pipe insulation

Ryan_ma

I'm a new homeowner with steam heat and I'm trying to take some easy steps to make our system more efficient, but I have some simple questions about proper pipe insulation.



Re steam pipes:

I bought the 1/2'' thick fiberglass pipe insulation at Home Depot for steam pipes, but is this too thin?, I saw a reference to 1" thick on another post. I selected the diameter that fits snuggly around the pipe, but is this correct?, should there be a any gap between the steam pipe and the fiberglass?

Also, the steam pipe to one radiator is only wrapped spirally in some type of aluminum tape (not sure what this is). Should I replace this with fiberglass pipe insulation? or maybe put fiberglass insulation over the top of it?



One more (probably silly) question regarding insulation of hot water pipes...should foam insulation fit snuggly around the pipes without a gap between pipe and foam? (I only ask because current foam insulation is dangling loosely around the pipes for the most part).



Thanks for the help,

Ryan

Paul Pollets

Fiberglass

the insulation should be 1" thick and fiberglass only. neoprene will melt. the  insulation should fit around the pipe snugly, with minimum of air space. fittings are usually done with insulation "diapers" and Zeston covers. these are not usually found at the home store.

Brad White

I agree with Paul

Not less than one-inch thickness of moulded fiberglass insulation on steam as a functional minimum.  The energy code here in MA has this at 1.5 inches for piping up to 2" size and 2" thick above that. Just a point of comparison, but no one will arrest you yet.



ALL insulation has to fit snuggly. Dangling insulation is like wearing a thick down full-length stadium coat and leaving the front zipper open.