Could RedyTemp be a solution for frozen pipes?

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Andy Ring

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Just became familar with Redy Temp from another post here. Apparently, it provides instant hot water--eliminating the time it takes for hot water to travel from the hot water heater to faucet. It seems to do this by monitoring the temp of the water in the hot water feed line near the faucet. When it drops below some preset level, it runs a little hot water and feeds it back into the cold water feed, thereby keeping the hot water circulating and hot.

Could this solve a freezing pipe problem? My house has a bathroom addition connected to the rear of the house. Long story short, the addition was built very poorly and is not well insulated :mad: . When the temp gets into the teens (a couple times a winter), I have to remember to leave a faucet dripping or my pipes will freeze. I cannot access the pipes to put pipe wrap on them unless I rip up the tile floor, the subfloor, etc. I have tried keeping the heat in the bathroom turned up high and also have pointed a space heater at the peipes right before they go into the floor--neither methods work. So, I'm wondering if the RedyTemp might be my best short-term solution (until I tear down and rebuild the whole structure). Redy-Temp costs $339, so it ain't cheap, but having a pipe burst is a lot more expensive! Are there cheaper solutions? Thanks!
 

Jadnashua

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It might work, assuming you put the thing in that bathroom. Are all of the pipes insulated? If not, then do that, too. Both the hot and the cold pipes will be warmed by the operation. I've only had mine in for a few days, but really appreciate the speed with which I can get hot water at the fixtures. There are other brands that do similar things - this one seems like it is the easiest to install, and is the only one that I've seen has a user adjustable setting on it.
 

hj

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circulator

If you have an electrical outlet under that sink or can put one there easily, then it will work. If not then Grundfos has a unit where the pump installs at the water heater, where there is usually an outlet or power can be provided with an extension cord, and then the controller valve connects between the hot and cold lines under the sink. The advantage to this one is that you can put contollers under more than one sink in the house and get the "instant" hot water everywhere with only one pump.
 

Andy Ring

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Grundfos looks good

HJ,

I just checked out the Grundfos unit. It looks really good (and its cheaper). I like the fact that it will be in basement rather than the bathroom. Also it looks like it might be better built. Installation is slightly harder since you have to cut the hot water out of the water heater, but it shouldn't take too long. Thanks for the recommendation.
 

Gary Swart

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Hot water recirculation

I recently installed the Laing SM 303 in my home, and it really is performing well. You can find my fairly length post from 2 or 3 weeks ago if you wish. This unit requires a separate return line, so you would have to be able to plumb that in. I'm sure if you then insulated the cold water pipe and at least one of the hot water lines (suppy or return) together, you would solve the freezing problem. All three lines should be insulated, but only the cold/hot combination would be required to stop the cold water from freezing since the hot water will be circulating. I found my SM 303 on ebay for much less than list price. Installation is straight forward if you have access to install the return line and do basic soldering.
 

Andy Ring

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Pipes are inaccessible

Gary,

Thanks for the advice, but as HJ says, I cannot get to the pipes. The addition is made of concrete block added on to a brick townhouse. There is an inaccessible 1 foot tall crawl space below the addition (I can see in through a football sized hole from the house basement. The plumbing runs in this space. I could rip up the floor of the bathroom to get to it, but that would require ripping up tile, a layer of concrete, and plywood before getting to the floor joists. I've considered blown-in insulation or other options, but have had conflicting advice.

However, the I like your eBay idea. I will check out what's for sale there now. So, thanks for that idea.

Andy
 

Andy Ring

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Ebay worked great!

Just checked eBay. Found a brand new in box Grundfos UP15-10S for sale with comfort valve for $175 with free shipping. That was almost $75 cheaper than the next best option I had found. So, your advice was great (even if it was inadvertant). I am buying it and will let you know how it works.

Thanks, Andy
 

Jadnashua

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FWIW, I went with the RedyTemp because it was easy to install (I had an outlet installed when I did remodeling in the vanity), and, the pump only runs when it needs to (I also have it on a timer, which you would not want!), rather than all of the time with many of the other systems. The power consumption is small, but it is continuous. Course, things that are tuned on and off often wear out sooner, but that cycle somewhat depends on the temp of the air around the pipes. From what I've heard, that is a god product. Fill us in on how you like it after it is done.
 

Deb

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Deb

I live in an area that can and does have frequent and/or long power outages, so I never depend totally on anything electric to protect the water system from freezing. I believe that the single most important thing to preventing frozen pipes when you have a crawl space is a tight crawl space. The ground puts off an amazing amount of heat. The main problem comes when the space is not sealed and cold air can blow through--I don't believe that I have ever gone into a tight crawl space (one where absolutely no outside light is visible in the dark crawl) to repair a freeze break...
You can most likely seal gaps from the outside (although I have been in spaces this small, it only happens if there is NO other alternative). You must seal them all. If you have foundation ventilation vents, seal them off as most of them do not close tight enough to prevent a cold wind from blowing through.
Buttoning up this space will have other benefits, too--less energy usage, less frequent recirulation pump operation. And mice and other small critters can squeeze through really small gaps.
Deb
The Pipewench
 

Andy Ring

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Insulating

Thanks Deb,

Your suggestion is a good one and I have already made some headway sealing up leaks. Whoever built the addition laid the concrete blocks on their sides beneath grade (so their holes were exposed horizontally) above grade they were laid with their holes vertical as they should be. Over time, rain water eroded away the earth plugging these holes and the crawlspace was literally exposed to the outside. This fall I exposed the foundation, plugged all the holes in the blocks with brick and mortar, then poured a 3 inch thick concrete wall (using fiber-reinforced concrete) outside the foundation about 2 feet deep (tied into the wall with metal lath, tapconned into the wall). I then covered this with ********* roofing cement as a sealant. Maybe this will help my freezing problem--just haven't had a winter to test it with yet.
 
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