Hot Water Heat Pipe Insulation Suggestions

[bucolic]

My garage has hot water heating pipes on the ceiling for the rooms above it. It is currently wrapped in grey plastic-coated fiberglass insulation and it is pretty ugly. I got the garage looking pretty good with a new floor, paint, and some cabinets and would like to dress those pipes up a bit. I am not a heating expert so was wondering what might be a good wrap for those that might look better? I have some red in the floor in the garage and went with red New Age cabinets so I thought the pipes would look pretty cool if I used them as an accent and wrapped them in something red. I Googled and searched but couldn't find anything. My second choice would be maybe the black foam wraps but didn't know if they were the best choice for the hot water heating pipes. I am in upstate NY but the garage has heat from the boiler and never gets below 45 degrees or so even when sub-zero outside. Any HVAC experts that can let me know what the best choice might be for function and looks? Thanks! Here is a pic of what I am dealing with.

 

[PWilks]

You could look into the thicker stuff they use commercially that’s made with fiberglass and has a self sealing, somewhat rigid end product.

the cover is typically white and may blend in better.

you could also look at re routing the pipe so it runs along the flange of the steel I beam. You wouldn’t even see it from the one direction, but probably isn’t worth the work it involves.

 

[rayra]

The closed-cell foam stuff with the adhesive seam and the peel away plastic can look very smooth and nice when installed properly and right-sized. You wouldn't need to **** it up with zip ties, the way the stuff in that photo appears.

You COULD paint it, but would probably be more aggravation than it is worth. I'd probably pre-paint it before installation, using something forgiving like PlastiDip, but I have no idea if that would eat that pipe foam or not.

If you really want to *** it up, consider wrapping it in bigger piping, like 4" drain pipe and deliberately paint it up with color codes and labeling like in a warship or spaceship. 'JP5 FUEL CAUTION' 'WARP PLASMA CONDUIT'. 'REACTOR COOLANT' Biohazard labels with faked glow in the dark drippings. Radiation warnings. 'DO NOT TAUNT HAPPY FUN BALL' Have fun with it.

 

[jkuro]

After you fix the pipe insulation I would look at fixing the poor wiring job.

 

[bucolic]

The closed-cell foam stuff with the adhesive seam and the peel away plastic can look very smooth and nice when installed properly and right-sized. You wouldn't need to **** it up with zip ties, the way the stuff in that photo appears.

You COULD paint it, but would probably be more aggravation than it is worth. I'd probably pre-paint it before installation, using something forgiving like PlastiDip, but I have no idea if that would eat that pipe foam or not.

If you really want to *** it up, consider wrapping it in bigger piping, like 4" drain pipe and deliberately paint it up with color codes and labeling like in a warship or spaceship. 'JP5 FUEL CAUTION' 'WARP PLASMA CONDUIT'. 'REACTOR COOLANT' Biohazard labels with faked glow in the dark drippings. Radiation warnings. 'DO NOT TAUNT HAPPY FUN BALL' Have fun with it.

LOL. I think I'll keep it a bit tamer. With my luck, someone would see Jet Fuel and call theDEC.

After you fix the pipe insulation I would look at fixing the poor wiring job.

If only you saw some of the stuff I have already fixed! I inherited a bunch of flaws on this house and that wiring is on the list to get fixed. I am having an entirely new service put in. The delay is there are two panels in the house so it is an expensive fix but it is scheduled for next year and this stuff is slated to be corrected at that time. We also need a new meter from the electric company as they recommended it and we are going to do it all next spring one shot. It drives me nuts looking at it so can't wait until it's resolved.