Tubular heaters to prevent freezing water pipe in garage

Hi there,

I have a cold water pipe running out to my unheated garage, it's plumbed into a washing machine. The 15mm plastic pipe is insulated with 25mm climaflex pipe wrap. there is a 2m length outside, then 6m inside the single block garage. Despite the insulation, the water has frozen during the current cold weather.

To prevent this from happening again, I'm thinking about installing tubular heaters along the garage wall, just below the water pipe. A couple of questions... Can I lay the insulated pipe directly on top of the tubular heaters (cable tied to it) or should I leave a gap?

Tubular heaters come in various lengths? Do I need them for the entire 6m length i.e. 3 x 6' heaters, or can I use shorter heaters and leave gaps along the pipework?

Finally, any suggestions for improving the insulation along the 2m section outside? It's sandwiched within 2 lap fence panels so I was thinking about boxing it in with 25mm thick polystyrene. To be honest, I thought it would have been insulated enough but it has been uncharacteristically cold this past week. With that in mind, I want to avoid it freezing up again.

Your advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

AD

there's an item you can buy that stops a condensate pipe from freezing, don't see why it won't work for this application, a lot cheaper to buy,run, and fit.

Google 'trace heater'. It is a heating element which can be installed along the length of the pipe run to stave off freezing. http://www.abgo.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=41&Itemid=2 is one picked at random.

No amount of insulation alone will prevent freezing - it only delays it.

It is normal practise to bury water pipes about 750mm below ground, a depth where frost is unlikely to penetrate.

A small tubular heater behind and below the machine may help stop the machine itself from freezing.

Just to follow up on this, I opted for the trace heating solution. The temperature has been down to zero a couple of times since and I have been able to feel that the heat tape has warmed the pipe up. So far, so good. I also fitted a 45watt tubular heater behind the washing machine. I'm not sure how effective this is going to be against the extreme cold - we got down to -18 degrees C before Christmas - but it's better than leaving it to hope that the machine won't freeze.

Thanks for your advice.

I've got the same problem (considering installing a washing machine inside an unheated garage). I was wondering weather it would be a good idea to put the washing machine in a cupboard insulated with 2" of Kingspan and a small low wattage heater with a thermostat control set just above freezing.