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DIY
Water Pipe Insulation
Insulate Water Pipes to Prevent Freezing and
Control Condensation
Introduction:
Our homes have many different water pipes that run
from the water supply source to the kitchen,
bathrooms, boiler heating system and outside
spigots. All these water pipes are susceptible to
freezing during cold weather and condensation
during warm humid weather. Frozen water pipes in
the middle of winter can be a real disaster for the
homeowner to deal with, especially if the pipe
freezes when you are not home and you have a major
house flood.
During the hot humid summer the condensation that
drips from the cold water pipes is also annoying.
The dripping condensation adds unwanted moisture to
your basement which can result in mildew and mold
spores. Neither issue is a pleasant situation to
deal with.
Bothe water pipe freeze up and water pipe
condensation can be eliminated simply by installing
water pipe insulation. Installing the insulation is
an easy DIY project that can be completed in a
couple of hours by the homeowner.
There are several types of water pipe insulation
materials to select from. Some are better than
others. Fiberglass water pipe insulation is
probably the poorest to use because of its low
insulating R value of 2. I do not recommend using
fiberglass water pipe insulation because of the low
R value and it is not very effective in preventing
condensation.
Self-sealing foam water pipe insulation is
available at most home improvement supply centers
and costs approximately 31 cents a foot for the ¾
inch and 25 cents a foot for the ½ inch. It usually
comes in six foot lengths. You can resolve both water pipe freezing and condensation problems by installing water pipe insulation. It is well worth the investment. Related
asrticles: How to Flush a Hot Water Heater How to Prevent Frozen Water Pipes How to Repair Leaking Copper Fittings
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It comes in tube form that is made to fit different
size pipes. The beat part of using self-sealing
tube insulation is that you do not have to tape it
together. After you wrap the tube around the water
pipe just peel off the 2 plastic type strips and
then the insulating material will stick together.
The insulation R value range from R-2 to R-4 with
R-3 the most common used in insulating domestic
water pipes. R-3 costs a little more that R-2 but
the investment is worth it.
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