What Is Trace Heating?

Pipe Bursts

• Water expands as it is cooled. If cooled enough, water will freeze. When this occurs in pipes, blockages will occur. Contrary to intuition, pipe bursts do not occur at the exact location of ice buildup in a pipe. Instead, ice blocks water flow causing extreme water pressure in other parts of the pipe. This extra water pressure, in turn, causes a pipe to burst. Pipe bursts generally occur between a pipe's faucet and the ice blockage.

Trace Heating Process

• Luckily, a process known as trace heating has been created to prevent pipe bursts in extremely cold weather. Today, trace heating has been adapted for use in pipes, boilers, pumps and other industrial and home appliances. In trace heating, anything carrying water is heated using an electric heating element, which is a constant source of warmth. This in turn reduces and, in some cases, eliminates freezing in pipes. Trace heating is even used in pipes that carry hot water. It prevents frost from forming on the pipe.

Benefits of Electric Trace Heating

• Today, the most common trace heating systems use either steam or electricity. Electric trace heating is preferred by many users because it is typically more reliable and efficient and has low installation and maintenance costs. Electric trace heating is also useful because users can control where electric trace heating occurs on a pipe. This allows energy to be saved and not wasted on areas that do not require any trace heating. Also, when compared to steam systems, the temperature in electric systems is much easier to control.

Where It's Done

• Trace heating is carried out nearly everywhere that has indoor plumbing, especially in areas that experience extremely cold weather during winter months. Commercially, trace heating is used frequently in offices, stores and factories. Government-controlled buildings such as schools, universities, post offices and hospitals regularly employ trace heating as well. In the science district, everything from nuclear plants to small laboratories will use trace heating. In these buildings, companies have used trace heating systems for a variety of reasons. Some examples include protecting sprinkler systems from frost, heating presses in manufacturing buildings, and controlling temperatures in oil pipes used by companies in the food industry.