frozen pipes

our kitchen pipes, which run thru a crawl space, froze 2 nights ago. Got down to -1 and windy. It had got to -6 before and they didn't freeze but it wasn't windy that night. I thawed them out with a hair dryer as they are PVC. Luckily, no cracks.

(quoted from post at 01:02:36 02/22/15) our kitchen pipes, which run thru a crawl space, froze 2 nights ago. Got down to -1 and windy. It had got to -6 before and they didn't freeze but it wasn't windy that night. I thawed them out with a hair dryer as they are PVC. Luckily, no cracks.

Click to expand...

Just hang a 60 watt bulb in that crawl space. That should keep them from freezing.

Ours are the same way in a 100 year old house. When I remodeled the kitchen a couple of years ago I ran the PEX around the interior walls instead of through the crawl space. It about doubled the length but I don't have to worry about it now. I cuss it every time I am waiting for hot water at the sink, but when it's windy it's worth it. I do love that PEX plumbing.

Might have to let the water run a little bit.

It occurred to me that you could use an instant hot water recirculating pump to solve the problem and also provide you with hot water at the faucet w/o the wait for it to make it's way from the heater through the pipes.

My parents installed such a unit. A pump is put in the hot water heater outlet line. A temperature sensitive valve is then installed under the sink in the supply lines. That valve allows water to flow from the hot water supply line under the sink to the cold water supply line (hence back to the heater) whenever the water temp in the hot water line drops too much. The reason of course is so when you turn on the hot water faucet the line is already full of hot water.

The unintended benefits in your case is the hot water line will never freeze and as warm water is run frequently into the cold water line going back to the water heater that line should never freeze either.

You can put valves under any and all sinks you want instant hot water at or just the farthest sink and at least hot water is closer to all the sinks that way as the main run is kept hot.

The downside is the water heater has to run more to keep those lines full of hot water now too. Also the cold water line might be slightly warm. To save energy their pump has a timer on it so it can be set to run all the time or only certain times of the day when they would want instant hot water available.

The systems ain't cheap.

I installed a small computer cooling fan on the end of a long ( 40 foot) 4 inch duct to circulate air in our crawl space. It keeps the humidity more consistent too as the air exchanger is in one corner.

Frostex II is the realistic answer to the problem. It does not get hotter than 80 degrees, and can be wrapped with insulation. Turn on only when pipes might freeze. Simple. (not a jeat tape at all, and is cut to length. Jim
Product date

Seems I have been using the wife's hair dryer more than she does this year. So far so good. Hope this weather changes soon.

I've dealt with frozen pipes for years. It's usually a temporary thing and doesn't need a lot of money to solve, unless this happens in the same spot in your pipes every winter. Keeping a 60-100 watt bulb lit near the pipes will keep the area warm enough to keep the water running. Just remember to unplug the light when spring comes.