My uncle swore by putting a space heater in the crawlspace to prevent frozen pipes. Tried it last winter in Calgary.

He said just aim it at the main pipe and leave it on low all winter. First big cold snap hit -35 and sure enough my pipes didnt freeze but my electric bill was $470 for that month alone. The heater ran basically nonstop for 3 weeks. Now Im wondering if there's a better way cause that saved maybe $200 in plumbing repairs but cost way more in power. Anyone else try something that sorta worked but not really?

2 comments

2 Comments

sage_park628d ago

I had a customer in Lethbridge who tried the same thing with a oil-filled radiator style heater. He ran it for one season and the heating element burned out after about 60 days of constant use. Ended up costing him $150 for the heater plus the electric bill. He switched to using heat tape with a thermostat wrap on just the exposed pipe section near the foundation wall. Said it cost about $8 a month to run and kept that one spot warm enough to prevent freezing. The trick is finding the exact spot where the cold comes through, not heating the whole crawlspace.

the_morgan28d ago

I had a buddy out in Calgary who tried the space heater route for his crawlspace too. He bought one of those fancy ceramic ones thinking it would be more durable, but after two months the fan started making this grinding noise and it just died on him. He was so mad about wasting the money, especially because his electric bill went up like $60 that month for nothing. He ended up following a tip from an old timer and just wrapped the pipes near the cold air vent with some cheap insulation and heat tape. Said the whole thing cost him $20 and now he just checks it once a winter to make sure it's still working. That targeted approach is way smarter than trying to heat the whole damn space.