Water line heat tape mess

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colddonkey
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat May 22, 2010 8:37 pm
Location: Horse Cave, KY

Bought a 1996 Fleetwood this year here in south central Kentucky. Cool weather should start soon so I crawled under the house to see if it has a heat tape. It doesn't. Looks to me that the original water lines (white-ish PVC??) were replaced with red (for hot) and blue (cold) plastic type lines. Why the lines were replaced I have no idea. My issue is when they installed the water lines they just left them hanging under the belly wrap not above it and just used that gray foam insulation tubes. The home had been vacant for a while before I bought it so no idea if the place was ever lived in after the lines were replaced. I talked with a few neighbors and they said they don't use heat tape but I'm thinking they have their lines above the belly wrap not below it. So long story short will the pipe insulation be enough for this area or am I begging for trouble? Would the insulated skirting be a worthy thought?

Jan/Feb are the cold months:
Average: min. max daily avg.
January 24°F 45°F 34°F
February 24°F 46°F 34°F
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Greg
Moderator
Posts: 5696
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:01 pm
Location: Weedsport, NY

I wont say you are begging for problems, but you aren't do much to prevent them either.
You can never have too much insulation. I would use heat tape and insulate the supply line. You need to insulate the belly, weather you use belly insulation or insulated skirting is your choice.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
colddonkey
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat May 22, 2010 8:37 pm
Location: Horse Cave, KY

Well this is what baffles me a bit more is that the belly is insulated but the water lines are between the ground and beneath the belly wrap. The main water line pokes up from the ground to the home and is only about 2 ft long then connects to the home, and why other then ease of installation of the lines did they just leave them exposed. Being originally from western NY, I value insulation and this just makes me nervous as heck. If I can even find an outlet I do plan to at least install heat tape.
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