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cold water supply lines in hot attic randyn 06-18-2007
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Posted by randyn on June 18, 2007, 9:55 pm
A few months ago, I had a slab leak in the cold water supply to my
kitchen sink. The plumber rerouted the line through the attic using
PEX, insulated with a black foam sleeve/wrapper.

Now that summer is near, I am finding that, in the afternoon (if the
sun is out and the outdoor temperature is in the 80s or above), the
cold water from my kitchen sink tap is warm-to-hot for 30 seconds or
more before it cools down. The kitchen tap is on the other side of the
house from the cold water manifold, so it is a long run of pipe. I
measured the temperature at the tap with a kitchen thermometer today--
it was 130 deg F for 10 seconds or so, which seems really out of line.
I haven't seen this problem mentioned in other postings to this group
concerning attic routing of water supply lines.

Is this normal for attic-routed cold water supply lines in a hot
climate? I have a hard time believing that the water could pick up so
much heat. My attic has passive ventilation, with no soffit vents.
Would improving attic ventilation result in a big improvement? Or is
the plumbing work defective somehow?

Thanks


Posted by William Underhill on June 18, 2007, 10:17 pm
randyn wrote:
> A few months ago, I had a slab leak in the cold water supply to my
> kitchen sink. The plumber rerouted the line through the attic using
> PEX, insulated with a black foam sleeve/wrapper.
>
> Now that summer is near, I am finding that, in the afternoon (if the
> sun is out and the outdoor temperature is in the 80s or above), the
> cold water from my kitchen sink tap is warm-to-hot for 30 seconds or
> more before it cools down. The kitchen tap is on the other side of the
> house from the cold water manifold, so it is a long run of pipe. I
> measured the temperature at the tap with a kitchen thermometer today--
> it was 130 deg F for 10 seconds or so, which seems really out of line.
> I haven't seen this problem mentioned in other postings to this group
> concerning attic routing of water supply lines.
>
> Is this normal for attic-routed cold water supply lines in a hot
> climate? I have a hard time believing that the water could pick up so
> much heat. My attic has passive ventilation, with no soffit vents.
> Would improving attic ventilation result in a big improvement? Or is
> the plumbing work defective somehow?
>
> Thanks
>

Hm - I'd say the black foam is absorbing ambient heat in the attic. You
say it's a warm climate; is the attic air temp warm to very warm during
the day? If so, you may have to consider active ventilation and/or
insulation.

Yours aye,
W. Underhill

--
"Take sides! Always take sides! You may sometimes be wrong - but the man
who refuses to take sides must *always* be wrong! Heaven save us from
poltroons who fear to make a choice!" R.A. Heinlein, "Double Star"

Posted by randyn on June 18, 2007, 10:31 pm
> randyn wrote:
> > A few months ago, I had a slab leak in the cold water supply to my
> > kitchen sink. The plumber rerouted the line through the attic using
> > PEX, insulated with a black foam sleeve/wrapper.
>
> > Now that summer is near, I am finding that, in the afternoon (if the
> > sun is out and the outdoor temperature is in the 80s or above), the
> > cold water from my kitchen sink tap is warm-to-hot for 30 seconds or
> > more before it cools down. The kitchen tap is on the other side of the
> > house from the cold water manifold, so it is a long run of pipe. I
> > measured the temperature at the tap with a kitchen thermometer today--
> > it was 130 deg F for 10 seconds or so, which seems really out of line.
> > I haven't seen this problem mentioned in other postings to this group
> > concerning attic routing of water supply lines.
>
> > Is this normal for attic-routed cold water supply lines in a hot
> > climate? I have a hard time believing that the water could pick up so
> > much heat. My attic has passive ventilation, with no soffit vents.
> > Would improving attic ventilation result in a big improvement? Or is
> > the plumbing work defective somehow?
>
> > Thanks
>
> Hm - I'd say the black foam is absorbing ambient heat in the attic. You
> say it's a warm climate; is the attic air temp warm to very warm during
> the day? If so, you may have to consider active ventilation and/or
> insulation.
>
> Yours aye,
> W. Underhill

I should have mentioned earlier that I'm in Lubbock, Texas, where
today the temp peaked at 99.6, with a cloudless sky. The attic is
quite hot on days like this, though I haven't measured the attic
temperature. And it isn't even summer yet!

thanks,
Randy Norwood



Posted by Meat Plow on June 18, 2007, 10:29 pm
On Mon, 18 Jun 2007 18:55:32 -0700, randyn wrote:

> A few months ago, I had a slab leak in the cold water supply to my
> kitchen sink. The plumber rerouted the line through the attic using
> PEX, insulated with a black foam sleeve/wrapper.
>
> Now that summer is near, I am finding that, in the afternoon (if the
> sun is out and the outdoor temperature is in the 80s or above), the
> cold water from my kitchen sink tap is warm-to-hot for 30 seconds or
> more before it cools down. The kitchen tap is on the other side of the
> house from the cold water manifold, so it is a long run of pipe. I
> measured the temperature at the tap with a kitchen thermometer today--
> it was 130 deg F for 10 seconds or so, which seems really out of line.
> I haven't seen this problem mentioned in other postings to this group
> concerning attic routing of water supply lines.
>
> Is this normal for attic-routed cold water supply lines in a hot
> climate? I have a hard time believing that the water could pick up so
> much heat. My attic has passive ventilation, with no soffit vents.
> Would improving attic ventilation result in a big improvement? Or is
> the plumbing work defective somehow?
>
> Thanks

Yes normal


Posted by Edwin Pawlowski on June 18, 2007, 10:57 pm

The kitchen tap is on the other side of the
> house from the cold water manifold, so it is a long run of pipe. I
> measured the temperature at the tap with a kitchen thermometer today--
> it was 130 deg F for 10 seconds or so, which seems really out of line.
> I haven't seen this problem mentioned in other postings to this group
> concerning attic routing of water supply lines.
>
> Is this normal for attic-routed cold water supply lines in a hot
> climate? I have a hard time believing that the water could pick up so
> much heat. My attic has passive ventilation, with no soffit vents.
> Would improving attic ventilation result in a big improvement? Or is
> the plumbing work defective somehow?
>
> Thanks
>

Very normal. Measure the temperature in your attic and you may be surprised
at how hot it is when the sun is beating on it.

We have a similar situation at work where the water lines pass through the
ceiling of the boiler room. The water in the office water heater actually
cools off sitting in there in the summer when the boiler room temperature is
high. Now that you see how hot it is up there, consider some venting to
save on AC costs.



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