Putting Insulation In A Roofspace.

[sandyRoe]

If you left an area of the floor, maybe about a ft out from each side, around the water tank uninsulated would that allow enough heat from the rooms below to rise and prevent it and the pipes from freezing in really cold weather?

[woofgang]

Sandy i live in the south so we don't get much really cold weather but we do get it from time to time. My Attic is insulated all over and while it does get really cold up there, it never gets cold enough for the tanks, which are not wrapped, to freeze, not even in that every cold spell we had around 5 years ago. The problem with leaving any area uninsulated is that the heat won't stop when the area around the tank is warm, it will just continue to leach heat into the rest of the roof space and be very expensive. better to wrap your tanks if you live in a cold area of the country. I am not, however adding more insulation, as many of my neighbours have, because I use it for storage and don't want it to be any colder up there.

[sandyRoe]

I see on the Age NI homepage there's a mention of a scheme offering free loft insulation for pensioners. I'll get in touch with them and maybe get the work done for nothing by people who know what they're doing.
You'd think lugging rolls of insulation up into the roofspace and unrolling it
wouldn't present many problems. But, do it too well and you might have burst water pipes, not well enough and you may as well not have bothered.
The devils in the detail.

[Old_Geezer]

:-)

Maybe you need to insulate under the roof tiles rather than the loft floorboards.

Aye I suspect leaving a gap would help, not the most economic solution but nevertheless. Why not just lag the tank/pipes; and use a small heater up there if is gets really bad ? Have to say I've never had issues yet, but it is always a perceived concern.

[RATTER15]

I would say that as long as your tank is well insulated you shouldn't have a problem. Im not sure, but I don't think insulation is normally placed under the tank anyway.

[Old_Geezer]

Put one of them there wireless temperature sensors up in the loft, and the display dial on your living room wall (or on your PC). Don't forget to replace the batteries each Autumn.

[bhg481]

The standard recommendation is to lag the sides and top of the water tank and leave the loft immediately beneath the tank uninsulated. There is no advantage leaving a larger area than the actual size of the tank with no insulation on it.

[SlackAlice]

If you leave a 'gap' around the tank uninsulated around the CW tank you will get quite a bit of heat lost 24/7 in that area. Much better is to fully insulate except directly under the CW tank. Then put a thermal jacket on the CW tank. I know it's a little bit of extra initial cost but you might as well get it right first time.

[alavahalf]

Don't leave the area you mention uninsulated. All you would do is create a weak spot for your heat to get drawn too. Insulate right up to the tank and it is standard practice not to try moving the tank to put insulation underneath it. People who do insulation don't want to get involved in plumbing.
As WG says ... wrap your tank with a tank jacket and create a polystyrene lid to cover it. Pipe insulation is really cheap and effective and if you check with your local CAB/ Council you may find that you can get it done for free as there are often grants available.
About 5/6 years ago when we had a particularly cold winter I got called out to quite a few incidents where water was pouring through peoples ceilings and at every event I found the same fault ... a burst pipe in the loft and either no pipe insulation, or poor pipe insulation.