DIYing a masonry heater in a circa 1880s home

[DIYMasonryHeater25]

There are "rope heaters" you can plug in and wind around the pipes that are exposed to cold. (And heat will conduct to where you can't reach them).
They use a lot less power than electric stand alone heaters because you don't heat the space but just the pipes.

This may be a cheap solution to keep the pipes safe if you go with a wood stove upstairs.

I hadn't heard of those. (I did find the pipe insulation that is kind of like soft styrofoam, uou place it over the pipe and take off the paper(?) over the sticky part to glue the ends together.)

Do those only work on metal pipes? What about PVC, or flexible tubing? (That is how most of our water lines and all of the radiator lines are made of.)

 

[DIYMasonryHeater25]

I Agee , My Old Victorian Never Insulated when We Bought It Either & 400k , Peerless Boiler in Middle of Basement.
( Built like Brick Out House )
But It had 11" Poured Walls by Hand Built Forms with 8 x10" Beams Running those Walls
Steel Supports - Commercial Grade Build - Original Guy was Well to Do . . & New Many Builders
as He was a Surveyor by Trade for Grandfathered Homes in that Area . . 6.5ft Deep with Beams on Top
Floor Joist all - Hand Notched - In . . ( I have been in over 187 Homes ) Never seen anything like this ..

Usually Stayed 40~41F in Cold of Winter - Cold Snaps see 38F also 2" of Solid Wood above that . .Flooring . .
Now just so You may Compare - I'm filling in Blanks Peerless Boiler is about 3.5ft High 2ft x 2ft . . It did Have
.279 Hole in Main Nozzle - Over 1/4" I was - like O-M-G . . so that Got Changed Out to a .129 Inside Dia.
We Insulated Empty Walls will Blown in Pressurized Full 4" & 38 Storm Window with in First 3 yrs ..
Basement Windows all got Up Graded to Full 5/8" Insulated Glass - No E-Coatings back then ..
I Boxed in Boiler with It's Own 12ft x 12ft Room . . Then Ran 3/4" Hard Foam around 2 Walls on Wind Side & Cover Rest & That
with 3/4" Tq & Groove this Took Time about another Yr & 1/2 as We had Time & Money ..
Found Items on Sale !

At that Point Basement stayed at 50F to 52F & Long Deep Cold 46F - Floors in Home Felt so Much Better - this Will Be Result !
Your Get with even Warmer Basement & Floors !

As that Will Be way Warmer then Old Boiler - Gravity Unit - Moving 68 Gallons Up & Down 2 Loops Slowly . .
12ft x 12ft Room would Hold about 55F~60F
as Water Temps on Coldest of Day Gravity Units - Only Run 115-120F If That . .
We had 2-3 weeks where Temps would be in Mid Teens . . 11F ~ 19F

Hope Your OK - Sounds Like Good Projects , Remember what Others Do Not Realize when I say 1 Million BTU's
They Live in a Heated Box Above Basement which is Insulated & Ceiling Insulated also ..
Most Heat Raises , also ( It's When 1 Goes to Heat Basement Loses Begin ) . .

Just Heads Up - to what You May want to Consider - or - Do Before or After Placement , Leave Room . . to do those Items . .

Looking Forward to this Project ..

My Recent Insulation in Basement as this Wall had Nothing !

Only Thermal Broke Upper Near Freeze Zone allowing Lower to Breathe Out & R30 Above that R18 with R15 Lower
Do to Earth Temps - Not Much If any Gain Going Higher in Lower Half . .

Rook Wool as it DOES NOT Ever be Effected by Moisture & Yellow Pine Wall Wanes Panels are Exterior Grade . .

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That's great you can do that in your basement. Ours floods multiple times in the early spring and summer when snow melts and ground water levels rise. It's only an inch or so in the valleys (we have a lot of valleys and high points, so we end up with a series of puddles that we have to push forward to the sump pump.) We took out a wood separating wall and one other piece because the bottoms were rotted away. from the water intrusions. And we had to dispose of a few pieces where the legs to the table or whatever it was were eaten away.

If we insulated the walls, a few inches on the bottom would have to be bare, to make sure the water doesn't damage it. (We have 4 water tanks down there, between the water heater, the heat pump's water heater/cooler, and the 2 tanks for the well water. If any or all of them blew, that would be A LOT of water to deal with.

 

[stoveliker]

I hadn't heard of those. (I did find the pipe insulation that is kind of like soft styrofoam, uou place it over the pipe and take off the paper(?) over the sticky part to glue the ends together.)

Do those only work on metal pipes? What about PVC, or flexible tubing? (That is how most of our water lines and all of the radiator lines are made of.)

You only need to heat them to a bit above freezing, so pvc (pex?) should be fine.
Amazon sells stuff even for garden hoses. I'm not recommending (or the opposite) this, but it's just a screenshot of what came up first.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Know what you’re dealing with. PVC should be drain lines on newer work. Only traps will have water in them. The rest should be empty. PVC and CPVC can burst. Pex can freeze, but it’s best if it doesn’t. Metal will freeze and burst. Understand your plumbing system so you can accurately figure out what needs to be done.

You may find that insulating your basement keeps it warm enough that freezing isn’t a huge issue as the ground below the frost line stays warmer than freezing.

