Insulating the water pipes that run through your basement or other unheated areas of your house is an easy way to save money on utilities. You can get the materials you need at a home improvement or hardware stores, and the job takes very little time. If you insulate your hot water pipes you will lose less of the heat into your basement. You paid money to heat the water, so you want to keep it warm as it runs or sits in the pipes.
You may also wish to insulate the cold water pipes. You may have noticed that these pipes tend to drip in the warm weather. That’s because the moisture in the air condenses on the pipes and then may drip onto the basement floor. Insulation will keep the moist air away from the cold pipes with the result that you won’t have the condensation and dripping.
The easiest kind of pipe insulation to use are the tubes of foam material that easily slip onto the pipes and can be cut with scissors to fit if necessary. They come in sizes according to the size of pipe you have and you might get six such tubes in a package. It is quick and easy to put on this tube insulation.
Another way to insulate the pipes is to get regular batt insulation, wrap it around the pipes and secure it all with duct tape. It’s not so nice and neat, and requires more effort on your part, but might be a way to use up some surplus batt insulation. This method can also be used in situations where the tube insulation won’t work such as short lengths of pipe with lots of angles.
Insulating your water pipes won’t result in big, immediate savings, but will pay for itself over time. It will also make your hot water available quicker at the tap, and will eliminate the dripping pipes in the summer.
Check out this website from the U.S. Department of Energy for further information:
http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/water_heating/index.cfm/mytopic=13060