Heat Tape

[rebecca]

Hi

I just bought my first mobile home (incidently, my first home), in a very cold part of Colorado. The previous owners told me that the house was basically winterized and all I needed to was plug in the heating tape. I did that in mid October. Last night my pipes froze, and it wasn't that cold, just below 0 degrees. I was told to prepare for nights that will be below 30-below. My questions is this: how do I know that the heating tape is working properly?
Also, do I have to keep my house at a minimum temperature all the time. I turn the heat down to about 60 at night and during the day when I am not home. The warmest I turn it up is about 68, but only for a few hours a day.

Thank you for the advice.

Rebecca

[Mac]

That all sounds fine. Heat tapes don't last forever - with the tape plugged in, you should be able to feel warmth coming from it. If you don't feel that, you may need to replace it. They aren't tremendously expensive, and fairly easy to install.

[rmurray]

Mac is right...new tapes are inexpensive and easy to install....How folks see things differently...

you said "and it wasn't that cold, just below 0 degrees"....WOW sure is cold to most of us...enough to keep me from ever living in your area..

[David Oxhandler]

You can find a good article - How To Install Heat Tape at My Great House .com

[Sharon]

We are retailers in Wisconsin and yes, it gets colder than that here--the first thing I would ask you to check is your GFIC breaker-is it working? Frequently, homeowners 'flip' the breaker(like in a bathroom or kitchen) and forget to reset it--and sometimes the heat tape is plugged(under the home) into the same circuit--so it might not be that you need a new heat tape--it just might be that you tripped the GFIC and didn't reset it. The newer homes that we sell have separate circuits for the GFIC-not all wired together. You don't say what year your home it-the older homes had several GFIC receptacles on one breaker. One other thing you don't address is what condition your belly board is in--are there tears in it? were there cuts where repairs were made to the water lines? I would ask if the insulation is covering the water lines--if you have cuts and insulation hanging,etc. you may have too much cold air entering the belly.Use some Flex-Mend to repair the belly board. The third thing I wonder about is--do you have skirting on the home? If not-place some OSB/plywood or even bales of hay or straw around the home until you can install new skirting--that is a must in our part of the world where we have up to 100 inches or more of snow. And yes, heat tape MUST be wrapped around the ENTIRE water line--no gaps and must be wrapped with insulation wrapped with a vinyl or plastic to insure that your water line will not get wet. If it gets wet, the heat tape connector can short out......a lot for you to check.... SOON!! Winter is here !Oh-to check a heat tape--when you get up in the morning--and before you turn up the thermostat-turn on the cold water faucet-it should run warm for awhile before turning cold--that is an indicator that the heat tape is working.

[Aliza Bolton]

What is the best way to repair a paperboard bellyboard.
Holes/tears were made in the bellyboard from doing a bathroom floor replacement.
I have some vinyl to replace it, but should I tape the paper belly first and
put the vinyl in.....or, should I tear out the paper bellyboard before installing
the vinyl belly?

This is an old 1973 Mobile home which has old an dusty paperboard belly.
I have not found any tape to permanently adhere to it to repair it.

Any advice would be appreciated. I cannot reinstall the floor or bathroom
fixtures until the belly board is fixed.