Thermostat in the loft

C

Chunkydoc

Put a loft hatch in recently and noticed, by the old one, there is a thermostat in the loft!
It's got power running to it also.

Now, having had a look, it's got a wire coming out of the back that runs to the mains inlet that feeds the water tank. At this point it's got some sort of moulded adaptor and another wire out the back (the white wire). The white wire seems to run along the top of the mains, loop at some point then come back along the 22mm pipe that feeds the power shower.

The cable has burnt out at some point so that the loops resembles a charred mess, thankfully it hasn't burnt the house down though I suspect this was before we moved in. I suspect it's some sort of frost protection but have never seen anything like this before.

My question is can I remove the thermostat?
I've purchased insultation for the pipes themselves and they'll sit underneath the new loft insultation that's going to be replaced.
 
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That will be trace heating for the pipework.

If you isolate the circuit safely you can remove it.

However two things to bear in mind...

1. Trace heating was expensive (got a bit cheaper recently) and it would have been put in for a good reason.

2. Insulation on pipes retains any heat present in the water for a period. But after a period of time, assuming the water is not moving, it will inevitably reach the surrounding air temperature.

If you improve the insulation in the loft, any pipes above it will get colder than before because there will be a more effective thermal break. There will be plenty of people who availed themselves of free loft insulation who will find out the negative effects when we get a spate of very cold weather.
 
Thanks for the reply, greatly appreciated.
I think the cable needs to come out, as I mentioned it's burnt out in the middle and I'm wary of another cold winter and the thermostat kicking in only for the cable to short where it's burnt through and very old and dusty insulation catching fire. Unless I can just replace the cable?

I'd planned on burying the pipes under the new loft insulation. They're far enough out of the way to ensure no one steps on them, and I should be the only person going up there anyhow. In your opinion would they be ok if buried?
 
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Burying them is common, I might be tempted to wizz along the line of them with a can of red spray paint so it's clear where they are - even though there will be a bit of a ridge in the insulation.

I think in the future we'll start to hear more stories of people feeling their way in the attic (ie guessing and feeling for the joists through the insulation) and standing on pipes.
 

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