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Best solar pipe heating system for winter?

We are still in the "finding the perfect plot of land" phase lol I am merely asking so we can plan as much as possible on what we will need to survive the winters ahead of time. I'd rather be prepared than have to figure out a solution right when I need it.

I really appreciate everyone's input, some things we haven't considered and it's nice to have more experienced people out there! Thank you all!
 
In Wisconsin you need to work out a solution for something like this
im off grid and every year or so we get snowed in and no one is coming to dig us out.
Snow is rough here and I plow every 4 hours .
We had about 6 “ of white stuff on the ground and I plowed it out , but we where hit with hi wind
and 2’ of snow over nite and I slept thru it ?‍♂️
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For the OP:

I have never worked with a well, but have buried boiler lines, and water feed lines below ground between buildings. I second all of the suggestions about burying it as deep as you can. We are the same latitude as the Southern part of WI, and have had some bitterly cold winters. Frost has gotten over 5' deep. For decades people have been putting frost walls at 42"-48", which I feel is a serious mistake. They end up heaving and cracking. We just buried some boiler lines, and did them at 6'. Frost is the major reason people around here generally build with full basement walls.

I'm a big fan of Wirsbo PEX. (Uponor) It can expand quite a bit if it freezes, and goes back to shape after defrosting. The expansion rings can take the abuse, which is not the case with most (if any) crimped connections. You can buy pre-insulated PEX bundles that might be something to consider.

If it were my off grid house, I'd first locate and drill a well. Pour a foundation around it with ICF forms down at least 6', maybe 7'. Then build a small shed around it to house well equipment, and possibly a generator, solar panels, etc. Build a hatch on the roof that seals well, but could be removed if you ever need to yank the pump out of the well. Better yet, do all of this at the edge of what-ever foundation you might have for the house/cabin.

Wellbuilt: for frost protected footings, the general consensus is to put 2" or greater foam out a couple of feet from the foundation, horizontally. Extra layers do help. For your well line, I'd center minimum 2' wide insulation over the line, but wider would be better. Check out some of the places that recycle foam, and pick up a bunker of it.
 
Doesn't work that way. You take the depth plus half the width of the insulation centered over the pipe, how ever thick it is.
Hmmmmmm , could you elaborate ?

Soil R value is horrible, like .2, so one inch of insulation can equal a foot. But there's no reason the cold couldn't simply go around the insulation.

Frost line.JPG
 
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This is more like what I have here ?‍♂️ I could add more dirt over the top and I could run 8’ wide sheets of foam board
I think with my inline pipe heater i could just thaw it out to pump water ?
I think the rock will radiate heat up from the bottom , that’s what I’m thinking any way .
I’m a builder and dig footing and run pipe every day and I never go shallow on pipes and footings.
I knew this was a problem but I had my hands full cutting lumber from trees and just getting the place built , so the well line was pushed to the end of the build
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Just go deep as possible with the piping and 4’ width over a 2’ width piece (4” insulation). That’s probably the least cost to protect as is; if you have to go deeper find a guy with a blasting license. If I remember you don’t have to go too far so protection seems adequate
 
Ya , blasting is not going to happen , I have 15’ from the house to the well head .
I don’t really want to blast up next to the house or the well head .
My well casing is about 41/2 feet into the rock .
I’m sure no one wants to come up and blast . No one works here .
 
Wellbuilt: can you wait until warm weather? If so, you could spray closed cell foam and foam right over the whole thing in place. More is better.

I'm assuming it would be difficult to get a heated rig up there at this time of the year. That may not be the case. Otherwise, rout out a groove in some thick foam and get it down right on top of the line. Maybe 4" thick. Put all your dirt on top. The idea is to keep the front from penetrating deeper.
 
^^^^^
this is close to what I did .
I bent the foam over the pipe so the ends where near the bottom of the pipe .
I hope it works ?
 
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