Things are heating up.

We hear it may get cold this winter, and that the natives like to "prepare."   The project was our water supply.   Annie, the Preparation Specialist, gathered information and formulated a plan.

• heat tape (60 feet)
• a water hose (50 feet)
• foam pipe insulation noodles (several)
• foam insulation tape (one roll)
• duct tape (nine miles)
• Preparation Specialist (one)

Our Secret Weapon

We started at the supply end.  The Duck is prone to power outages when the inverter flips its breaker, so we want the powered end to be at the house, not the Duck.  We also want the thermostat to be outside rather than inside a semi-heated basement bay.

Annie fed the tape along the bottom of the foam, and I followed closely behind feeding in the water hose and closing up the foam around it all.

And I helped!

Sensibly sealing sticky stuff surrounding seams

Blunt ends of foam noodles got some foam insulating tape

with an extra duct tape wrap.

A loop around the water inlet inside the Duck basement,

and the rest around the graywater valve, for good measure.

Finishing touches on the supply side

finished off with some duct tape for aesthetic purposes. 

It works!

A little dielectric grease for the new outdoor electrical connection and we're good to go.

Here's something Annie doesn't enjoy:  me narrating the status of the heat tape.  On ... off ... off ... off ... on ... off ...  I thought she'd appreciate the reassurance.