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Well House heater...
Don't know if this should be here or not.
I need to find a cheap and low energy use electric heater for my well-house. I have found one that is specially made for well-houses and other specialty areas, they are $150 and need to be hard wired in. Looking for something cheaper, smaller and use little power. I know I can use light bulbs, I have one 40 watt and a 60 watt bulb on, but that obviously wasn't good enough. I don't want to use higher watt bulbs and risk a fire, well-house is just 10ft from the house and it's all clapboard, it'll burn like mad! Ideas? I know I can wrap the pipes, but I want something else, something that will keep everything in there above freezing. |
Hubby insulated ours with the silver (foil) backed insulation, then we just used the lightbulb. This kept our goin when we lived in OK. Had a 10 day stretch where the temp never went above zero. I would think it would be best to insulate, either the inside, outside or both, then try the lightbulb again.
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insulation good
insulation is very good.....
my daughter has a cement block one and a few years ago,,,,,i wired a recepticle and plugged the water pump in one side and a temp switch that kicks on like 34 degrees,(off 37).. temp switch-recepticle ,,i then plugged in a small electric heater,,,,,i usually check the heater every fall and make sure the roof doesn't leak, .......reading it doesn't sound right but hope you get my drift......... |
Well house is cinder block up t 3.5ft or so and then 2.5ft of wood and then the A frame wood roof with shingles. Walls are insulated, need to insulate the roof. Pipes have new foam black pipe wrap from lowes. But even with that, being blocked from wind by the chicken coop and the lights on, it still froze...
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Any kind of heater used with this outlet.
http://www.dockbubbler.com/Thermosta...led_outlet.asp Insulation will also be essential. More heat is lost through the roof than the walls. If you don't insulate the roof, you might as well forget the whole thing. :( |
True.
It's a tiny, creepy space and the insulation is an itchy pain to install... =( Oh, bought Lowes' EasyHeat Freeze Free plug. |
Insulate.
Use the foil backed sheet insulation, relatively cheap and easy to put up. Better than fiberglass. |
Just get heat tape and put on all the exposed pipes. They have in-line thermostats and will only come on when temps are lower than 32. Not expensive to run, just plug in and forget till spring. I even wrapped one around the pressure tank since my old one froze one time!
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This is the pump we use for the barn ... our house pump is actually in the basement. not up to code these days, but our 100+ yo house is grandfathered in. |
For a quick fix look for a "milk house heater." Walmart/Lowes?/TSC? The outlet is good.
You can fix it so a light bulb takes care of the issue after the cold snap. If you have frozen pipes now, remember they can spray when they thaw, not so good for outlets and heaters. Hair dryer and patience work well on frozen pipes. Heat tape is also a good option. |
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My well box is insulated with 2" thick styrafoam. Not itchy and can be cut to fit.
Here in the deep freeze the temps can hit -50 and then add windchill. At those temps I have to heat the whole thing or the pump and pressure tank freeze. Two light bulbs worked fine until they both burned out at the same time and I didn't notice. The pump froze and cracked. The price of a new pump buys a whole lot of electricity so now there is a ceramic heater in there backing up the light bulbs. I do have a generator ready in case the power goes off. I'm not sure what to do when the EPA's ban on incandecent bulbs goes into effect. You already can't buy 100 watt bulbs. The others are being phased out. An example of nanny government. |
A neighbor had a good idea to paint his well house black. The sun hits two sides of it during the day and the sun heats it inside even when cold outside. It helps enough, he says, so far nothing has frozen even with a light bulb in there.
Lots of insulation helps too. We pulled dirt up on two sides of our well house. We had those cement round things over it and so we just shoved dirt up to insulate on those sides. Good luck. |
I insulated with the ridgid foam insulation and used a light bulb, I did do a dropped celing over the pump and pipes with more insulation liquid nails and lath strips so the space is much smaller and the light only has to heat the smaller space so the celing is double insulated
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I should go check them weekly, but do not. BTW, I have ALL CFL in my house, love them, my electric bill is much lower since I put them in 4+ years ago. I can almost always find them on clearance, and so pay $1-$2 each for mine. I just keep stocked up. |
The CFL, doesn't put out enough heat. We use one of those oil filled "radiator" type heaters attached to a thermocube http://www.apelectric.com/TC-3-Therm...-15A-p/tc3.htm Works great. On at 35º off at 45º. You can find then for about $13.
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My pump/tank is in the corner of a unheated 10x12 storage building. I use a regular heating pad. It lays right across the pump(not motor) then I throw a couple old comforters over everything. The heat pad has 3 levels of heat, here I just keep it on low. I been using the same heat pad for several years, but only use it when needed. I feel its safer than a bulb.
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I have used these for years, and they work great.
http://www.amazon.com/Farm-Innovator.../dp/B0006U2HD2 Be sure you get the TC-3 model as they make others for diesel motor heaters etc. then use a reflector heat lamp socket and cord. (or two to keep it from freezing if one bulb burns out) They will both plug into one thermo-cube. Do not use a "high efficiency bulb" simply the now old-fashioned ones if you can still get them. Mount the light to shine directly onto the pipes, but keep the reflector several inches away from any wood, or insulation paper. We kept our well house protected with a 60 watt bulb, but it was well insulated. The light will turn off when the air around the cube reaches 45 F, and will come back on when the temperature reaches 35 F. Many farm stores carry these, just be sure you get the TC-3 model. The cube will carry the current necessary for any household electric heater (such as a "milk house" heater) but they may provide much more heat than you need and you will have a higher electric bill. |
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Incandescents are not banned they are, however, required to have an increased level of efficiency. That means they will cost lots more than before. Uncle Sam, always looking out for us--guess we are too child-like to pick out the right bulb for ourselves. |
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Electrical consumption should be about the same to produce the same amount of heat no matter what device is used |
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