I have a place on a lake in northern WI that is about 100 years old, and has a well and pressure tank in the basement. The basement is about 8 feet deep, and right now, it is 39 degrees in the basement and 3 degrees outside.

I've always drained everything including the well and tank before winter, but am now wondering if I can leave the tank and well alone, since they are in the basement.

I've read about building a box around the well/pump, but not sure it would be necessary...

So my question is, if I monitor the temp down there for a full winter and it never goes below freezing, can I consider it safe to just leave the well primed and the tank with water in it during the winter? Of course I would continue to drain the rest of the system that is above the basement.

Thanks!

 

Hmmmmmmmm......sounds like a gamble to me.

You're talking about leaving the place...right ?

 

I have my pumps in well houses with heat tapes on exposed pipes, including the indicator (pitot) pipe to the switch. Tanks are inside the house. Many wells here have exposed tanks. I would never expose water to freezing, but they seem to fare fine. Having yours inside should not be a problem if 39 is as low as it gets. With that said, if you turn off the heat, then it all will drop to ambient temperature of the outside eventually.

 

Yeah, I would be leaving the place. I typically go up 5 or 6 times during the winter, but it would be vacant for weeks at a time. Sometimes my brother or parents will go up too, and I would really like to find a way for them to not have to worry about draining the tank and priming the well, as that would probably be outside their comfort zone.

I'm starting to think it might be best to just build a small closet-sized box/room around the well, pump and pressure tank and heat it with some sort of thermostat controlled heater to keep it above freezing.

 

You don't need much to keep it heated. A 100 watt light bulb on a thermostat will do it.

 

PJ's dead right. Use a 100 watt bulb, or two for fail safe, and a thermocube for control.

 

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We used to have a cabin with the exact same scenario.

Built an insulated doghouse for the pump and kept it warm with one of these.....(see pic)

It was 100 watts if I remember correctly.....controlled it with a thermostat set at 40 degrees.

Still available here...... Edison Base Cone Heaters

I was always weary of a regular light bulb burning out.....my luck it would have....


.

 

Fab a box from 2" rigid foam board & place over pump, tank and heater. Just tape the corners & you can collapse it every spring if you need the space. Heat tape on the exposed pipe that still has water in it. Electricity cost should be very minimal if you're just trying to maintain 40F or so.

But...Does your power ever go out there?

Whatever approach you take turn off the power to the pump every time you leave and install a ball valve right after the tank & shut that off too. That way in the worst-case scenario you would limit the amount of water damage. I'm fretting a little bit right now because last weekend when I left my cottage I forgot to shut the valve...and the power there does go out frequently in the winter as trees snap & fall on lines.