Insulating Monoflo Supply Line

Neil_5

I have 21 feet of copper line starting from the boiler that is located in the basement that is exposed. The basement room is not insulated and when the outside is 40, the the pipe location is approx. 68. Is there any benefit(s) to insulating that expose supply line from the boiler to where it goes into the wall 21 feet later?

Neil

Uni R

> I have 21 feet of copper line starting from the

> boiler that is located in the basement that is

> exposed. The basement room is not insulated and

> when the outside is 40, the the pipe location is

> approx. 68. Is there any benefit(s) to

> insulating that expose supply line from the

> boiler to where it goes into the wall 21 feet

> later?

>

> Neil

Uni R

Insulating Monoflo Supply Line

Yes, an uninsulated basement doesn't need to be this warm. You are losing energy into the ground and if part of it is above ground then there too only more rapidly. You would also get slightly better response. The heatloss from 21' of copper isn't huge (unless maybe it is 3" diameter and you are running at 195°) but every bit helps. The one downside would be that if it were to get very cold in the basement you might feel it on your feet through the floor. I'm sure there would be enough heat down there for you not to worry about foundations freezing. Is the floor insulated?

Neil_5

The basement is divided into two, one small section is the boiler/laundry room which is not insualted, I just have some small pcs of carpet on the floor. The other section which is 2/3 of the basement is finished WITHOUT wall and ceiling insulation and have a 12-15 feet baseboard heater. I recently purchase the house and plans are to rebuild the basement with insulation, but not for the next 12-14 mths or so.

I was thinking that insulating that one inch copper line would save on the heat loss. Since there is a second zone for the basement I can heat that up when needed. The larger part of the basement has carpet.

Neil

Uni R

Insulating the basement...

I'd just leave it if it is just for one winter. By floor, I actually meant the floor above the basement. Good luck on figuring out the best way to insulate the basement. Best practices change the recommended approach about every 5 years it seems. Currently, I'd do good quality styrofoam against the outside surface (maybe 1") with the seams all joined and then do a stud wall with treated for the plates and use rock wool insulation. The styrofoam would function as the vapor barrier. Pay careful attention to insulating the sillplates.

Neil_5

No Insulation

On the above floor, will do so when rebuilding the basement.

Thanks for you input,
Neil

Neil_5

Temp Drop

I should alsa add that on the 21 feet exposed supply line, with no convectors on 18 of the 21 feet, I measured a 15-20 deg difference from the starting end to the end where the pipe enters the wall. Would insualting reduce this #?

Neil

Uni R

Temp Drop

If you have that kind of drop on one section of pipe without any monoflo tees branhing off, then insulating would help.