Stopping condensate waste freezing

[Vicdiy]

My condensate waste has only frozen up once and caused the boiler to switch off, this was on a particularly cold night. I thought of the following way of stopping the boiler switching off in the event of it freezing up again. The pipe drops out of the boiler vertically and then runs horizontally for about 900mm before it goes through the external wall into the drain. If I was to put a tee in the horizontal run with the branch set at 45 degrees and put a bucket under the tee on very cold nights. If the pipe should freeze up then the condensate would still be able to run out through the tee and the boiler shouldn't then switch off. Does anybody see any problems with this idea

 

[Welder]

Search on here. There are many posts about condensates freezing.

 

[gmartine]

If your condensate runs anywhere near a sink or appliance outlet think about plumbing it internally on a permanent basis. It will save you a world of inconvenience as well as remembering to put the bucket out.

 

[Vicdiy]

If your condensate runs anywhere near a sink or appliance outlet think about plumbing it internally on a permanent basis. It will save you a world of inconvenience as well as remembering to put the bucket out.

No, it runs in the garage, before it pops through the wall to the outside it runs into a waste from the washing machine so the shared washing machine/ condensate waste pipe runs on the outside before dropping into the drain. My thinking on the bucket is that in 10 years it has only frozen up once so I will only have to remember it when it is really really cold.

 

[Welder]

No, it runs in the garage, before it pops through the wall to the outside it runs into a waste from the washing machine so the shared washing machine/ condensate waste pipe runs on the outside before dropping into the drain. My thinking on the bucket is that in 10 years it has only frozen up once so I will only have to remember it when it is really really cold.

If it's only frozen once then you may well 'get away with' insulating it 'properly'. So, use a nitrile based insulation like Armaflex (25mm wall thickness) and properly glue ALL joints. Leave NO part uninsulated and remember to compress each length by 10-15% when you fit it so it doesn't pull apart. DO NOT, tape or zip tie it. If you're tempted then I'd not bother even starting. The armaflex site has some great resources for how to do it properly.

 

[Scott_D]

The open drain will smell

 

[Vicdiy]

The open drain will smell

It's sealed, it drops into a rodding eye cover that has been drilled and sealed.

 

[Scott_D]

It's sealed, it drops into a rodding eye cover that has been drilled and sealed.

The tee you cut in will be open

 

[Rob Foster]

My condensate waste has only frozen up once and caused the boiler to switch off, this was on a particularly cold night. I thought of the following way of stopping the boiler switching off in the event of it freezing up again. The pipe drops out of the boiler vertically and then runs horizontally for about 900mm before it goes through the external wall into the drain. If I was to put a tee in the horizontal run with the branch set at 45 degrees and put a bucket under the tee on very cold nights. If the pipe should freeze up then the condensate would still be able to run out through the tee and the boiler shouldn't then switch off. Does anybody see any problems with this idea

Condensate outflow is for building regulations etc. considered as a flue and as such only gsr fitters should work on this area and all components and modifications be approved
Rob Foster aka centralheatking

 

[Vicdiy]

The tee you cut in will be open

There is a trap on the waste before it goes outside so the open tee wouldn't be a problem.