does static or moving water freeze quicker

artona

artona

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stewart
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We have a pipe that freezes. 6.45am this morning saw me hanging out of the bathroom window with a heater to get it flowing again. I am going to clad it more but I wondered ..

if I leave a tap running a little overnight would this assist it to not freeze

any thoughts

stew
 
I know hot water freezes quicker than cold water because once the process starts it gathers momentum faster.. dunno about running v still but i always wanted to share that bit of otherwise useless info... and I just did :)
 
I think it would yes. The water coming into the pipe is above freezing, it's only when it sits in the below freezing pipe that it turns to ice.

Edit: that's the mpemba effect kipax, very interesting.
 
Last edited:
artona said:
We have a pipe that freezes. 6.45am this morning saw me hanging out of the bathroom window with a heater to get it flowing again. I am going to clad it more but I wondered ..

if I leave a tap running a little overnight would this assist it to not freeze

any thoughts

stew
Click to expand...

I grew up in a house where a tap had to be left running to help stop the water freezing.
Notice I said "help". It gives a little more protection.
Pile the lagging on and box it in if you can.
 
many thanks for the advice guys. Off to do some heavy lagging

stew
 
Why is it freezing?

Sounds a stupid question but if it is a waste pipe there should not be any water laying in the pipe. Any horizontal, or uphill, run will allow waste water to collect and can allow freezing, so make sure the pipe slopes down all the way.
 
You can get something called 'Trace Element Heaters' to fit in the pipe lagging wired to to a frost stat that prevents pipes from freezing.
 
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