Hi guys and gals. It's that time of year again, and Im sure some of us will have to deal with frozen plumbing vents during extreme cold snowy wheather. I just came across a product called a INSUL VENT. First time I have seen them. They were actually on a house I worked on today. The homeowner says that they dealt with frozen vents causing sewer gas in the homes for years and years. Supposedly they installed these on all three vents on their home about four years ago, and have not had a freezing/sewer gas problem since. Im skeptical, but thought it would be worth putting out there just for your info. I guess they cost about 25 bucks, and come in various sizes. I have people come in all the time asking for cures for frozen vents, so at least now I have another option to try. If I get a chance to use these this winter, I will post my thoughts. If you want more info, just Google it. I can't find much on them, but they do exist.



Take care guys, and let me know what you think.

Hi Lee!

You know what's funny about that right out of the gate is the "pipe must be 5.5" to 6" long (quoted from Insul Vent PDF file)" and the picture below showing it only 6" above the roof line and no snow around it...what happens when there is an 18-20" blizzard that blows through... very funny!

I'll tell you what, at least in my area (see image of some storms), that Insul Vent would get buried so fast I just can't imagine the repercussions to my customers homes... God forbid there is a newborn in the home!

Anyway, I appreciate that you brought this to our attention as I never heard of it. You know, for that matter, I've been hearing about frozen over vents all my life and I've never actually seen a "REAL LIVE FROZEN OVER VENT" unless there was a simple explanation like snow covering the vent 4 or 5 feet tall, tree branches overhanging the roof, leaves in the vent pipe (or birds nests), the pipe being back pitched, or other similar stuff, but I've never actually seen a 3" or 4" vent pipe properly pitched, stubbed straight up and frozen over ... HAVE YOU (JUST CURIOUS)??

Thanks Lee, awesome when we share like this. The fact is that I am not knocking what you presented by the way... I look forward to hearing more about it... seems to be working for your customer anyway, huh? However, now that you brought it up, I am looking forward to hearing about you and the other guys experiences with frozen over vents... :D

Mark


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Looks like a simple vent cap to me. I echo Marks concerns. A better product, in my estimation, would be a Arctic Vent,(see image) These REALLY work! Check them out at, Water Line Heat Trace Freeze Protection For Cottage, Home, Commercial Water Pipe Applications - Arctic Vent
Stay warm! Tom

Im with you guys on this one. However, When I asked the customer what it was, they took me to the garage and handed me one in the package. I did see what it said about 5 1/2 to six inches and kind of took a deep breath. But the thing is actually about 15 inches tall with the bottom six inches insulated,an the top portion is just open with holes all the way around and one big one on top. So I guess the actuall ending vent height would be nearly twelve inches (to bottom of holes on the sides). It was about eight inches in diameter.

Mark, yep, with the picture of snow you showed, Im pretty sure it wouldn't do any good, but then neither would any vent unless it was flag-polled :) And yes, I have seen dozens of actuall frozen vents. Of course where Im from, we can get literally weeks on end of 20 to 30 below with wind chills of 60 below or worse. Sometimes the wind will blow for days on ends the chill factor never gets above 30 below :( However, from what I can remember, the only times I have actually had to crawl up on the roof in the dead of winter was when the wind was blowing, it was snowing, 30 below, and for days. Its almost more like a really, really hard packed snow, with a layer of complete ice around the outer edge. Pretty sure it just takes the exact right combo of wind, snow, and really cold temps to make it happen like Ive seen it. If I see any this year, Ill try to remember to take a few photos.

The easy fix, when its pvc, is just to tap around the outside with a hammer (not hard enough to break the pipe of course). Once the outer layer of ice is broken, it just kind of all falls down the vent to warmer climates and melts away. Come to think of it, I have never had to go back to the same place in the same winter to clear a frozen vent. But I do remember a couple years ago getting around six call in the same week for frozen vents (or sewer smell caused by frozen vents). That was a tough winter though, even by my standards:). Take care guys, Lee.

PS. Just one more thought. Last winter we had record snow, and man it was deep, and not a single frozen vent issue for us. Only thing I can think of is that the snow actually insulated the vents from the wind, kind of like when you have really cold winter with no snow, you get calls for frozen up trailer homes, but when there's a bunch of snow it actually insulates the trailers skirting from wind. Weird yes, but trust me, its true.