Heating a crawl space in vacation cabin

[Cthruu2]

I have a 20'x30x4' crawl space under a mountain cabin that I close up in December and don't use until the spring. The plumbing runs on the inside of cinder block walls.
I runs the electric furnace to keep the pipes from freezing above the crawl space but what is the best way to heat the crawl space to prevent the pipes from freezing.
Currently I just blow all the pipes out but it's a pain if I do want to visit after the house is closed up.
Location central Virginia.

 

[Thirsty]

You can put heat wrap on the pipes, that is what people do around here with their trailer houses. Maybe insulating your pipes would be enough. Or insulate the crawl space?

 

[banzaitoyota]

i would make it a conditioned crawl space

 

[Randy in Maine]

When I bought this house, the PO had 2 baseboard electric heater in the crawl space that ran all winter.

I insulated the inside of the crawl space under the house with the 2" foam (with the foil on both sides) and used concrete screws/fender washers to attach it to the concrete block and used the silver tape between foam panels. It is insulatated about 18" below the finish grade outside. I used 2 layers of the foam to seal up the windows. I also insulated all of the water pipes under there pretty well. I shut off the electric heaters.

It has been about 8 years and I have never had a pipe freeze since doing it. A few years ago I went under there (to insulate the floors with R-19) when it was 0º outside and it was about 45º under there.

Money well spent.

 

[Trouthead]

Is it colder in the crawl space after you insulated the floor?

 

[Randy in Maine]

Is it colder in the crawl space after you insulated the floor?

I don't think so. I covered the floor joist insulation with clear poly to keep the moisture out of the insulation (the actual crawl space floor is sand and not concrete with poly as the sand floor moisture barrier ).

The living area floors are warmer though. Everything is just so much tighter down there so the infiltration of cold air has been greatly reduced.