Goju wrote:

Hi,

I have a cold water pipe running undermy conservatory and running
outside of my conservatory wall. now that the winter is coming i am
concerned that it will freez and split. Its a copper pipe with no
insulation at the moment.

can anybody suggets the best course of action for insualting the pipe.

or would it be just (if i could) turning the pipe off for the winter
(not sure if this would prevent it spliting?

any help appricated.





Goju,

First of all, I noticed that you posted from the U.K. When I was in the
U.K. (in the U.S. Air Force) we never had any problem with outside pipes
freezing. It never stayed cold enough, long enough, to cause a problem.

However, if you feel that you need to do something the best thing to do
is to turn off the water supply to that pipe and drain it as best you
can. Copper pipes only split when the water in them freezes and expands
enough to split them. In very cold areas, like here in the U.S., we use
electric heat wrap devices to protect our outdoor pipes that we need to
keep water supplied to during the winter. Those wraps and foam wraps
over the pipe work very well at temperature much lower than you will
ever see in the U.K. However, before investing in them I would talk to
some of you fellow countrymen and see if anything is really required in
your area.
--
Bill R. (Ohio Valley, U.S.A)

Gardening for over 40 years

To see pictures from my garden visit http://members.iglou.com/brosen

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