Heat Tape

Heat Tape is a device that is used to warm up water lines and sewage lines so that they do not freeze during the winter.

The name "Heat Tape" is a misleading term, as it is not really tape, but rather a cord.

I feel the need to stress this fact, as many new home owners do not understand the term, nor do they understand why they may need it.

Description

This is the shitty kind. Don't buy it.

This is the good stuff that lasts a long time. But it is harder to install, and may need a Pro.

Heat tape is an electrical cord that can be sheathed in black plastic, orange plastic, or a steel mesh. There are older forms of heat tape that are blue or yellow, but if you run into that stuff, chances are it isn't working.

Additionally, heat tape has a 3 pronged plug so that it can be connected to the home's electrical system, usually at a GFCI plug. On the other end of the plug is usually a cap that is glued into place when the heat tape is installed.

It must be noted that there are certain types of heat tape that have a sensor which will regulate the heat that the installed heat tape produces depending on the outside temperature. Those types of heat tape almost never work.

There are ways around this sort of stupid heat tape, and I may offer a solution to this problem later on in the article.

Heat tape is warm. It should never be hot, and when you touch it, it should give off a dull throbbing feeling. It is important to note that heat tape should never glow like the elements inside a toaster. If your heat tape is doing that, your house is probably on fire.

Heat tape usually hovers around 60 degrees F. It should also maintain that temperature no matter what the conditions the weather may throw at it. Unfortunately, when the world plunges below -20° everything can go wonky and there are no promises that anything will work, including you.

Installation

"Pool Noodle" style insualtion. Use this to cover the Heat Tape.

Modern heat tape should never be wrapped around water lines (like a spiral). It should be held in place on the bottom of a home's water lines with one of several ways of affixing it to the water line. Usually, this is done with black plastic electrician's tape, but other non flammable items can be used.

Once the heat tape is secured to the home's water line, it must be insulated. This can be done with several types of insulation from craft-backed fiberglass to the styrofoam "pool noodle" style insulating tubes.

It is important to keep all sections of the water line and the heat tape covered with unbroken insulation. Failure to do this can result in your water line freezing up.

Heat Tape Failure

Cats, mice, squirrels, chimpmunks, raccoons, and other animals can damage heat tape if it is not protected from them.

Before I get into the physical reasons why heat tape can quit working, I feel I should stress that most of the time it fails due to User Error. Home owners tend to not pay attention to things until become a real problem. When these things do become a problem, it is everybody's fault but their own.

Heat tape, like any other product, can fail for various reasons. Common causes of heat tape failure include improper installation, damage from external factors such as physical impact or exposure to harsh chemicals, and wear and tear over time.

Recently, I was asked why a certain home's water lines froze even with heat tape installed. Upon inspecting the home, it was found that there were several gaps in the water line insulation, holes in the sides of the home that allowed cold air to get under the home, and a large group of feral cats that had made their home under the house.

These factors negate the heat tape's ability to keep the water lines warm, and there are other factors that can do the same thing:

• Faulty GFCI plug under the home.
• Damaged plug prongs.
• Worn, scuffed or otherwise damaged heat tape cord.
• Frayed metal mesh. This mesh is actually the ground for the electrical heat tape.
• Being submerged in ground water.
• Unplugged heat tape. This happens quite often due to the fact that home owners will unplug the tape in the summertime, and forget to plug it back in.

Products

• This is the good stuff, but it is expensive.
• Cheap stuff, but it will do in a pinch. If you must use this product, see below.
• Never heard anything good about this product, but then again, I haven't heard anything bad either.

Frost King Trick

The Frost King brand of heat tape has a sensor located near the plug and a little red light that indicates that the heat tape is on. This sensor will turn the tape on and off depending upon the outside temperature. The problem with this sensor is that most of the time it does not work.

Over the years I have seen several homes freeze while that little red indicator light is glowing bright red. The reason? Because the light only indicates that the tape is plugged in. It does not indicate that the tape is actually providing heat.

To get around this, tape a penny to the top of the sensor. The penny's metal will be colder than the air around it, forcing the sensor to turn the heat tape on. Sounds silly, but I have seen this work over and over again.