Water pipes in an unheated garage

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Gdog

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Hi All,

Hoping for some expert advice on how to keep pipes from freezing in a an unheated (and un-insulated) attached garage.

The washing machine and laundry sink are out there in the garage roughly 10-15 ft from the nearest heated (and insulated) house wall. Again, the garage walls (that are not being shared with the house) are open; no interior sheet rock and no insulation. I live in the Pac NW so this is only an issue 2-8 weeks out of the year.

It's not a problem right now since I have a heater wire taped to the pipes in the problem area. When it gets cold enough to freeze, a thermostat in the wire allows current to flow in the wire which heats the pipe enough to keep it from freezing.

My question is this; eventually I want to insulate and drywall the garage walls (but not necessarily heat the garage). I would not think it's kosher to close up the walls with that heater wire taped to pipes, is it? The pipes go through the 2X4 garage wall studs (i.e. inside the wall); they're not mounted on top of the studs. What's the professional way to keep pipes in un-heated garage from freezing?

Thanks for any input, and as always, thanks to Terry for a great website!
 

Verdeboy

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You just need standard foam insulation. Determine the diameter of the pipes, and buy the correct size foam insulation, and you will be all set.

PS: On very cold nights, you may want to have a space heater handy, just to be on the safe side. Or, you can allow the water to run into the laundry tub at a slow drip.
 

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Terry

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What's the professional way to keep pipes in un-heated garage from freezing?

I've done a lot of freeze repairs in the Seattle area.
My previous experience with frozen pipes is that you "need" to keep the insulation on the cold side, and no insulation on the warm side.

I prefer to not have any insulation on the pipe, but use fiberglass batt insulation in the wall, keeping the pipes toward the warmest side.

I've tried foam insulation on the pipes, but they seem to freeze quicker that way.

You may want to consider running that pipe in PEX.

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Redwood

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PEX tends to be very forgiving if it freezes and not split like other pipes. The PEX tubing has some stretch built into it unless AL-PEX is used.
 

WV Hillbilly

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The pump in the bottom of your washing machine could also freeze & burst . I've seen this happen when they are installed in unheated spaces .
 

Gardner

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The pump in the bottom of your washing machine could also freeze & burst

As well as the trap under the laundry sink and under the laundry stand-pipe, and the taps for the washer and sink. All these things are vulnerable.

You can slosh some plumbing antifreeze into the traps. Probably you could throw some antifreeze in the washer too. The rest of the plumbing really aught to be drained if there is a risk of hard frost.
 

Verdeboy

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The easiest thing is to get a cheap portable heater and set it to the lowest setting ~50 degrees. If you store your paints, etc, in the garage, you don't want them to freeze either.
 

Gdog

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Thanks all for the good advice.

I was trying to avoid the use of a space heater but that's probably the simplest and safest.

I was hoping there was some standard way of keeping pipes from freezing in un-heated garage but sounds like there's not. Are there any hard-wired (i.e. permanent) solutions out there for heating pipes in the wall? I am assuming my plug-in pipe heater wire cannot be closed up in the wall, correct?

Thanks again!
 

hj

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freeze

Correct, unless you have good fire insurance. If water is not kept warm, it will freeze, and insulation slows the process, it does not prevent it. Unless you provide a heated area, ANY water in the washer will freeze, including the hoses and pump.
 

Ubuntu22

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freeze

Correct, unless you have good fire insurance. If water is not kept warm, it will freeze, and insulation slows the process, it does not prevent it. Unless you provide a heated area, ANY water in the washer will freeze, including the hoses and pump.
LOL, well I have a similar issue, I have a single-car garage, detached, and I'm looking to heat the pipes, the water pipes run along the wall, they are exposed, up along the wall, and over on the ceiling. They're kind of sort of half-assed insulated with some foam wrap, but not the entire pipes that I can see, I did have a portable heater at one time, but went through a plug, and black and the cord! And blew a fuse, and damn near set the garage on fire twice! So what I'm thinking about getting is one of them small 1500 watt oscillating Lasko, that's Lasko, oscillating heaters, I believe it's standing, or what they call a tower heater, maybe that'll work, hopefully it won't draw as much energy as in small metal portable junkers do LOL, just my experience. But I'm wondering if I should go with something like that, that way I can place it on the shelf, and pointed at the pipes, as to keep them warm and from freezing, that way at least some heat is directed at them. I'm thinking that route, because that one has a thermostat, and it automatically shuts off, and from what I've noticed, like I said doesn't use as much energy as them little portable ones do. I found one online for like 33 bucks.
 
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Jadnashua

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1500W is about the max a 120vac, 15A circuit can handle safely on a continuous basis, and it doesn't matter which type of heater you choose...most of them max out at that level, so none of them is particularly cheap to run. If it were really cold, where I live, it would run about $0.31/hour, and if it had a fan, maybe a bit more. Conductive heat like a heat tape is probably more efficient than trying to heat some air in what may be a drafty space.

It's not really a good idea to have water pipes in an unheated area. Relying on electric heating can also be chancy, as when it's really cold, the power can go out just like any other time. AN insulated, heated space will still get cold if the power goes off, but it will take longer since the insulation will retain at least some of the available heat for awhile. Insulation only slows the loss of heat, it cannot stop it. FWIW, cold isn't a thing...we measure the amount of heat, not cold...cold is just the lack of heat measured on a scale. You don't make cold, you remove heat.

If you choose to run things in pex, while the tubing itself may not be damaged by freezing, the fittings and valves and things it connects to certainly can.
 
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