Should we be cracking open the loft door now?

Cherrycola

To prevent the tank/pipes in the attic freezing?

Im in a different gaff this winter, so i dont know if frozen pipes and tank will be an issue, but we got caught in January in our old place, no water, toilets or shower.
Cracking open the loft door and letting the heat up into the attic seemed to work so should i start doing that this week just to be safe?

Also is it worth setting the heating to come on say every 2/3 hrs for a 30mins overnight? I know a few people did this last year and they didnt have any frozen pipes.

Any tips would be great.

bertie1

buy a dimplex cold watch heater, it has a frost stat built in & plug it in , in the attic. It will come on automatically if the temperature drops below freezing. Runs on about 600 Watts

Sparkpea

yes leave the attic door open slightly or leave a 100w bulb on

Cherrycola

bertie1 wrote: »

buy a dimplex cold watch heater, it has a frost stat built in & plug it in , in the attic. It will come on automatically if the temperature drops below freezing. Runs on about 600 Watts

Ive never even heard of these! thanks for the tip.

Not sure if there is a socket in the attic, but i suppose i could run up an extension lead if necessary.

stonefish

Cherrycola wrote: »

To prevent the tank/pipes in the attic freezing?

Im in a different gaff this winter, so i dont know if frozen pipes and tank will be an issue, but we got caught in January in our old place, no water, toilets or shower.
Cracking open the loft door and letting the heat up into the attic seemed to work so should i start doing that this week just to be safe?

Also is it worth setting the heating to come on say every 2/3 hrs for a 30mins overnight? I know a few people did this last year and they didnt have any frozen pipes.

Any tips would be great.

i would never open the attic door as there would be too much heat loss there is a reason why we put insulation in our homes= reduceing heat loss. by keeping the door open u will lose a lot of heat, a good attick should be cold and not taking heat from the rooms underneath .i suggest you go up and insulate the tank and all the pipes u can see.
i think its most important to keep warm :-) others might not agree .i wouldnt leave it open but then theres a river beside me !

Sparkpea

To be honest stonefish in this weather it doesn't matter whether the pipes/tanks are lagged or not pipes will still burst. I understand what you are saying about heat loss which is 100% correct but I still maintain the only way to stop pipes/tanks bursting is heat and a 100w bulb is enough to help prevent it.

stonefish

i dont think a 100w watt bulb would fix the problem if your tank and pipes are not insulated.first things first insulate the tank and pipes and i agree with sparkpea the heat from the light will help .regarding leaving your heating on or having it on every half hour will keep u warm but its not really the heating pipes u need to worrie about,it the main into your house with the heating pipes there is plenty of heat within the system to keep it from freezing ,the main and cold water pipes cant get much colder without freezing i suggest covering them with blankets,hay or whatever u got .. good luck cheerycola:)

Joey the lips

My money is on the 100w bulb and pipe lagging.

My father use to say there is no excuse for not lagging pipes.

you can actually go out and collect a load of old clothes and duct tape them around pipes if you are tight on money..

However pipe lagging is so cheap now in b&q

paddy147

Joey the lips wrote: »

My money is on the 100w bulb and pipe lagging.

My father use to say there is no excuse for not lagging pipes.

you can actually go out and collect a load of old clothes and duct tape them around pipes if you are tight on money..

However pipe lagging is so cheap now in b&q

Forget about BnQ for pipe lagging.

If you go to Goodwins Builders Suppliers in either Lucan/Adamstown or Blanchardstown,then you will get 2 meter lengths of pipe insulation for 50 cents.Various pipe diameters to choose from too.Its exactly the same stuff that BnQ are selling for 1 euro 40 cents a meter.:mad:

YES.....50 CENTS for 2 meter lengths of pipe insulation in Goodwins.:D

Joey the lips

paddy147 wrote: »

Forget about BnQ for pipe lagging.

If you go to Goodwins Builders Suppliers in either Lucan/Adamstown or Blanchardstown,then you will get 2 meter lengths of pipe insulation for 50 cents.Various pipe diameters to choose from too.Its exactly the same stuff that BnQ are selling for 1 euro 40 cents a meter.:mad:

YES.....50 CENTS for 2 meter lengths of pipe insulation in Goodwins.:D

Thats interesting...Because it use to cost 30c a meter to manufacture which means one length is 60c...

But well done...Grab the offer whiles its going...

paddy147

Joey the lips wrote: »

Thats interesting...Because it use to cost 30c a meter to manufacture which means one length is 60c...

But well done...Grab the offer whiles its going...

I grabed LOADS of 2 meter pipe insulation lengths the other day.I got charged 50 cents per 2 meter length.:D

Sure even Woodies are selling 2 meter lengths for 1 euro 20 a length,still cheaper than BnQ..

But Goodwins Builders Providers were/are the cheapest Ive seen,so 2 meters of insulation for 50 cents is for nothing compared to the normal DIY places.

