# best position for a heat lamp in a well house?



## VERN in IL (Nov 30, 2008)

Right now we got a well house, it is 5x6ft on the inside and about 6ft tall to the roof, right now we got a 150 watt heatlamp clamped to the pipe aimed at the water pipe that goes to the house.

I would like to install a extra heat lamp(for redundancy) and would like to mount both heat lamps to the same fixture(aluminum bar mounted on the wall) and heat all the pipes equally. (the spout that goes outside to hookup to the garden hose will freeze during winter and we can't use)

So I was thinking on mounting both heatlamps from a fixture that hangs from the ceiling, like they do in turkey barns, instead of down by the pipes...

Advice please.


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## Cartman (Nov 3, 2008)

If your well house is insulated all you should need is enough heat inside to keep the temperture above freezing. If it is not insulated well to save on your electric you may want to get the heat tape to wrap the pipes with. It has a built in thermostat that will shut off when temps get above freezing.


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

If it were me today I'd use a small ceramic heater. From what I have see of them they are much less of a fire hazard than heat lamps.


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## nehimama (Jun 18, 2005)

I use a small elec heater that is thermostatically controlled to come on at a certain (low) temp. It's kept the pump & pipes in the wellhouse from freezing for several years now. I also have a "Little Buddy" propane htr for backup in case of elec outage. Hope this gives you some help / ideas.

NeHi


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## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

we use a small heater in our pump house. We tried the heat light idea but like the fact that the heater will turn off on its own.


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## JackDeePeyton (Aug 1, 2005)

We had the same problem down at the lake cabin and tried everything but finally found the answer. Our pump house is about the same size, give or take. 

We bought a thermostatically controlled plug in that can be located at Lowes. We then plug in a small ceramic heater and have no problems. I wanted to keep the pump house operational during the winter months incase of a fire around the cabins. I will look for the link but most hardware stores carry them.

Hope this helps.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

There first place to freeze will be the bottom of the pressure switch and the small tube that often connects to that area. I would concentrate the heat to that area if using a light bulb.


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## Texas_Plainsman (Aug 26, 2007)

I'm with Cartman. That is a lot of heat. You'll be spending a lot of money with two 150w lights. My pump house is the same size as yours and I use a solitary 40w bulb on a thermostat. Of course, your pump house must be adequately insulated. I have a thermometer, with the sensor inside, mounted outside so I can check temps in the pump house.


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## littlebitfarm (Mar 21, 2005)

I kept my pump house warm with just a 60W light bulb. For peace of mind I used an indoor/outdoor thermometer. Mounted it on the outside where it was easy to read and ran the sensor wire inside. That way I knew the temperature inside without having to open it up. Made it real easy to keep an eye on it!

Kathie


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## Old Vet (Oct 15, 2006)

agmantoo said:


> There first place to freeze will be the bottom of the pressure switch and the small tube that often connects to that area. I would concentrate the heat to that area if using a light bulb.


If you had to use a heat lamp use it mounted horizontal or it will bake the cement that holes the base on and if you ever change it the base will come off and stay in the fixture. You can get a thermostat at any hardware store and put it so that you plug it in before the source you heat with. What you don't realize is that even heat lamps will heat the hole pump house and not just what you aim it at. All you need to do is to keep the hole house above freezing and everything will be alright.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

With properly installed heat tape you will solve the problem and use much less ( $$$ ) electric


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## Beeman (Dec 29, 2002)

Look into commercial heat tape like chromalox, check electrical supply not Lowes. You can wrap anything and cross it over itself with no problem. Only heats when it's cold.


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## BTO (Feb 7, 2007)

I used to use a four bulb hanging incubator with a 25W bulb in the socket that's on all the time and 40W bulbsthat were controlled by the wafer switch. It served double duty as an incubator during late spring. With four bulbs I had back up when they wouldburn out.


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