Have you ever wondered how you can sometimes turn on the cold tape and warm water comes out of it? Usually the problem is related to poor pipe insulation. The pipe that connects the rising main water feed to your house to your tap needs to be sufficiently insulated. If not the cold water feed, without pipe insulation, will warm up and the hot water feed will cool down.
Pipe insulation needs to be carefully considered both above and below ground. Underground pipe insulation needs to be installed down to the level in the ground that frost cannot penetrate. If this is not done the water within the pipe can freeze and this leads to burst pipes that can be extremely costly to repair. Another advantage of installing underground pipe insulation is that it gives an extra level of flexibility between the pipe and the surrounding substance. Without pipe insulation any movement in the ground or soil around the pipe can cause stress on the pipe and cause it to fracture. Pipe insulation can absorb some of this movement and give an effective "buffer zone" around the pipe.
Another advantage of installing pipe insulation above ground is the acoustic insulation that it provides. It deadens the noise generated by the water moving through the pipes and can also cancel out the noise that pipes make when they expand and contract whilst in contact with surrounding materials.
There are a number of pipe insulation materials in common use today. The most common is foam pipe insulation. This is supplied in cylindrical lengths with a split along the insulation. To install it simply open up the split and slide it onto the pipe to be insulated. Another common form is fiberglass pipe insulation. This is often used where extremes of temperature are going to be experienced. This is because foam insulation can become brittle at extreme temperatures and so loses it's insulation efficiency. The fiberglass pipe insulation is usually supplied as a roll of insulation that can be wrapped around the pipe and taped in place. It usually has a vapor proof barrier installed with it to prevent the ingress of water as this can reduce the efficiency of the insulation and necessitate re-installation thus negating the savings from installing the insulation in the first place.
Whilst simple pipe insulation in the home is a job that can be tackled by the homeowner most exterior pipe insulation work is best handled by experienced contractors. The main reason is the inaccessibility of the pipes once the trenches have been back filled after the insulation has been installed. A professional contractor will have the tools and experience to determine the best method of installing your underground insulation and, in some cases, may be able to recommend that it is unnecessary thus saving you time and money.
Whatever you decide to do there is little doubt that pipe insulation can help to maintain a constant temperature of your water supply and help to guard against expensive repairs caused by pipes freezing or fracturing underground.
Exterior pipe insulation work is best handled by experienced contractors