Yes. When the Heat Tape is plugged into a working outlet the plug will light up.
Note:
If you are using a Thermostatic switch like the ThermaCord with Heat Tape Pro, the plug on your heat tape will only be lit up when the ambient temperature is low enough and your ThermaCord has switched on power to your Heat tape. (for Pipe Freeze Pro, the thermostatic switch is integrated and comes after the plug, so your plug should be illuminated)
Pipe Freeze Pro’s integrated thermostat turns power on and off automatically to the cable to save electricity. The thermostat is the lump located between the power cord and the heat cable. The thermostat triggers the cable to turn on at 37ºF and off at 50ºF, with a sensitivity range of +/- 4ºF. It’s a great feature that makes Pipe Freeze Pro unique among heat cables on the market.
Yes and no. The cable is approved for exposure to wet conditions but you should keep the thermostat dry for proper operation.
No. The thermostat need only be exposed to cold air. It does not hurt to have the thermostat attached to the pipe but it is not necessary. If you choose to attach it to the pipe keep in mind that the thermostat should not be covered with insulation.
No. You want the thermostat to react to the cold environment so it triggers the Pipe Freeze Pro to turn on.
PipeFreezePRO comes with one or more 30ft rolls of high-quality fiberglass tape, but you can use any tape with a temperature rating of 150º F and above. Self-adhesive aluminum foil tape can be used but avoid standard tapes, including electrical tape and duct tape because they lose their adhesion when exposed to heat. Remember, it’s imperative to cover the pipe/heat tape assembly with pipe insulation (1/2″ minimum thickness). Think four easy steps: 1) cable on pipe, 2) tape on cable, 3) insulation on pipe/cable and 4) tape on insulation.
Pipe Freeze PRO can be overlapped during installation. This is a fundamental advantage of self-regulating heat cable over cheap, constant wattage cable found in hardware stores is that it can be overlapped without risk of shorting out or catching fire. So yes, overlap away!
Radiant Solutions Self-Regulating Heat Tape changes its heat output based on the temperatures of its surrounding environment. At any given point, depending on the temperatures outside, the cable could be a range of temperatures. However, its peak temperature is not very hot –typically between 60º-85º when operating in a cool environment. Another way to think about it is that as long as the cable is above freezing it will do its job, which is to create and maintain melted pathways through snow and ice.
This gives our Heat Tape a great advantage over the heat tape you can buy in ‘Big Box’ retailers, because it creates enough warmth to effectively do its job, but won’t do damage to surfaces that it touches. Additionally, our heat cable can be overlapped without concern. Heat Tape that is not self-regulating (i.e., ‘constant wattage’) can not do this (they have explicit warnings in the directions not to do this for risk of fire).
We have even witnessed a coil of crappy big box heat tape starting a fire because it got plugged in when it was still coiled. (Yikes!)
This includes, but is not limited to:
The type of roof you have determines the roof clips and accessories needed. Check out our Heat Tape Installation Accessories.
The cable can be exposed to wetness but the thermostat must stay dry to function properly. Use Pipe Freeze PRO for pipe freeze prevention applications only.
You must cover pipe, freeze prevention, cable with insulation under all circumstances. Otherwise it will likely fail to do its job. This includes both Pipe Freeze Pro and Heat Tape Pro.
Use a minimum 1/2″ thickness standard pipe insulation.
