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i have an exposed (out of the ground) water pipe and during the night freezes over. What is the best way to insulate it so it does not freeze?

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Why do you have this pipe? What is it for? Picture? Where do you live? Very strange that anyone would install a pipe outside in a way that it would freeze. Usually exterior pipes have a shut-off somewhere so during the winter they can be drained, and they simply aren't used. – gregmac Mar 11 '12 at 20:15

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Insulation only helps keep in heat, but if there is no source of heat (ie: cold water or standing hot water), it will eventually cool and freeze. Your options are:

  1. Burry it below the frost line (take advantage of geothermal heating)
  2. Install heat tape (electronic pipe heater)
  3. Keep it running (or have it intermittently run; running water won't freeze easily, but this is a huge waste)
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If you use it during the day, and the only problem is night time freezing, you may be able to sort the problem with simple foam insulation. Something like this pipe insulation, split down its length to easily fit over a pipe is a cheap and simple way to make an improvement:

pipe insultation

Places like http://www.heatandplumb.com have it

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