Insulation for Piping
Since you never lay eyes on them, it’s easy to forget about the pipes running behind your walls. However, they play a vital role in your daily comfort. After all, without indoor plumbing you couldn’t take a shower, go to the bathroom or even wash your hands without collecting water from outside first. To help preserve your pipes and save on your water heating bills, consider adding pipe insulation everywhere you can.
Types of Pipe Insulation
- Foam: This conventional option features a slit on one side to make installation a breeze. Once in place, you can tape the slit shut to enhance the product’s insulating ability.
- Self-sealing foam: This is the same as conventional foam insulation, but it features an adhesive strip along the slit to seal itself closed after you install it.
- Spray foam: When there’s little space to work with, spray foam is the way to go.
- Fiberglass: Paper-coated rigid fiberglass is a great option for unusually high-temperature pipes since this material withstands exposure to heat.
Contact your local professionals to learn more options and complete your installation!
Benefits of Pipe Insulation
- Prevent frozen pipes: This is the biggest reason people pursue insulation for piping. By insulating your cold water pipes, you reduce their exposure to sub-freezing temperatures near exterior walls in unfinished basements and crawl spaces. By preventing frozen pipes, you avoid the devastating water damage that can occur if the pipes burst.
- Minimize heat loss: You also want to insulate hot water pipes to raise the water temperature by 2 to 4 degrees compared to uninsulated pipes. This allows you to lower your water heater temperature without experiencing colder water at the tap. It also reduces wait time at the tap so you send less water down the drain waiting for it to heat up, thus helping conserve water and lowering your bill.
- Control condensation: Water vapor in the air condenses into droplets on cold surfaces. This means cold water pipes are particularly susceptible to condensation buildup. If left unchecked, this can cause water damage to your home and can even harm pipe fittings until the pipes fail altogether. Insulation protects the pipes from warm, humid air to eliminate these problems associated with condensation.
Do you need to insulate the pipes in your Washington, DC metropolitan area home or building? We’ll install the right insulation. Contact Accurate Insulation today to learn more!
