How to stop my condensate pipe from freezing

Canucklehead

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Can anyone give me a link for the regulations for the size of the condensate pipe please?

Good evening: manufacturer's installation specifications take precedence (these are detailed in the installation manual...perhaps you have access to the one for your appliance. If not, most manufacturers make documentation available on the company's website or try here).

The EST also has Best Practice guide here. Some RGIs will follow 'Basic Practice' to make quotes more competitive.

HTH

Canucklehead

ListysDad

Please forgive the length of post people but needs must.

Firstly, a bit of physics which most will have forgotten. Freezing takes place for one reason only. The heat energy (in this instance from the droplets of condensate water), is removed to the point where the droplet temp goes below 0 degs c and freezes.

The only way to stop freezing is to replace the energy leeching from the water droplets so this typically means using trace heating. If you're losing X joules you need to preplace it with X plus joules.

To reduce the loss in the first place, even when you install trace heating, you insulate and insulate to a proper usable and effective standard. NOT the current water regs as they are completely inadequate regarding freeze protection.

The size of insulation is determined by amount the heat energy contained in the water, its temperature, the ambient temperature, the conductivity of the pipe its travelling in and the effectiveness of the insulation surroundng it - phew!

The likes of Climaflex (the grey polyethelyne insulation) CANNOT prevent freezing with a SINGLE exception. That is, UNLESS it is extruded onto the pipe its protecting. The reason it can't protect against freezing is that at 4 degs C it begins to shrink and that shrinkage gets worse all the way down to what's known as its glass transition state at something like -25 deg C. This means that NO join in this type of insulation CAN remain intact thereby making it USELESS.

If you want to reduce freezing you have to properly install a nitrile based product and fit it to a standard like the Freeze Free Standard.

Correctly insulated small bore pipework is actually MORE effecient at freeze protection than large bore as fewer air currents flow in it so reducing their potential cooling impact.

Even if you choose Britisg Gases opportunistic sales patter it is VITAL that the correct insulation is fitted in the correct way otherwise you'll spend far more than is reqd and its life will be considerably shortened.

Hope that helps people.