Piping Insulation

Daniel Silver

Hello, I recently had a new oil boiler installed. The old boiler was 75 years old, and was converted from steam to hot water a while ago. There are big cast iron main pipes in the basement from the old steam system that now have hot water flowing through them. To make way for the new boiler, the asbestos was removed from several linear feet of the cast iron main pipes. When the new boiler was installed, probably 10 more linear feet of copper piping was added of various widths, to make connections to the cast iron mains and to DHW supply. There is also cast iron piping coming out of the boiler header. My question is, the heating contractor did not insulate any of the piping I just described. Should I insulate these pipes? Will I get better efficiency if I do it, and what kind of insulation should I use? Thanks.

Thad English

not a pro but....

I think you should insulate those pipes. Why heat your basement when you could be heating your living space? Use fiberglass pipe insulation: it is rigid and is slit down one side to make for easy installation. Fiberglass covered with a white foil paper cover. Make sure you get the appropriate diameter for the different pipes.
Good luck,

Thad

Dan_15

Pipe Insulation

Is fiberglass any better than polyethylene foam?

Thad English

h20

For your application, I don't know which would be a better product. I have steam heat in my house, and the high temps (over 210 degrees) melt/shrink the foam, so I went with 1.5" thick fiberglass on the mains. Since you have hot water heat, you may be able to get away with the foam since it operates between 140 and 180 degrees. I'd go with the fiberglass since I know that it will work with any temp and I'd only want to the job once.

Dan_15

Makes sense

Thanks.