I may get shot down in flames for this, but here goes. I have a pebble feature built into the ground with a 500 litre p/h pump. Rather than having to remove the pump throughout the winter could I get away with adding a touch of anti-freeze to the water so I could still use it. The only answer I can think of is it would wreck the seals of the pump.
Over-wintering a pebble feature
- Thread starter Graeme
- Start date
B
breezer
most manufactures say that during the winter the pump should be stored in a bucket of water (this is to prevent the seals from drying out)
Personally i leave my small fountains out side and running (they do look good covered in ice, the big one i do turn off)
the only problem that really can occur is if the sump freezes SOLID (unlikely, but last year my big fountain had 4 inches of ice, this i know because i drilled a hole through it to find out how thick it was) the only thing that froze was the jets.
I should say do turn it off (or fit a frost stat , as i am planning to this year) but do NOT add antifreeze
Personally i leave my small fountains out side and running (they do look good covered in ice, the big one i do turn off)
the only problem that really can occur is if the sump freezes SOLID (unlikely, but last year my big fountain had 4 inches of ice, this i know because i drilled a hole through it to find out how thick it was) the only thing that froze was the jets.
I should say do turn it off (or fit a frost stat , as i am planning to this year) but do NOT add antifreeze
Please do tell me more about that breezer. Also am I right in thinking that I read somewhere that salted water cannot freeze?
B
breezer
you did , salt water does not freeze easily, however most pond / fountain pumps will corode in salt water so that is not an option either.
a frost stat is like a room stat only that it goes to a lower temperature.and works "backwards"
I just looked at screwfix and couln't find one, but i was thinking that most electronic stats can read to a low tempertature AND have change over contacts. that would mean that If you set it for say 7 degrees and used the common and normaly closed contact at 7 degrees the stat would go open and stop your pump (if wired as common & Normally open it would run untill next summer when it gets hot)
you would of course have to put the frost stat in a shed or weather proof box outside and adjust the temperature setting acordingly, but it could not be in the house since that will not be showing the temperature OUTSIDE which is the whole point
a frost stat is like a room stat only that it goes to a lower temperature.and works "backwards"
I just looked at screwfix and couln't find one, but i was thinking that most electronic stats can read to a low tempertature AND have change over contacts. that would mean that If you set it for say 7 degrees and used the common and normaly closed contact at 7 degrees the stat would go open and stop your pump (if wired as common & Normally open it would run untill next summer when it gets hot)
you would of course have to put the frost stat in a shed or weather proof box outside and adjust the temperature setting acordingly, but it could not be in the house since that will not be showing the temperature OUTSIDE which is the whole point