Insulated Pond Filter Box

[joiner_sim]

I was asked to produce a box for outside to hold a pond filter in, specification was that it had to be insulated from the bitter cold weather to stop it from freezing up. So here it is:

The roof is plywood laminated with the stone based board I have been using on my bird boxes. I guess the pipe lagging will be cut to length so it doesn't actually enter the pond.

As you can see, the insulation is 44m thick EPS (expanded polystrene). Below you can see the top piece of insulation on which seals the filter from the cold.

The recipient will be painting it themselves. The winter shall be the ulitmate test of time. First frost came earlier this week....

 

[Lowlife]

You'll probably find it works fine, and would do so even without the poly insulation, mine sits in a plain 3/4" ply box and didn't freeze up last winter with overnight temps well below -10C, the pond had 2" of ice on the surface but none at all in the filter. The pump, assuming it's at the bottom of the pond, is drawing water at no less than +4C (because water is densest at that temp and sinks to the bottom), and it's not in the filter long enough to cool to freezing point.

 

[jasonB]

Its not so much the stopping it from freezing that matters its the fact that an uninsulated above ground filter and associated pipework means more area in contact with cold air which WILL reduce the pond water temp and also give undesirable temp fluctuations between day & night temps.
And if you are heating teh pond it saves wasting electric.

J

 

[joiner_sim]

The insulation is stuff that I have readily available to me, as its what we use in the farm buildings I help produce. The 44mm thick EPS is usually put into the core of any doors. We use 72mm thick EPS for the wall and gable panels.

 

[Lowlife]

Yes I agree, a pond left to it's own devices will settle with warmer water at the bottom than the top, but if you start to circulate the water with a pump it can become much colder at the bottom. I keep turtles in an outdoor pond year-round, they burrow into the weed and dead leaves at the bottom and hibernate through the winter, but if the water were circulated the temp could drop dangerously low at the bottom and they'd freeze, for this reason I turn the pump off during the winter and just run an air pump to keep the water oxygenated.

They eat very little if anything during the winter, their metabolism slows right down, and therefore they produce virtually no waste which is the main reason for filtering the water in the first place. I do leave the pump in my fishpond going most of the winter as the fish are still quite active.

 

[woodbloke]

I switch everything off in my pond and hack the foliage back around the beginning of Nov...the fish don't even get fed (apart from a bit of porridge now and again) and it gets started up around the end of Feb - Rob

 

[joiner_sim]

While I appreciate the advie on fish keeping, unfortunatley its not me who keeps the fish. The person who does keep them that the box has been made for is really just to keep the water moving to prevent it freezing up in the winter. I think they are using it only for winter purposes.