Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Anyone ever built a pump house?

Not outside, but I have a heated pumphouse inside our unheated horse barn that stays "pump-wet" all Winter. My pumphouse is an improvement on one my late FIL had in his unheated barn.

Suggested tips:

1. Make it big enough to put whatever plumbing inside it you want to have there (pressure tank, pressure switch, electric panel, valve tree, ???) but not much bigger than that. The smaller the space you have to heat, the easier it will be.

2. Make it tight, TIGHT, TIGHT. This includes vermin-proofing it so mice, etc. can't gnaw their way in to a heated paradise, leaving a hole for cold air to enter as well.

3. WRT #2, I highly recommend a concrete floor going from vermin-proof wall to vermin-proof wall. Leave a 4" pipe through the floor, down to whatever your local freeze-proof depth is (36" here), for your electricity input and water output. If you will be running pipes to more than one place eventually, maybe you want a 6" access pipe. Don't insulate the hole, leave it open to the heated inside of the pumphouse. The farther the hole is from the edges of the pumphouse, the better (for not freezing; running pipe and electric will be a pain - tough).

4. Insulate, INSULATE, INSULATE. I have 2"x4" walls with 3.5" fiberglass in them. I suggest you go up to at least 2"x6" walls, and use closed cell foam (comes in 4'x8' sheets at Home Depot, etc., usually blue, in various thicknesses) since you pumphouse will be outdoors (if you get a leaky wall and the foamboard gets wet, it still insulates). Use the same stuff for the ceiling.

4 1/2. INSULATE THE FLOOR. Put at least 3" of foam underneath the concrete pad, and at least 3" on top of it. Do your best to vermin proof the bottom layers.

5. Winterize whatever door or access panel you have with that 1/2" (or is it 3/8") foam stripping (foam rope) made to use on older windows to stop their leaks. Cram as much of this as you can into every crack all around the door. Use multiple layers, as many as possible (if the door is 5" thick, 10 1/2' foam ropes would be perfect - if they will fit in. Maybe you can get 2 or 3 in - our door takes from 1 to 3 ropes depending on what side of it you're insulating.)

6. Install an indoor/outdoor thermometer with the "outdoor" sensor at the bottom of the pumphouse and the readouts outside the house or someplace you can see them. Monitor the temp periodically, especially when it gets real cold. Be prepared to add or adjust heaters if necessary. A wireless remote might work, but I prefer good old fashioned thermometers, because who wants to open the pumphouse to install batteries at -20 deg?

7. Figure on at least 3000W of heating (I use one 1500W milkhouse heater PLUS the waste heat off a 30A 220VAC hot water heater. The waste heat is sufficient most of the Winter if I seal the pumphouse really well.). Milkhouse heaters have fairly low temp output (lowers fire risk) and have a built in thermostat - but you have to monkey with this to get it set right before it gets too cold, in the thermostats tend to get flaky after a couple of years (so I have to check mine out every year, and we tend to have a surplus of milkhouse heaters that don't self-regulate well in bathrooms, workshops, etc.). Maybe someone will have a much better idea for a heater - I hope so. I tried 110VAC electric thermostats and they were not as good as ones on the $20 milkhouse heaters. Allow enough space in front of the heater so the warm/hot air doesn't blow directly on any pipes, wire, plastic insulation, etc.

Heck, maybe you'd better wire it for 6000W of heating.