in the house and let the pump bring up some warm groundwater.

 

[PILOON]

Light bulbs have a tendency of burning out all too often.
My heat of choice would be a small ceramic heater of 1000 watts sold in many box stores for about $30 or so.
They usually have a built in thermostat as well as a choice of fan speeds. You can aim it at he pump/tank and set the thermostat and forget about it.
Advantages being 'fail safe' and automatic temp sensing as well as very efficient.
I have used these more than a few times to solve well/pump freeze problems. Naturally some insulation goes a long ways with the pump house roof being the most important area. Rigid foam boards is great for that purpose. Wool is not a good choice as mice just love to nest there.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I dunno if it is legal but you can tap 110 off a 220 feed.

Harry K

Agreed.. single tap off the 220v would work.. one black, one white wire and ground ran to a 110v receptacle would work..

 

[dmccarty]

I built a temporary, insulated well house box that holds our bladder tank. The box was supposed to last a winter to allow me to build a proper well house. Well, NINE years later that temporary box is still working and waiting for me to build the well house. :confused3::laughing::laughing::laughing: I used fiberglass batt insulation for the box and I keep a couple of low wattage light bulbs running to provide a bit of heat. I used to use low watt incandescent bulbs but now use CFLs. We did have a slight freeze in the pipe one very cold morning when one of the CFLs burnt out. Two CFLs, I think they were 13 watts each, could keep thinks above freezing. One could not. I now have 3-4 CFLs running during the winter. A thermostat based solution would certainly be a bit cheaper than just running the lights but the bulbs are sorta cheap, work, and are simple. One bulb can die and the well house will still be above freezing and I check the bulbs from time to time during the winter. The thermostat is a single point of failure and was more expensive than just some shop light fixtures that I can use to do other things.

One day I will build the real well house which I will insulate but I will also build an insulated box to fit over the tank and plumbing.

We do have a space heater than I keep in the well house but the only time I have used it was when the pipe froze one day. I don't want to use that space heater due to cost and fear of fire. I figure the 4 CFLs cost us no more then $4 a month to heat the well house.

Later,
Dan

 

[grsthegreat]

I dunno if it is legal but you can tap 110 off a 220 feed.

Harry K

no you cant. theres no neutral. using the ground as a neutral is inviting disaster.

do the right thing, either get a 220 volt lamp (they do sell these) or get a 250 watt , 240 volt heater and insulate the building. This set up even works here in north idaho.

this is the unit i see used alot up here

King U2425 250-Watt 240-Volt/62W 120-Volt Utility Heater - Amazon.com