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Steam Pipe Fiberglass Insulation versus Asbestos air cell insulation

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Roma
Roma Member Posts: 71
in Strictly Steam
Good day.  I am redoing my basement and my steam heat pipes are exposed.  Some of the asbestos aircell insulation is gone.  I would like to replace it with a safer fiberglass pipe insulation.  I have been trying to find out the r value of the existing asbestos aircell pipe wrap material (with no luck).  I am trying to see what thickness fiberglass pipe insulation I should put back in place of the asbestos.  Also, do I need to insulate the returns as well.

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  • BobC
    BobC Member Posts: 5,478
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    Insulation

    I have no clue what R factor asbestos pipe insulation is. However I've removed it from pipes and installed 1" fiberglass pipe insulation in it's place,  and my intuition is that the fiberglass insulation is at least as good as an equivelent thickness of asbestos.



    All the exposed piping in the basement should be insulated with a minimum of 1" fiberglass pipe insulation.



    Bob
    Smith G8-3 with EZ Gas @ 90,000 BTU, Single pipe steam
    Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
    3PSI gauge
  • TomM
    TomM Posts: 233
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    here you go....(from 2005)

    http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/87602/Steam-pipe-insulation
    beautiful Conshohocken PA
  • Roma
    Roma Member Posts: 71
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    thans for your info

    I went with 2 inch fiberglass pipe on any pipe over 2 inches and 1.5 on any pipe two inches and under. I purchased them from IDC CORP.  Ask for Rob he is very helpful.
  • Roma
    Roma Member Posts: 71
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    thanks for your info

    I went with 2 inch fiberglass pipe on any pipe over 2 inches and 1.5 on any pipe two inches and under. I purchased them from IDC CORP.  Ask for Rob he is very helpful.
  • JohnL_2
    JohnL_2 Member Posts: 13
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    R Value of Pipe Insulation

    The R-Value of pipe insulation will differ depeding on the size of the pipe it is applied to.  The R-Value is very similar no matter what insulation material is used (for same size pipe).  It is somewhere in the neighborhood of R-4 per inch, so 2" thickness would give you approx R-8.
    www.BuyInsulationProducts.com
  • JohnL_2
    JohnL_2 Member Posts: 13
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    R Value of Pipe Insulation

    The R-Value of pipe insulation will differ depending on the size of the pipe it is applied to.  The R-Value is very similar no matter what insulation material is used (for same size pipe).  It is somewhere in the neighborhood of R-4 per inch, so 2" thickness would give you approx R-8.
    www.BuyInsulationProducts.com
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