How to,protect water pump from freezing.

Interesting question Beryl.

I presume this is your drinking etc water supply.

The best way is to stop the transfer of heat, and much more cooling occurs when a tap/pipe etc is exposed to moving air.

So insulating everything (plastic tap/pipe/hose) even putting a clipon foam cover will usually be enough in Aussie land.
(Makes an amazing difference on tests I did to get a more effect thermos flask)

A better solution if you can do it is to ensure there is no water to freeze.

I.E. often people have a tank with a tap near the base which runs off to another tap which may be exposed.

If the tap at the tank base can be turned off, then the secondary tap is turned on such that the water inbetween is drained off then without water the pipes won't freeze.

The water near the tank won't freeze overnight because it is thermally connected to the much larger body of water (in the tank)

Perhaps your water pump is, or could be closer and hence more thermally connected to the tank.

Could this already be the situation and you don't need to worry ?

Modern home solar water systems use the system pump to cycle every little while so the tank water (in this case the water in the roof heat collectors) is replaced with some from the storage tank. This only happens when the temp is below a set value and the water is likely to freeze in the collectors.
One solution may be to use a "cold" sensing thermostat to run the pump briefly so it doesn't freeze and have the water cycled back to tank.
Jaycar have a kit which can be set to do that. Hot or cold sensing. NTC resistor, like vehicle temp sensors use is the temp detecting method.

Maybe be an option if you can't relocate, insulate or drain the pump etc.

Hi berylvt

We have insulated all our waterlines in our Jayco caravan with 25mm thick ARMAFLEX it is realativley cheap and available from any air conditioning supplier ( heatcraft ) it is designed to insulate flow and return return lines in refrigeration systems, however our pump is mounted inside the van in a cupboard.

Looking forward to reading your Blog about the upcomming trip !!

Peter

Insulating you water pump wont stop it from freezing..it will just slow the process down.

If ya realy dead set want to do the job properly, you need to insulate and heat.

So if ya water pump is inside a compartment, insulate it then include some sort of heating element.

A 20 watt light bulb may just be sufficient..of course you could run it thru some sort of thermostat.

As far as the hoses, insulating those is no biggie, and there are heating cables available.

wrap some of this heating cable around the hose then fit the insulation.

If ya water tank is going to freeze....you have a problem.

The other choice is to bring all this stuff inside the habitable compartment.

cheers

G'Day Berylvt,
I'm working in Antarctica at the moment and we use coolant that can withstand the freezing temperatures. No fancy stuff just the right product. Shop around and find the right solution for the temps you will be experiencing.

Cheers

Steve