Help.... No water ... Again

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Steelhorzz

I'm going to wire 110 volt gfi sockets closer to each of the bays and build a mount to accept the small space heaters so they are sturdy and not likely to tip over in the future, should I need them.

That should allow me to close the bay doors when the heaters are on. On this trip I left the bay doors slightly ajar and held them in place with duct tape as I was worried about the heaters falling over and creating additional issues.

I had a furnace die on my while on the road during a cold spell. Went to the nearest walmart and bought a couple of cube shaped ceramic heaters. They have "tip over switches" on them that turns off the power entering the heater if the unit is not sitting flat on a hard surface.

If you just make sure you have heaters with this safety feature there will be no need for brackets or solid mounts. You will then be able to store them out of the way during the warmer months.

As for heating pipes, the Frost King heat cable is good for plastic pipe. You buy it in finished lengths and they have an integral thermostat.

Even better is the Frostex Heat Tape which is self regulating. 3 Watts per foot and it has a temp sensing cable inside so it doesn't get hot enough to damage plastic pipe.

With heat tapes, or for that matter heaters, there is a bit of a catch. If you put the thermostat in a place that remains cold all the time, the other end of the cable could get too warm. Same with a heater. Sometimes you have to set the thermostat too high in order to get heat into a corner where a freezing draft may be entering.

As for pipes inside of walls, sometimes all that is needed is a place for a little heat to escape into the wall around the pipe. We all open cupboard doors to do this so if you have a pipe that is inside a wall that freezes, maybe a few holes with little decorative vent inserts in that area. Heat can then get into the space next to the pipe. Ditto for enclosed space like under a shower of tub. Every circumstance will be different depending on floor plan.