The supply of water to the house, regardless of the source of water supply, is always done by laying an underground pipeline, which usually freezes on especially cold winter days. Moreover, its burial into the ground does not always give a positive effect. Therefore, many owners of private plots are thinking about ways to insulate a water pipe in the ground at a shallow depth.
Why do you need insulation
The main reasons for the need to insulate water pipes above and below the ground in a private house:
- In the absence of a special insulation, the pipes freeze, and they have to be laid very deep underground (up to 2.5 meters), which is associated with high labor costs. When taking water from a well, one has to face the same problems.
- The water carrier protected from the cold is more efficient, since it does not need additional heating. Thanks to this, it is possible to reduce energy costs (electricity, in particular).
To prevent freezing, pipe communications are also insulated at the exit areas of the well and at the points of entry into a residential building.
Warming methods
There are several known methods that make it possible to effectively insulate the water mains supplied to the house. Some of them are used not only in everyday life, but also in production, where pipeline insulation is no less important.
The use of thermal insulation materials
For the stated purposes, conventional insulation materials are widely used, used to solve typical tasks, including the insulation of building structures. These include the following types of thermal insulation materials:
- Styrofoam;
- polyurethane foam;
- mineral wool;
- sprayed heaters.
Most of them allow you to reliably isolate the water supply from contact with the ground, which freezes in winter to a considerable depth.
Electric heating and flow continuity effect
The essence of continuous flow heating is that fast moving water does not have time to freeze. If the house has regular water consumption or artificially organized water circulation in a closed loop, they will prevent the pipeline from freezing in winter.
Heating by air and high pressure
This method is technically difficult to implement and is used only in public utilities or in industry. The water supply system is placed in a shell of large diameter pipes, and heated air enters the gap between them.In everyday life, a simplified scheme is used, in which HDPE pipes are insulated by placing them in pipelines of a larger diameter. The air gap formed between them is used as a kind of insulator.
The idea of heating with increased pressure is more of a fiction than reality. To increase the temperature by 1 degree, it will be necessary to increase the pressure by 132 atmospheres, which is physically impossible for a water supply system with an indicator of 5 atm.
Requirements for heaters
To insulate water pipes in the ground at a shallow depth, typical heat-insulating materials are used that meet the following criteria:
- low thermal conductivity;
- water resistance;
- resistance to chemically active environments;
- temperature resistance;
- strength and durability.
Fulfillment of all these requirements will allow extending the service life of pipelines and not spending additional funds on updating heating systems.
Thermal insulation materials and their features
It is most convenient to protect insulated heating pipes for laying in the ground with a shell that matches the shape of their surface. Most of the samples of insulation materials for pipes are produced in the form of cases with built-in channels for laying the heating cable. A rigid foam sheath is the best option for insulating underground pipelines. Polyfoam does not pass or absorb moisture and, moreover, is very cheap.
Another material suitable for these purposes - polyurethane foam - is resistant to chemical and biological influences and does not deteriorate in the presence of mold, microbes and other microorganisms. The shell or shell made on its basis is lightweight and can be assembled without assistance. Sheaths based on polyethylene foam are widely used for thermal insulation of pipes laid outdoors. In addition, they can be used to seal open sections of pipe routes located in a caisson well.
Mineral wool is well suited for the stated purposes, but easily crumpled, after which it loses its thermal insulation properties and begins to absorb moisture. Therefore, it is usually used to insulate the outer sections of the water supply system.
Thermal insulating paints are considered a high-tech product that is applied to the surface to be insulated with a brush or spray in several layers. They are ideally suited for the protection of pipelines and for the treatment of various types and purposes of vessels.
In industry, it is not uncommon for the use of liquid polyurethane or polystyrene to protect the insulated surfaces, applied to the pipe shell by means of a spray gun. Due to the high cost, this technology is practically not used in everyday life.
Do-it-yourself water pipe insulation
Before insulating pipes for water underground, you need to decide which version of thermal insulation is the cheapest. Most often, they stop at the use of inexpensive foam or EPS shells with a high material density.
Insulation at a shallow depth
The procedure for insulating a water supply system in a country house or in a private house is considered on the example of a foam shell. Self-assembly of the shell on the HDPE pipeline is not difficult and is carried out in the following sequence:
- On the pipes slightly raised from the trench, the foam sheath itself is put on.
- The locks on it snap into place, each successive segment is shifted by about a third of the total length.
- Insulation elements are fixed with tape or special plastic ties.
- At the end of the work, the pipeline is lowered into a trench on an already prepared sand bed.
At the final stage of the measures, the trench is filled up with the selected soil, and then closed with sod set aside.
