Most plumbers don’t like heat tapes–those cables that look like extension cords but generate heat to keep pipes from freezing. They say a proper installation shouldn’t need them, and if pipes freeze ...

A: Despite its name, heat tape isn’t sticky tape in the traditional sense, rather it is an electrical heating cable that is widely used to keep at-risk plumbing piping from freezing in the winter. You ...

MY AUGUST column about winterizing plumbing systems (pg. 44) generated a number of e-mails. Several questions were asked on using electric heat tapes. A memory long tucked away in the back recesses of ...