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Tankless water heater pipe freeze prevention

32,000 3,053 December 30, 2017 at 03:41 PM in Help (4)
So a few years ago I built a new house. I live in the South, so the days we live under 32 degrees for any period of time are limited.

However, our forecast is for about a week with a high never breaking 30 degrees, and lows near zero.

I have a Rinnai tankless water heater on the side of my house, and I love it. Being the only guy in a house full of chicks it ensures that I always get a hot shower. Best. Invention. Ever.

But, the a few feet of pipes are exposed and are just wrapped in foam, with a metal cover for the water heater between those pipes and the freezing temperatures outside.

I need an easy solution to keep the pipes defrozenified. I bought some heat tape at Lowe's, but the shortest run was 6' and there is absolutely NO way I can get six feet of tape on those pipes.

I'm thinking maybe a 100W ceramic lizard warmer in a ceramic light sock plugged into that outlet might work. I'm open to other suggestions though, as I now some of you folks live in areas that see more days below zero than above.

Suggestions?

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Joined Jun 2006
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> bubble2 31,436 Posts
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Zoe Moon
12-31-2017 at 03:26 PM.
12-31-2017 at 03:26 PM.
As others have said, a 100w light bulb will do the trick, if you want to get fancy go check out which electric heaters they have at the local feed store for keeping a coop warm. But if you lose power you're SOL on both of those options unless you have it wired into a UPS or generator.
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Joined Dec 2003
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> bubble2 32,000 Posts
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The Raddish
12-31-2017 at 05:03 PM.
12-31-2017 at 05:03 PM.
I went the cheap route. Spent about a $1.50 on the light socket, and another $1.50 on the 72W bulb.

Looks like it'll work.



It glows!!

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Joined Jan 2004
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> bubble2 25,141 Posts
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Iaaaiws
12-31-2017 at 05:26 PM.
12-31-2017 at 05:26 PM.
You could put one of those remote thermometers in there as well to be able to monitor the temperature from inside so you know how well it is working.
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> bubble2 32,000 Posts
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The Raddish
12-31-2017 at 06:09 PM.
12-31-2017 at 06:09 PM.
Quote from Iaaaiws :
You could put one of those remote thermometers in there as well to be able to monitor the temperature from inside so you know how well it is working.
I thought about that, but unfortunately, placing one inside the enclosure would be essentially putting it in a Faraday cage. It's unlikely I'd be able to get a reading from it. Dontknow

I only plan to run this for the next few days. Once the forecast shows a day above freezing, I'll unplug it. I think it'll serve it's purpose until then. Smilie
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> bubble2 16,535 Posts
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BikerEric
12-31-2017 at 06:21 PM.
12-31-2017 at 06:21 PM.
Somewhere in the house ,I would let the slightest trickle of hot water on. And i mean the slightest drop, just to keep the water moving as well.
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Iaaaiws
12-31-2017 at 06:53 PM.
12-31-2017 at 06:53 PM.
Quote from The Raddish :
I thought about that, but unfortunately, placing one inside the enclosure would be essentially putting it in a Faraday cage. It's unlikely I'd be able to get a reading from it. Dontknow
I'm not sure if it would or not. My nephew uses one inside the refrigerator in his camper to make sure it is keeping food cold when he is on the road, and my dad used one in the freezer in his RV when he had a bunch of frozen meat he needed to make sure didn't thaw out and didn't want to have to open the door to make sure it was working. Those both worked fine.
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The Raddish
12-31-2017 at 06:55 PM.
12-31-2017 at 06:55 PM.
Quote from BikerEric :
Somewhere in the house ,I would let the slightest trickle of hot water on. And i mean the slightest drop, just to keep the water moving as well.
BE!!!! hug <--brohug

We used to do that, but honestly, it doesn't seem to matter much in this house. The only exposed pipes are the ones in the pics. All the rest are pretty well insulated.

