Pipe Insulation Is a Smart & Easy Money Saver

If you live in Cambridge, (or any cold weather place for that matter) then this is a smart move.  There are few DIY projects that are as simple, low cost, and loaded with immediate paybacks as insulating your water pipes. With the cost of hot water heating consuming roughly 15 to 25% of the energy bill in the average US home, the return on investment for installing insulation on hot water pipes results in the homeowner showing a profit on this small investment in less than a year, often within only a few months.

Prevent Damage – Cold Water Pipes

Burst pipes can result in an enormous amount of water damage in a very short time and the cost of replacing the damaged pipe will seem minor after you figure in the cost of replacing water-logged flooring, sub-flooring, drywall, damaged electrical components and personal property.

Many people in the southern US think this can’t happen to them since temperatures rarely stay below freezing for long periods of time, but this isn’t true. Just like humans, water pipes are subject to wind chill, meaning that the effective temperature may be much lower than the reading on the thermometer.

Gaps in siding or exterior locations where different materials meet are frequent culprits in allowing cold winds to reach areas where water pipes are located. If insulation in the walls has settled, or the insulation was never adequate to begin with, pipes running through walls may not have adequate protection. This can be a problem with kitchen sinks, for example, which are often located on exterior walls to provide a window above. Insulation can be blown into areas where you can’t reach the pipe to wrap it.

Where pipes run through attics, unheated basement areas or crawl spaces, people often assume that if the area is insulated, the pipes are not at risk. This may be true if the pipes are well covered by other insulation, but it’s important to inspect the length of each pipe, especially where pipes enter the building or go through any other walls or barriers. These are often exactly the spots where cold winds can reach the pipes.

Save Energy – Hot Water Pipes

The moment hot water leaves the hot water tank, it starts losing heat as it travels toward the end point of usage. The longer the distance from tank to point of use, the greater the loss. This means that thermostat settings need to be higher to deliver water at the desired temperature and a higher percentage of hot water must be mixed with cold water in order to produce nice warm water.

Both of these run up the energy bill in a way that makes no sense when you consider how cheap and easy it is to insulate the pipes. The simplest pipe insulation is flexible and already comes in a tube shape with a slit which allows you to just slip it over the pipe and secure in place with the recommended tape.

Where you have extremes of weather or underground pipes, there are special types of insulation that use closed cells and come in a more rigid material. There are also sophisticated foams and other advanced materials. Some are constructed especially to resist moisture buildup, while others can actually wick moisture away from the pipes, which can add years to the life of the pipes.

A Few Words of Caution

Heat tapes and cables and hot water heater insulation (usually called a blanket) are other methods of preventing energy loss or protecting pipes from freezing. All of them are effective, but it is very important to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations and local building codes to avoid the possibility of inadvertently damaging the heater or pipes or creating a fire hazard.