Frost ProtectionTrace Heating

When is frost protection trace heating required?

Every pipe and vessel will experience heat loss when

its temperature is greater than the surrounding ambient

temperature. When subjected to low ambient or

freezing temperatures this heat loss can cause the

contents to crystallise and freeze.

For example, most water pipes are located either

outside or in unheated internal areas, where in winter

months the ambient temperature may drop below its

freezing point. When water freezes, it expands and this

expansion can cause a lot of problems to the pipework.

Water Pipework - external & unheated

internal areas

Building Services Pipework

Fire Sprinkler Pipes

Surface Heating to Vessels &

Tanks

Typical frost protection applications…

Why install frost protection trace heating cable?

If the contents of a pipe is allowed to crystallise and freeze this can cause the pipework to burst, leading

to considerable damage, disruption and expense.

Thermal insulation reduces the rate of heat loss but

does not eliminate it. In order to minimise the effects of

heat loss, frost protection trace heating is used to

supply a heat source to replace this heat loss and

therefore maintain the pipe temperature.

Typically in pipe frost protection, an air sensing trace

heating thermostat is used to sense the ambient air

temperature. This energises the freeze protection

heating cable when the temperature gets below a set

point usually around +3°C to +5°C.

Did you know?

A gallon of water, when frozen, will expand to a volume

9% greater than the original gallon!

ESH frost protection trace heating tape…

Both constant wattage heating tape and self

regulating heating tape systems perform

excellently for use within frost protection

applications.

Engineers & installers using trace heating will

always have their own preferences as to the

type of tape to use. This is why at ESH we

offer a comprehensive range of both constant

wattage and self regulating heating tapes to

allow the end user to utilise the system that

best suits their application and personal

preference.

If you have specific design requirement or need advice on you present or future trace heating applications, please contact ESH Trace Heating Ltd