Pipe Insulation Advice

Wellness

I'm in the process of insulating my boiler install and am looking for some guidance on how to cope with the transitions between copper pipe and circulators, mainly, and, secondly, how to make unions and shutoff valves easily accessible without having to destroy the insulation job, if the fittings later have to be accessed. I am using fiberglass with PVC fitting covers. (By the way, saw cutting fiberglass to fit 90° and 45° copper elbows, seems a lot quicker, neater and less expensive than using the recommended fiberglass diapers on copper fittings.)

Ideally, I would like to extend the circulator pump insulation cover past the flanges and butt the fiberglass insulatin up against it. That way, the hard shell pump cover could be easily removed for service and there would be a continuous insulation membrane. Does anybody sell, or has anybody custom made, an extended pump mold?

dopey27177

Firstly if you do not have a spec for your home that requires a hospital operating room look save your money don' cover the pump, elbows or unions.

Your main heat loss is from the pipe, that,s the important stuff to insulate.

If the piping and fittings are in are in areas where kids could get burnt that is another story.

Jake

EdTheHeaterMan

@Wellness

The Law of Diminishing Returns =

Insulate 80% of the system with 1" insulation might cost $ and save $$$$

Insulate 100% of the same system with 2" insulation for $$$$ more and save an additional $.

@dopey27177 ain't so dopey with his comment... How are Sleepy, Sneezy, and Doc these days?

SteamCrazy

Good way to look at it... I'm in the insulation stage now my self..

Wellness

@dopey27177. This isn't really a cost-effective exercise I'm engaged in. I'm thinking more about safety and the comfort of my small boiler room which can get really toasty in the late winter, and I figure a hundred dollars or so of insulation materials is worth the effort. Plus, the Grundfos circulators that I have come with the pump insulation covers. so I'm not sure what extra cost would be incurred other than the fiberglass insulation, which I already have. I'm just looking for an inexpensive way to bridge the 2 inch gap between the pump covers, flanges and the fiberglass pipe insulation. As for the unions, I did find a few that have PVC union covers but they are pricey, so I may skip that unless I find them cheaper on eBay somewhere. But thanks for the input.

hvacfreak2

You can transition between pipe sizes by using a larger diameter that encompasses the outer diameter of an adjacent insulated coupled component ( go around the insulation next to it ). The raw edge can be coated with mastic to be permanent or many other means to be removable. It would be best to visit some professional insulated applications ( live actually ). Need to have a ride along program with insulators , lol.