Prevent Frozen Water Pipes in Outside Wall
Quick Column Summary:
- How to prevent pot filler pipe from freezing
- Insulate the wall cavity
- Caulk all the gaps
- Keep pipe on warm side of insulation
Tom Chan wants to install a new pot filler faucet in an outside wall. But he's got a problem.
"I want to install a pot filler faucet. How do I prevent the water pipe from freezing on an exterior wall for this pot filler? We live in a region that has long a cold winters."
Here's my simple answer to Tom:
Tom, you need to expertly insulate the wall cavity space where this water line will be placed. This means you need to caulk the gaps between the wall studs and the exterior sheathing and any penetrations or holes in the top and bottom wall plates must be completely sealed.
You then install the water line so that the pipe will be in DIRECT CONTACT with the drywall. The water line will be between the drywall and the insulation.
This places the water line on the WARM side of the insulation.
Be sure in the basement or crawlspace that you have a ball valve installed that can be turned off in the event you have a bitter winter and somehow it's so cold the drywall surface falls below 32 F. If that happens, it means another Continental Glacier must be at your doorstep and you have far more serious problems than a frozen pot filler water supply.
Run away from the glacier!
Having the pipe in contact with the drywall, will this not create moisture at certain times with the humidity during the summer months and create a mold issue?
No it will not if you isolate it from the humid air.
on those exterior wall water pipes, for insurance, wrap them with a short electrical heat tape that has an automatic off on thermostat
Bad bad advice.... NEVER conceal heat tape like this unless you want to become a statistic of the NFPA.
Tim,
Would you recommend spray foam as insulation?
Spray foam is a great product so long as you can control water vapor.
Realize that it's a problematic material at a later date when remodeling or trying to fish cables. There's pluses and minuses to every material.
We had to have a leak fixed - the plumber put the cold water copper pipe on the west outside wall of the house. We live in the desert SW Arizona which gets very hot and can lightly freeze in the winter. I'd like to build some sort of a box that will fit over the pipes, but could be opened if necessary. Would fill box with rolled insulation. We also have a stucco house. Any advise would be wonderful.
I have a bathroom in my shop. It is heated. The supply water line comes in from the concrete floor. When it gets winter the supply line freezes some place in the concrete. Is there a way of insulating the outside concrete wall to prevent this?