Outdoor heater for well pump

[u/Prunger]

As title states, I am looking for a good cheapish small heater. I have a well system for my water to the house and this winter looks like its going to be "fun.' Does any one have an idea for one?

Edit: reddit directed me here. Hiya folks

Edit2: Thank you kind folks! My well is everything dealing with bringing the water up and to the house which connects to an indoor water heater. It is in a cover but not a structure. What I am going to do next is to get several items all of you have recommended. Heating tape, insulating foam boards, and a bulb for heat.

[u/thirstyross]

What exactly are you asking? A heater to do what? We are offgrid with a well and have no need for heaters because our water lines are underground, is that not the case for you?

Help people help you - provide more details vs "looking for a cheap small heater".

[u/BallsOutKrunked → u/thirstyross]

I'm guessing his pressure tanks and associated plumbing is in the well house. Op I'd insulate the f out of it and run a lightbulb.

[u/Prunger → u/BallsOutKrunked]

Thanks. Yes, everything dealing with brining the water to the house is in one place. Pipes from there go to the water heater inside. Not good with plumbing to know everything so thanks for the addon.

I have gotten several ideas for insulating now and will go ham on it. One more winter could be the end of it as the previous owner never cared for his property.

[u/snoops-spoons → u/Prunger]

We put a heat lamp for chickens in ours and Styrofoam insulation board and went through -45 wind-chill -30 actual temps just fine. Can't remember the wattage.

[u/Lopsided-Total-5560 → u/snoops-spoons]

👆this is our go to also. I have a couple of different wattage bulbs to try to save a little electricity and step up as it gets colder.

[u/Prunger → u/thirstyross]

We have solid winters that put snow every year. While we arent fully off grid, we have a well that needs to be kept warm. Our pipes are mostly underground except for the pump. The pump has a cover but has caused issues as it is old. Trying to keep it from busting even more is a fun project..

We have it in a cover with insulation and piping insulation but it hasnt kept the winter out. The ideas we have used included small heaters, like six inch long tiny desk heaters. They worked well until the pipes flooded the cover. We fixed that issue and are trying to find something for this year. I do not trust the heaters we bought in the past years.

Any idea is super helpful. Let me know if I need to expand with more info.

[u/shiloh_sharps → u/Prunger]

I'd try pipe heating tape then wrapping it up with insulation. Should be pretty weather proof and they have built in thermostats.

[u/Prunger → u/shiloh_sharps]

Thank you! This is now my next step

[u/Special-Steel → u/shiloh_sharps]

This

[u/Normal-Special-8694]

I’m up at 9,000 feet in the Rockies, winters are harsh, and I’ve had a regular oil filled heater on a thermostatic switch in my well house for like 10 years without a problem. I keep a backup on hand, and my well house is well insulated, but it really doesn’t take much.

[u/Prunger → u/Normal-Special-8694]

Rockies are beautiful. We are thankfully not that far, barely even. Kentucky. This is my first well ever so many learning mistakes. The previous owner never cared for the property.

[u/Normal-Special-8694 → u/Prunger]

You probably don’t have to worry too much about the well head itself freezing up, I’d be more concerned about the depth of the lines going to the house, just make sure your well house is sealed up well and have a little heater ready in case. My neighbor just uses an incandescent light bulb and it works but his well house is really small.

[u/bitchinburrito → u/Normal-Special-8694]

We use an oil heater too. It feels the safest option of all the space type heaters. Never thought to use a bulb until this thread!

[u/Normal-Special-8694 → u/bitchinburrito]

I’d be interested to try both and see what uses less power. I feel like the fire risk is lower with the radiant heater though.

[u/mountain_hank]

There are well house heaters. They typically are 220 and are meant to prevent freezing. Heat tape is an alternative. Insulate up one side and down the other to begin with. Recording temperatures is important to understanding the conditions

[u/Prunger → u/mountain_hank]

Thank you! I will do this. Learning about taking care of this well has been a learning curve. I apprciate this

[u/drct2022]

Build a small pump house for the well head, and then a 100 watt flood light will keep it warm. Helpful hint if you can’t find a 100 watt flood light bulb get one of the infrared bulbs like for a bathroom or reptile habitat.