The other problem is that where I live, water is extremely expensive. I have the most corrupt water board in the state, unfortunately.

The outside wall where pipes are coming in all have the cabinets open to allow heat from the house inside the cabinets.
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fsyowad
12-31-2017 at 08:26 PM.
12-31-2017 at 08:26 PM.
I'm here in central Florida where its 60 degrees this New Years Eve....
Why is everyone talking about frozen water pipes everywhere?
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F1Racer
12-31-2017 at 09:32 PM.
12-31-2017 at 09:32 PM.
Quote from The Raddish :
I went the cheap route. Spent about a $1.50 on the light socket, and another $1.50 on the 72W bulb.

Looks like it'll work.



It glows!!
Timely topic OP.

Sooo Slickdealing too! Congrats.
Living in the South also we had our tankless attached outdoor also thinking we would only face a this frigid temps once every ten years.
And that is this year.

Any chance rain or moisture gets into that area where the socket is?

Quote from BikerEric :
Somewhere in the house ,I would let the slightest trickle of hot water on. And i mean the slightest drop, just to keep the water moving as well.

Yep - this tried & true way works too. But some of these tankless also have temperature induced process to fire up its heater & keep the water heated & circulating.
The worry is power outage when there is no power & the water sits in the tank uncirculated.
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Last edited by F1Racer January 1, 2018 at 07:33 AM.
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> bubble2 2,960 Posts
euuser3818772
12-31-2017 at 10:32 PM.
12-31-2017 at 10:32 PM.
Quote from The Raddish :
I went the cheap route. Spent about a $1.50 on the light socket, and another $1.50 on the 72W bulb.

Looks like it'll work.
Hard to tell from the photo, but isn't that dangerously close to the gas line? Maybe put in a separator. Looks like the insulation are burning a bit too.
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Gromit
01-01-2018 at 11:50 AM.
01-01-2018 at 11:50 AM.
Quote from The Raddish :
,,,
It glows!!
Quote from F1Racer :
...
Any chance rain or moisture gets into that area where the socket is?
...
Or bugs? You might want to use a bug light instead of a normal white one.

Do the louvers have any kind of fine mesh screen behind them? Even without the light, I'd be worried about bugs infesting it during the warmer months.
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> bubble2 32,000 Posts
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The Raddish
01-01-2018 at 12:05 PM.
01-01-2018 at 12:05 PM.
Quote from Gromit :
Or bugs? You might want to use a bug light instead of a normal white one.

Do the louvers have any kind of fine mesh screen behind them? Even without the light, I'd be worried about bugs infesting it during the warmer months.
It'll only be used during this period of mini ice age. The first day with a forecast that has a high temp above freezing I'll unplug it and leave it unplugged.
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Joined Dec 2003
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> bubble2 32,000 Posts
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The Raddish
01-01-2018 at 12:09 PM.
01-01-2018 at 12:09 PM.
Quote from joeg9897 :
Hard to tell from the photo, but isn't that dangerously close to the gas line? Maybe put in a separator. Looks like the insulation are burning a bit too.
Yeah, when I was drilling the hole for the screw I used to attach the lamp holder, I accidentally let the bulb touch the insulation briefly on the bottom edge.

The gas line is pretty far away from it, so no worries there.
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Iaaaiws
01-01-2018 at 02:22 PM.
01-01-2018 at 02:22 PM.
Nothing to do with the light bulb but that just looks like a spot I would fully expect to open and find a huge wasp nest.
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Gromit
01-01-2018 at 02:27 PM.
01-01-2018 at 02:27 PM.
Quote from Iaaaiws :
Nothing to do with the light bulb but that just looks like a spot I would fully expect to open and find a huge wasp nest.
Like I said...
Quote from Gromit :
...
Do the louvers have any kind of fine mesh screen behind them? Even without the light, I'd be worried about bugs infesting it during the warmer months.
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Last edited by Gromit January 1, 2018 at 03:16 PM.
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