Sparkpea

Tubolite (grey) is about 50p for 2m up north, armoflex (black) would be a bit more expensive. In my opinion you need to be using 25mm thick tubolite/armoxflex in loft these days, 9mm is no longer sufficent. Lag your tank with an insulated jacket or even fibreglass tied round it, put a lid on it even if its just a piece of plywood and fibreglass ontop. Some people even use old thick velvet curtains etc. and like joey said use old clothes to tie round pipes if money is tight.

cuculainn

Sparkpea wrote: »

Tubolite (grey) is about 50p for 2m up north, armoflex (black) would be a bit more expensive. In my opinion you need to be using 25mm thick tubolite/armoxflex in loft these days, 9mm is no longer sufficent. Lag your tank with an insulated jacket or even fibreglass tied round it, put a lid on it even if its just a piece of plywood and fibreglass ontop. Some people even use old thick velvet curtains etc. and like joey said use old clothes to tie round pipes if money is tight.

Mightn't be exactly meeting your fire regulations if you do that tho??

Sparkpea

in these days yes thats true it probably wouldn't, its still seen often in older houses and its a nightmare to cut off to get working at the pipes lol. anything to save costs though for ones that cannot afford.

Joey the lips

If the pipes in the attic wrapped in cloth manage to catch fire i would like to bet everyone underneath is toast....

freddyuk

If you open the loft hatch you will end up with the loft running with condensation. As said lag all the pipework properly and the storage tanks. Do not put insulation under the tank but leave a gap so the warmth from the uninsulated patch of ceiling can keep the tank from freezing.:)

cuculainn

Wouldn't like to be trying to claim fire insurance if pipes are wrapped in rags, in the vicinity of electric wires etc:eek:

up for anything

If a house is empty what are the optimum times to run the heating to try and stop the pipes etc from freezing and for how long?

freddyuk

Simply fit a frost stat which will come on when temperature is 4c. It is not a case of when or how long it is simply when the temperature inside drops to below freezing you need heat.

stonefish

omg this is the first time to reply to a thread im just trying to help if i can here lol think id be better keeping my comments to myself as everyones trying to have a better ans. regarding the freezing hay and some old cloths can cover the ground which lies on top of the main coming into the house underground unless ur going to dig up the ground to put lagging on it .this IS going to be the first pipe to freeze !regarding the insulation in attic use rockwool or fiberglass insulation to cover the "cold water cistern" (tank).make sure your pipes are also lagged

WildOscar

bertie1 wrote: »

buy a dimplex cold watch heater, i

where do you get this?

alwaysadub

WildOscar wrote: »

where do you get this?

An electrical wholesaler will sell them.
We were doing them for 60euro last year,dunno how much they are selling at this year though but Dimplex themselves ran out of stock last year cos of the demand so i would imagine they might be thin on the ground this year too.
I'd ring before heading out to check they have them in stock!

Sparkpea

Has a dimplex heater not got like a heating element that could be dangerous in a roof space? Like if the heater fell over could it not set something alight?

I'm asking because I'm not 100% sure what a dimplex heater is/looks like

bertie1

You can screw it to the joists or mount it on a wall or screw it on to a sheet of plywood. There are mounting positions for screws at the back . Its called a dimplex "cold watch heater".

Deltra

Hey, I'm in a house on my own out in the country, my water went on Sunday night. Its a bungalow, and i had the fire lighting all weekend and the heating on at different times throughout the day. I presumed that it was the mains water coming into the house but I braved the attic last night and managed to see in the tank with a flashlight and its frozen inside. All the pipes look to be insulated but the tank is just covered. I'm all packed up now to move into the parents for the rest of the week is there any advice you can give me regarding leaving the house empty. I'm putting an oil filled electric radiator on a timer up in the attic beside the tank (its partially floored so should stay upright) i have the heating timed to come on three times a day. Should i leave the attic stairs open? Should i turn off the water at the mains?
Sorry to sound like such a girl, but i haven't a clue and I'm afraid of my life the house will be destroyed!!!
Thanks in advance.

WildOscar

bertie1 wrote: »

buy a dimplex cold watch heater,

have you a link to that i cannot find it? Is it a blower or element type? this it?

freddyuk

Deltra wrote: »

Hey, I'm in a house on my own out in the country, my water went on Sunday night. Its a bungalow, and i had the fire lighting all weekend and the heating on at different times throughout the day. I presumed that it was the mains water coming into the house but I braved the attic last night and managed to see in the tank with a flashlight and its frozen inside. All the pipes look to be insulated but the tank is just covered. I'm all packed up now to move into the parents for the rest of the week is there any advice you can give me regarding leaving the house empty. I'm putting an oil filled electric radiator on a timer up in the attic beside the tank (its partially floored so should stay upright) i have the heating timed to come on three times a day. Should i leave the attic stairs open? Should i turn off the water at the mains?
Sorry to sound like such a girl, but i haven't a clue and I'm afraid of my life the house will be destroyed!!!
Thanks in advance.

Please do not leave an electric heater in the attic just set your heating at the lowest temperature all day and remove the insulation from under the storage tank. Job done. If you are really worried then you should drain the system (as your insurance company will want you to do if you leave the house for any length of time.)

alwaysadub

WildOscar wrote: »

have you a link to that i cannot find it? Is it a blower or element type? this it?

Yep thats them.
There's another type too:
http://www.dimplex.co.uk/products/domestic_heating/miscellaneous_heating/mph/index.htm
They both do the same thing.

Deltra

Thanks freddyuk,
Much appreciated