Re: converting seasonal cabin to year round cabin
- From: Neon John <no@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:22:13 -0400
The modern way to install a year-round well is to use a submersible pump and a "side
exit pitless well cap or seal". See the diagram and explanation here:
http://www.do-it-yourself-pumps.com/
With this type of well the pipe carrying the water exits the well casing below the
frost line. The tank, pressure switch and valves are located inside the building
where they are protected from freezing. The well casing can extend above ground with
a non-sealing cap or it can end at or below grade with a well head seal. The
difference between a seal and a cap is that a seal contains a gasket that seals to
the well casing water-tight to prevent surface water from entering. You will have a
small mushroom sticking out of the ground with a cap or a round plate either at or
below grade with a seal.
If your cabin itself is subject to freezing then the internal components are simply
drained when not in use. The pipe that is below the frost line need not be drained.
Here at my mountain place, my well is some distance away and up hill from my cabin.
It was originally designed for an above ground jet pump so there is a well house. The
casing sticks up out of the ground a bit. When I converted it over to a submersible
pump, I installed a pitless cap (a side exit casing would have been very expensive to
retrofit) and took the line underground as close to the well as I could. The short
exposed stub is wrapped in fiberglass and surrounded by a wooden box filled with
Styrofoam peanuts. It has never frozen. For years I kept a light bulb burning near
the wellhead as freeze protection. Several years ago I data-logged the actual
temperature at the water pipe and learned that the light bulb was un-necessary.
The buried semi-rigid black PVC pipe is below the frost line and enters my basement
near floor level. There a tank, valves and the pressure switch reside. The
contractor who laid my pipe neglected to also lay direct burial cable (I wasn't here
to watch over him) so I had to run power to the well overhead on insulators. Make
sure your installation has buried power wiring to avoid this PITA.
Since this cabin used to be my vacation home instead of my full time home, I needed
to drain the system when I wasn't here. I installed a normally open solenoid valve
at the well head vented to atmosphere and another normally open valve at the lowest
spot on the system, connected to a drain. The solenoids are wired to be energized
whenever the breaker feeding the pump is closed.
When the pump is energized the valves are energized and closed and the system works
normally. When I flip the breaker, both de-energize and valves open. Air feeds in
at the well head while the water drains from the low point. I simply flip the
breaker off, walk around opening all faucets and I'm done. I installed plumbing in
this house to all slope toward the low point with draining in mind. A little RV
antifreeze in the drain traps and I'm done.
If your cabin doesn't have power then there will be some variations to this scheme.
The main one being a larger water reservoir so that the pump has start and stop less
often. Or in the case of solar power, it can slowly pump all day long. In a region
where heavy freezing is a problem this tank would have to be in the basement or other
protected area, with a boost pump to get the water to your faucets. A fiberglass
septic tank buried near the cabin makes a great low cost storage tank.
Let me know if you're off-grid and we can discuss some other options.
John
On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:52:27 GMT, "uio88 via HomeKB.com" <u35906@uwe> wrote:
I want to know how to connect a well to the cabin making it a year round--
cabin. I guess the well head would be below the frost line in the pump house
(I remember watching my dad climb down into a pit in the pump house when I
was a kid. He was doing something to the well head as I recall) Anyway, If
a water supply line runs from the well head to the house How would one go
about connecting to the structure and keep the pipes from freezing?
I once heard something about the water supply line coming into a cabin
through a basement which was below frostline. the water was then pumped up
from the basement to the tap. When you stop pumping, the water would flow
back to a point below frost line leaving nothing in the pipe to freeze,
which is great for a weekend getaway cabin. I don't have a basement though,
any thoughts how I could get water from the well to the cabin? Will well
drilling people know all about that kind of stuff, maybe I should be talking
to a plumber? (I haven't talked to anyone as yet, I'm just thinking ahead)
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
Multitasking: Reading in the bathroom!
.
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