We’re just over a month into 2025, and winter has left few unscathed by wild weather. Santa Ana winds are fueling unseasonal fires across Southern California, while the Gulf Coast just saw blizzard warnings and accumulating snow from East Texas to the Florida Panhandle. Arctic conditions settled in over the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions, with wind chills reaching and exceeding -35℉.
Once again, utility infrastructure has been put to the test, particularly waterworks and wellheads left exposed to or unprotected against the elements. Another winter, another set of reminders of how important it is to keep your equipment in an ASSE 1060 Class 1 heated enclosure.
We know what frozen backflows and pumps can do to water systems, and we know just how little protection the alternatives like fake rock covers provide against frigid low temperatures and icy winds. This fake rock in South Carolina is offering little protection and is being held down by a larger rock.
While our Safe-T-Cover aluminum enclosures are a better option by default, they won’t meet that ASSE 1060 Class 1 designation without an adequate heater installed inside.
Fortunately, we thought about that years ago and developed an industry-exclusive concrete slab-mounted heater that provides exceptional protection against freezing throughout and underneath your enclosed space, ensuring your waterworks equipment – a well pump, backflow preventer, control meter, and beyond – are fit to function regardless of what the weather throws at you wherever you are in the country.
Placing a heater in an enclosure is better than nothing at all, at least in theory, but being thoughtful about the type of heater and where that heater is installed matters quite a bit.
Let’s consider wrapping a heat cable around your piping inside the enclosure. Sure, that should work on smaller diameter pipes in small-scale applications when it’s just below freezing outside, but those wires aren’t designed to counteract extreme cold, nor are they providing enough heat above and below where they’re attached to keep an entire assembly from icing up.
Then there are wall- or panel-mounted heater options, which are a better choice, but still come with drawbacks. For one, installing on a panel means less insulation, increasing the exposure of your equipment to conditions outside.
Related to that, a panel-mount heater works within the basic principles of physics – heat rises. A wall-mounted heater will keep the middle and top of your enclosure warm, while the concrete slab or base remains relatively cold. This also will affect heater efficiency, as the entire enclosure space is suboptimally controlled, and likely shorten the heater’s lifespan.
We took this into consideration when we designed our heater to be mounted onto a concrete pad. Safe-T-Cover’s heater option is wet- and damp-resistant, ensuring durability, performance and safety.
Panel-mounted heaters typically are installed at least 12” above ground because they aren’t built to withstand water.
Safe-T-Cover’s heater installed on a concrete slab does warm the concrete, in addition to the entire enclosure space. It leverages our leading insulation on the wall and roof panels to maintain temperatures at which waterworks will remain thawed and operational.
Warming the concrete also assures that pipes stay warm even below the surface, providing added assurance that your utilities are primed to function no matter what’s happening outside.
The heater’s low-profile design also ensures that installation is discrete and doesn’t interfere with maintenance or servicing your equipment.
You have options when it comes to keeping your waterworks protected during winter weather, but there’s really only one choice when it comes to heating your enclosure. A Safe-T-Cover enclosure with a slab-mounted heater offers the best protection against winter freezing and utility failure.
Take a look at our enclosure and accessory options, or contact us for a complimentary consultation with a friendly design professional. We’ll be happy to discuss the best solution for your waterworks or other infrastructure needs