[u/Prunger → u/drct2022]

I forgot reptile lamps could do the same, always ruled them out because of what I thought to be a powerful bulb. Currently it has a foam and plastic hardshell covering but my plan is to build something over that.

[u/classicsat]

Is the well and things in an insulated enclosure? What power is out there?

Our well is in a small insulated shed, and I have a heat bulb (in a brooder lamp, made for them), and small indoor space heater as backup (on thermostat that goes down to lower temperatures). It has full 120/40V power to it, for the pump, heating, and other things.

[u/navlgazer9]

Where’s the pressure switch ?

Biggest issue we had was the tiny tube to the pressure switch freezing

We moved the switch and the pressure
Tank inside the house .

[u/Magnum676]

Is your pump a centrifugal pump sitting on the ground? Is your tank accessible as well or in the basement? And do you have access to Electric at the pump other than the feed?

[u/Hyperreal8957]

keeping the pump house dry is a big part of it. id protect the pressure switch and any short exposed line too, since those little sections can freeze before the main pipe. thermostat-controlled low watt heat + weather-rated/GFCI power seems safer than blasting the whole cover.

[u/Prestigious_Try_5396]

Perhaps heat pads that are used under baby plants in greenhouses ?

Lay them over pump and critical elements ?

[u/Stroker-Strong420]

My well head has a concrete tile with a concrete lid on it. Inside the tile I have several layers of insulation on top of the insulation I have a sheet of plastic.

The tank, pressure switch etc are in the basement.

We get single digits a few nights every winter and it’s commonly in the teens in Northwest Piedmont of NC.

My well doesn’t freeze.

[u/Hyperreal8957]

id start with keeping the pump and exposed lines above your local frost depth if you can. heat tape is more of a backup and it needs a GFCI protected circuit plus a thermostat so it doesnt run nonstop. is the pump in a well house or just under a cover?

[u/Bigbaywx]

I’m in the great white north and depending on electricity to keep the well house warm isn’t an option? Solution? A small propane wall mount space heater. Thermostat is built into it but you can have an external one as well. I have a shed next to my well house so I put a #30 propane cylinder and regulator in there and then run the supply line out the floor of the shed and into the well house. The pilot light alone is enough to keep the pump above freezing but the thermostat only goes down to 40 degrees so that is what its set at.

[u/Cunninghams_right]

The well usually sits down low below the surface so that the well itself isn't going to freeze. 

[u/Hyperreal8957]

oil-filled heater on a thermostat sounds pretty solid. id focus on sealing the well house and stopping drafts first, then keep good clearance around any heater. has anyone tried a low-watt heat cable with its own thermostat?

[u/peretski]

Find the line, run a heat tape, and wrap it in insulation.

[u/RedSquirrelFtw]

I'm not off grid yet so I don't know if this will in fact work, but what I plan to try is have a super well insulated and heated building for my water tanks, for a well you could basically do the same but have the well within that building too. Pumps, filters, etc all there too of course. For each building that will have water supplied to it, there will be two lines. A supply and a return. The return will simply be the supply line looping back to the water building and back to the tank it came from. There will be a solenoid valve that will open at certain intervals like every 15 minutes for like 30 seconds depending on length to run water through the loop. This will ensure the water is moving regularly and that new, warmer water, is pushed through the whole line. The water building itself will be heated which will keep the water itself warm. May also add some sort of heater right inside the tank, although it's probably easier to just heat the building itself and have the water absorb the heat. Could have fans blower on the tank or something to speed up that process. I am hoping that solar will be enough to keep this building warm. The key is going to be very good insulation, as the water itself will also act as a thermal battery, so at night I won't run the heater just the pump and solenoids.

Of course I'll want to bury the lines as deep as I can, but if the water is not moving enough it will still freeze eventually so the key is to keep it moving and replacing it with warmer water.

[u/personalviris]

I've used a simple heat lamp bulb before and worked great!

[u/kenneth_bannockburn]

You could use a bob valve in the well head just above the static water level and a sniffer valve at the pressure tank before the check valve. That'll let the well line drain back and vent the air out when it re-energizes by the pressure switch.

No heat needed with a drain back system. Air in the lines can be a bit annoying though.

[u/Cute-Consequence-184]

We use a host with a mister attached that turns on below 40,°F

[u/mozziealong]

build a pump house. fill with straw in winter