Well Tank Insulation

[Jimmyb33]

This will be the first winter we get a simi-hard freeze since I've lived with a water well. Projected temps will be low 20's Friday and Saturday and may not get above freezing for some time. Right now, my well tank sits exposed with only some brushy trees protecteding it from the North winds. My question is, at what point should I insulate the well tank to protect it from freezing? Is this little 2 day freeze enough to cause me trouble? If I do need to insulate it, what are the suggested, cheap ways to do that??
Thanks!
JB

 

[dex3361]

If I were you I would insulate it before it got down to 32ｺ. My sister and BIL live in Orlando and I was there visiting one year and wouldn't you know it they had a cold snap and he was looking out the window turned to me and said I wonder if I should insulate the water tank? It wasn't 10 seconds later I heard my sister from the back room shout whats wrong with the water? Needless to say it was froze and his pump was exposed and it busted the casing at 32ｺ. I wouldn't chance it.

 

[dmccarty]

We have a hideous looking well house that is roughly 5x5x5. Looks like a pile of trash. It is made out of plywood and 2x4s and is covered with tarps. This was supposed to be temporary.

Built it in October of 2004!

I was going to build a proper well house last spring but a car accident stopped that project. This spring I should be good to go.

The box is insulated with house insulation, R15. AND I run two low wattage CFI lights to keep the box warm. Our pressure tank is in the well house. Last weekend our high temps were 32 with lows into the teens. I checked the well house at it was a balmy 50 degrees. Both lights were still on. I use two lights in case one stops working I will still have some heat in the box.

Here they have well covers that supposedly look like rocks. They look horrible to me. But they sure look better than my well house. But they cost too much money. The "rock" would be a quick insulation if they have them down your way. I would still run a light or two under the rock for insurance.

I suppose you could wrap the tank in insulation and then tarp the insulation to keep out the rain for a very temporary solution. Just put a light under there for some warmth.

Later,
Dan

 

[woodchuckie]

If it has a 1/8 in. line running to the pressure switch, that will freeze first and you won't have any water. I insulated mine for free with stuff I had around the house. I made a 4'X4' frame out of 2X4's and screwed some left over metal roofing to the sides and just laid it on the top for easy access. I put 3" insulation in it and on the top I had a 4'X4' piece of lattice with the insulation laid on top of it and the roofing on top of that. I left the floor dirt because the heat from it will keep it from freezing without a heat source although the pump does generate some heat. I happened to have a defrost thermostat which closes when it get below thirty. I wired it with a flood light so it will come on if it does get cold enough.

 

[rus_geek]

Silly southerners. Put the water tank in house where it belongs :-D

 

[kenstrac]

Being from the north we all had the tanks in the basement,when I moved to the Savannah GA.area the first time the temp hit 26F we lost our water I went out and found the switch was on but no water(submersible pump) I got the torch and heated the Tee, the first thing to thaw was the pressure relief valve. The pump was running all this time and could not relieve on pressure since the Tee was frozen,It will take a while for the tank to actually freeze because of the mass but if you are going to have several days of cold I would wrap the tank in some sort of insulation paying special attention to the smaller pipes and Tee and let the water run a little to keep the lines flowing.
The switch that was on the tank did not have a low water shut off I replaced it with a sq D low water shut off valve to save the pump if this happened again.

 

[beenthere]

I wouldn't worry about the tank itself, as the water of any volume will take a while to freeze. New water pumped in will be warm and melt any ice formed on the walls. (this is assuming the well is active)

I would however be more concerned with pipes and valves that attach to the system. That is where smaller volumes of water will freeze and expand quickly. Faucets and pipes can freeze quickly.

Advice is to let the water run and keep water flowing through the system. Usually a trickle of a couple gallons per hour will fend off any mild freezing that you are likely to get. It only reached negative 1 F last night here.

And hang a lightbulb (lighted near the small diam. pipes like on the pressure switch.

 

[biggerten]

Silly southerners. Put the water tank in house where it belongs :-D

Another thing silly southerners may not know - leaving a faucet trickling will help prevent freezing, as new water from the well will help keep water temperatures up.

Oh, and watch your outside faucets, as well.


Oooops, beenthere beat me to it.

 

[Jimmyb33]

Thank you all for the wonderfull suggestions! (even you rus_geek )

I do have all of the small bore piping insulated with foam insulation. We do tend to get one or two quick freezes down here every year so I keep the small stuff wrapped up. I was thinking anlong the same lines as you beenthere... that the tank has enough volume to not to have to worry too much about the water in it freezing.

