what is the chance of pipes bursting if house is heated and occupied

J

johnd

Registered User
Messages
149
Recently read advice from an insurance company that to prevent pipes bursting the central heating should be kept on all night. Is this really necessary? Our house is heated up to 10.30 at night and starts again at 06.30 in the morning and is occupied all winter. What are the changes of pipes bursting in such a situation?

Any advice appreciated
 
I am monitoring my loft, and the temperature last night was zero deg, even though we have a fire and oil boiler on all day. this is a modern semi. The heat from the central heating should not be getting into the loft so there is no point in leaving it on all night. If you insulate the ceiling and have the loft vented to preven condensation it will get cold. If you insulate the tanks and locate above the hot press they should not get cold enough to freeze.
.
 
Unoccupied house - what is the chance of pipes bursting with no heating on?

Hi all,

I am sale agreed on a house and just waiting to close. Contract signed but money not drawn down yet.

I'm worried that because the house is empty that the pipes could burst. Could this happen? and if so what can I do? The current owner lives down the country.
 
Depends on the setup of the house, but if the house hasn't been set up for freezing weather - water off and drained, for example - then of course it could.

Get onto the owner and find out, and get them up the country to fix it if needs be.
 
You are very right to be worried. Do not close unless you inspect the house beforehand. I would contact the owner and ask them to put on some heat to protect the house. Very negligent of a vendor to leave a house with no heat in this weather. Maybe it was an oversight. As previous poster says if the water is drained/cut off that's a different matter. A friendly phone call to the owner should sort it out. Be very careful you have your house insurance in place from day of closing/ownership.
 
johnd said:
Recently read advice from an insurance company that to prevent pipes bursting the central heating should be kept on all night. Is this really necessary? Our house is heated up to 10.30 at night and starts again at 06.30 in the morning and is occupied all winter. What are the changes of pipes bursting in such a situation?

Any advice appreciated
Click to expand...

Insurance companies are protecting themselves. But you also must protect your house. Who's to say in a particular house whether the night time temperature will go low enough for pipes to burst. It can happen.
 
My Dad advised me to leave the attic hatch open about 10cm so heat from the house would rise into the attic and stop the temperature up there dropping low enough to freeze the pipes. The attic insulation is on the floor of the attic, so unless the hatch is ajar heat from the house wouldn't penetrate into the roof cavity where the pipes are. My house is very well insulatedso I only have the heat on for about 4 hours in the evenings and so far no frozen pipes. Touch wood!
 
dubgem said:
My Dad advised me to leave the attic hatch open about 10cm so heat from the house would rise into the attic and stop the temperature up there dropping low enough to freeze the pipes. The attic insulation is on the floor of the attic, so unless the hatch is ajar heat from the house wouldn't penetrate into the roof cavity where the pipes are. My house is very well insulatedso I only have the heat on for about 4 hours in the evenings and so far no frozen pipes. Touch wood!
Click to expand...

Insulated my attic over the summer and all my pipes bar 3 feet going into the tank were under the insulation. First night of the frost and that pipe froze and I had to unfreeze it with a hair dryer and then put some pipe insulation on it. We'd never had that issue until we insulated the attic, even last year when it was colder. Probably suggests the insulation is doing it's job.
 
Very little point in opening the hatch to the attic to allow heat in if the house isn't actually heated, as is clearly stated in the first post.

BTW OP, I should have mentioned, I'm speaking from experience here. I bought a house in July but I was supposed to buy 3 doors down. We declined that house when the attic ended up in the kitchen in January, despite our offer to go to the house ourselves and set a tap running. Liquidators are morons.

adam
 
Unoccupied house - what is the chance of pipes bursting with no heating on?

Hi all,

Appreciate all the replies, will get in touch with the vendor.

Thanks :)
 
If you leave the hatch open, all the warm air will condense in the loft, a lot of people last year including myself had the attic dripping with condension. Far better to put a heater up there, but this does contradict the fact that we are insulating to save energy.
 
roker said:
If you leave the hatch open, all the warm air will condense in the loft, a lot of people last year including myself had the attic dripping with condension. Far better to put a heater up there, but this does contradict the fact that we are insulating to save energy.
Click to expand...

What type of heater could you use?

Maybe something like a fan heater on a timer?
 
dahamsta said:
Very little point in opening the hatch to the attic to allow heat in if the house isn't actually heated, as is clearly stated in the first post.
Click to expand...

Actually the first post is about leaving the heating on all night as opposed to on in the evening and then again in the morning, so clearly house is heated.

roker said:
If you leave the hatch open, all the warm air will condense in the loft, a lot of people last year including myself had the attic dripping with condension. Far better to put a heater up there, but this does contradict the fact that we are insulating to save energy.
Click to expand...

I may be missing something, but wouldn't a heater in an attic full of damp outside air and with a water tank also cause condensation? I was going to put a lamp with an old tungsten bulb ("they waste up to 80% of their energy as heat!") up there but was concerned in case it might be a fire risk (being electrical and out of sight if anything happened).
 
dubgem said:
Actually the first post is about leaving the heating on all night as opposed to on in the evening and then again in the morning, so clearly house is heated.
Click to expand...

I was replying to post #3. That was the first post in another thread, someone merged them without posting about it.
 
You can buy a special light bulb for the attic which will switch on when the temperature goes below a certain level eg 7 degrees. This will generate just enough heat to prevent pipes freezing in the attic.
 
Bogle; I would suggest an oil filled heat, because it is out site and there is no hot elements, its also silent, a light bulb is like a drop in the ocean.

Dubgem; hot air absorbes heat and contains more moisture than cold air (its measure as RH Relative Humidity) the air in the house absorbes moisture from washing, cooking, breathing, drying clothes etc. so when it is cooled the air gives up its moisture as condensation. The cold air from ouside contains less moisture because it has not absorbed as much, if the attic is vented this is what is in the attic, heating it will make it dryer (RH Measurement)

Note: A gas cooker is bad for condensation because the act of combustion (gas Burning) generates moisture as well as cooking.
 
Surely the best thing to do from a personal cost and convenience point of view would be to leave a cold tap running at a trickle in the bathroom/en-suite/toilet so at least the water is moving in both the inlet and outlet pipes of the tank in the loft.

I know this isn't best from a water conservation point of view but at least it will stop pipes freezing and bursting in this current cold snap leaving you free to inspect and remediate at your leisure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top