Should I bother insulating cold water pipes in basement?
#1
12-05-10, 09:45 AM
Should I bother insulating cold water pipes in basement?
I have googled this. The deal is that my basement had dripping from the cold water pipes a few years ago with 75% RH. I then put in a dehumidifier and it's at constant 50% and I've had zero condensation since. The issue is that I'm going to be drywalling the ceiling in the basement and worry that the slower amount of air movement that may have been hiding mild condensation before won't be there now. It seems the best insulation is the slit-type foam noodles with tape built into them. I'd then go with an over-sized pipe hanger so that I can keep the insulation continuous on the pipe instead of broken where it hangs from the joists. Do I need to bother, though; will the conditions for the pipes get worse once the drywall is in place?
#2
12-05-10, 10:09 AM
I would insulate for a different reason, since you have the RH under control. Insulate to keep the hot water hot and the cold water cold. You will lose a lot of temperature through radiation of the pipes, so keeping them stable will keep energy costs down somewhat.
#3
12-05-10, 01:13 PM
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I basically agree with (chandler), but I think you should be sure you glue the joints between the lengths of insulation, leaving that joint open could end up dripping, I would also use protective shields so you don't crush the insulation.
You can make them out of thin sheet metal if you don't want to buy them
You can make them out of thin sheet metal if you don't want to buy them
#4
12-05-10, 02:24 PM
Hi Shacko, that isn't a bad idea--I can see in this case they used that contraption to hang the copper pipe without non-copper metal touching it and also without _any_ metal touching it. I have similar hanglers on my gas pipes and they are squeaking when walking about and joist moves and thus the metal hanger rubs ever so slightly on the gas line.. I need to come up with a sound-less way of hanging my gas pipes so that the metal hangers can be taken away.
#6
12-06-10, 05:11 PM
Originally Posted by shacko
What should work on your gas pipe is to remove the hanger and wrap some tape around where the hanger touches, should keep the noise down.