I think I'll use some of the suggestions you guys gave me and build a little tarp tee-pee over the well tank and run a shop light out there for the cold nights. I'll let the water drip too... when I lived in the city they told us not to do that, but for different reasons. My outside faucets are covered in those little styrofoam covers from Lowes so they should be good as long as the dogs leave them alone.

Thanks for the suggestions and let me know if you have any more!!
JB

 

[WayneB]

If you can cover the pump and tank with something like a large cardboard box and then stick a light bulb inside. It will keep it nice and warm and it won't freeze.

If the lines are exposed they will freeze too, and the trickle of water is good to keep the water moving.

 

[dave1949]

Silly southerners. Put the water tank in house where it belongs :-D

LMAO.

 

[TheGoose]

I also live here in SE Texas, near the coast ( and too close to Houston!).

The major thing you need to worry about is the 1/4" nipple that ties into your pressure switch. That will be the 1st thing to freeze. Wrap it up if nothing else.

Water comes out of the ground around ~60 deg F. Put a tarp around the tank and weight it down. The most important thing is to keep the wind off the tank/pipes. I have run a small drip before and it works great. As long as the pump kicks on every hour or two you'll be fine. I really don't expect it to get that cold here on the coast but up closer or above Houston it can get pretty cold.

FYI for all you yankees-we don't have basements here in Texas, and it rarely freezes here in SE Texas. It occassionally dips down to 29 deg or so, but rarely do we get down to the 20's for days on end. It's a good idea here to keep the tanks etc. outside because during the summer time they will sweat a lot and make any garage or shed damp and moist, not to mention what happens when you have a leak etc. We keep the pumps/tanks/pipes/wells outside because it makes it easier to work on them and maintain them. I have seen people go way overboard with the insulation and when it starts heating up in the summer we got a lot of calls and sure enough, too much insulation etc. burned up the motor.

 

[LBrown59]

Silly southerners. Put the water tank in house where it belongs :-D

Are you talking about well water or a hot water tank?

 

[SimS]

I use the thermostatically controlled "heat tape" in my well house to prevent freezing. I bought a 30 or 40 foot model and just wrapped all the pipes and looped it several times around the pressure tank (fiberglass). Our temps rarely get in the teens in our part of Georgia but the tape works fine for the 20s and 30s we do experience. We have not had any problems. Our ground water temperature is approx. 53 degrees so I think running a trickle might also work, but then you are cycling the pump all night. Good luck.

SimS

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

Our pump is in a block wellhouse and hubby has the tank and stuff insulated, remember we are transplanted Yankees. Our stuff is insulated like it was up north. When it gets below 32 especially in the low 20's we put a heat lamp or heater on it. I even put a heater in the henhouse when it gets real cold, makes the little feathered ladies happy.

I put plywood in the windows in winter. For tomorrow night, hubby got me some styrofoam to stick in the windows and I've got extra insulation. Generally I do that in the fall but didn't this year. They will be cozy.

I keep a light on at night out there anyway. In the fall and winter, they need at least 12 hours of daylight a day or their egg laying will stop or decrease. Most days we get 5 eggs from 5 hens this way.

 

[MikePA]

Are you talking about well water or a hot water tank?

Re-read the thread title...Well Tank.

 

[The Dougster]

As others have mentioned, you should worry about the extraneous plumbing more than the tank itself. I have seen where the water in the exterior plumbing freezes up and normal water use kicks on the well pump causing the pump to run continously... In water wells with PVC casing, the motor gets hot and causes the casing to shrink around the pump... This is NOT cool... often a contractor has to push the pump to the bottom of the well and install a new one... Many times it requires a new well to be drilled...
When it warms up a little, build yourself a well house.. Okidokers?

 

[Jimmyb33]

Thanks again to everyone who replied to my questions. Here's where I am now. I have all the plumbing in and out of the well casing and tank wrapped with foam insulation and good ol duck tape. I have covered the whole thing with a big tarp that reaches the ground all around and stuck a shop light under there to provide some heat. Of course, last night it was in the 50's all night but I'm ready for tonight. Winds finally shifted from the North this morning and we should get a freeze tomorow morning. Supposed to be around freezing all day tomorow through Sunday. I'm pretty close to the coast too so it may not stay at or below freezing as long as the weather folks say. Once we get to freezing, I'll leave a little trickle on the kitchen sink.

Thanks again! Stay warm everyone!!

JB

 

[TheGoose]

It only got to about the high 20's last night. Enough to freeze small puddles etc. but no major catastrophies. Tonight should be slightly worse.

What area are you near? I'm close to the Brazosport area.

 

[Jimmyb33]

I'm over in Chambers County. Northern, West shore of Trinity Bay about a half mile inland. It got down to about 25 here this morning. Frozen puddles here but everything else is fine.

JB