 

[EngTechnow]

Agree

They saying 1" on any Pipe Over 3/4" & Thicker on Larger Pipes , but certainly any Protection is Good ..

Just Got Lucky Original Built - Hired Good Man - Masonry Work is A-Plus & Our Lots is Wet ( Current Home ) . .
They Placed a Dry Field - about 12ft Away - Under Large Concrete Drive , there Huge Amount of Gravel that French Drains Run into.
Even with that - There's a Sump Pump that got Up Graded .. Plus I had to Hand Dig Outside to get all Gutter's way Far away Under Ground - Dumping into Ditch - Believe It doesn't just Happen 1-2-3 ( Time )
Custom Down Spouts with Higher Flow etc.

Now

I Have Seen - Very Neat Product Engineered with Drainage Field Built into Back Side of It - They Place it on Walls - Outside & Inside Basements - It's Very Fast Install .. I also Believe Video of Basement Floor ..is Being Used that Way Also Air Channels in Back of Product .
It's Able to Hold Huge Wall Loads Per Panel #600 lbs as it has Built in Special Stud Mounts that Melt & Grab Hardware as it is Screwed Down .. ( I Just Found this Last Month ) called - ( " InSoFast " ) Link : Very Neat Item . . My Framing in Current Basement & Wiring was already In Place - We were Redoing It as Poor Materials were Used & No Insulation - Not to Mention I Bought 15 Bags of Rockwool in 2019 , Before Big Hit & On Sale - Plus Veterans Discount - so - We went Old Fashion Way ..

I also Found this Link of DIY that Looks Very Doable - at Least It May have some Hints in there How to Go or some Tricks
of Trade ..
There maybe Better Examples , just Hope this is a Help : Fire Brick ~ Ping & Sing ~ Cutting Channels ~

 

[bholler]

Agree

They saying 1" on any Pipe Over 3/4" & Thicker on Larger Pipes , but certainly any Protection is Good ..

Just Got Lucky Original Built - Hired Good Man - Masonry Work is A-Plus & Our Lots is Wet ( Current Home ) . .
They Placed a Dry Field - about 12ft Away - Under Large Concrete Drive , there Huge Amount of Gravel that French Drains Run into.
Even with that - There's a Sump Pump that got Up Graded .. Plus I had to Hand Dig Outside to get all Gutter's way Far away Under Ground - Dumping into Ditch - Believe It doesn't just Happen 1-2-3 ( Time )
Custom Down Spouts with Higher Flow etc.

Now

I Have Seen - Very Neat Product Engineered with Drainage Field Built into Back Side of It - They Place it on Walls - Outside & Inside Basements - It's Very Fast Install .. I also Believe Video of Basement Floor ..is Being Used that Way Also Air Channels in Back of Product .
It's Able to Hold Huge Wall Loads Per Panel #600 lbs as it has Built in Special Stud Mounts that Melt & Grab Hardware as it is Screwed Down .. ( I Just Found this Last Month ) called - ( " InSoFast " ) Link : Very Neat Item . . My Framing in Current Basement & Wiring was already In Place - We were Redoing It as Poor Materials were Used & No Insulation - Not to Mention I Bought 15 Bags of Rockwool in 2019 , Before Big Hit & On Sale - Plus Veterans Discount - so - We went Old Fashion Way ..

I also Found this Link of DIY that Looks Very Doable - at Least It May have some Hints in there How to Go or some Tricks
of Trade ..
There maybe Better Examples , just Hope this is a Help : Fire Brick ~ Ping & Sing ~ Cutting Channels ~

But if it's actually water table which is very common in some areas there is nothing that will stop that water.

 

[bholler]

That's great you can do that in your basement. Ours floods multiple times in the early spring and summer when snow melts and ground water levels rise. It's only an inch or so in the valleys (we have a lot of valleys and high points, so we end up with a series of puddles that we have to push forward to the sump pump.) We took out a wood separating wall and one other piece because the bottoms were rotted away. from the water intrusions. And we had to dispose of a few pieces where the legs to the table or whatever it was were eaten away.

If we insulated the walls, a few inches on the bottom would have to be bare, to make sure the water doesn't damage it. (We have 4 water tanks down there, between the water heater, the heat pump's water heater/cooler, and the 2 tanks for the well water. If any or all of them blew, that would be A LOT of water to deal with.

With a wet uninsulated Basement i would just insulate the pipes maybe heat tape them if it gets really cold down there then insulate the floor and install a woodstove on the first floor

 

[EngTechnow]

I stay Far Away from Pipe Wrapping Heater Cords .. I have seen to many Places Go in Flames ..

On Metal & Far away from any Burnable Items .. ( If it was Emergency ) . .

I had to redo Skirting on Trailer - that got all Burned Off and Damage to Under side of Acquaintance - that - Need Help
in Winter .. Just to have Her BF come back 2 weeks Later & Install another 1 After I spent 5 Hrs Insulating everything .. Protection . .
He Lit Place Up Again !
( I had to Show Fire Department Photo's ) of My Work - Oh Joy !

OK so Insulating Rim Joist is Huge Improving Area & Area with Big Leaks ( Cold Drafts ) - those Need to Be ~ Sealed & Insulated ~