At 09:12 AM 11/14/2004 -0500, Jim Juhas wrote:
>What I'm curious
>about is whether the plastic systems are more durable for
>this sort of thing.
I wouldn't use PVC; I had some hose bib lines in my pump house freeze and
they shattered along the entire length. I had never had any problems with
the lines in my pump house freezing before. It's about 6 x 8', uninsulated
frame construction with metal siding to match my shop. I have a heat lamp
inside on a thermostat plug, and it's always kept the inside warm enough
for our relatively mild winters. Last year I installed two freeze proof
hose bibs through the walls and connected them to the interior
piping. Before it got cold I made sure the heat lamp was working and
installed the foam hats over the exterior bibs. What I didn't take into
account was that the hose bib flanges were screwed to the wall against the
metal siding, and the cold metal siding sucked all the heat out of the
piping and froze the interior PVC lines for several feet. Didn't freeze
any of the main piping, fortunately. This year I replaced the hose bib pvc
piping with vinyl hoses and standard hose fittings and just disconnected
them inside in the fall. One of these days I have to get off my butt and
insulate the shed and install heat tape and insulation just in case.
Dave C
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