What are Groundbreaker and INSUduct?
One of the biggest risks to plumbing is cold weather, which can freeze the water inside the pipes and prevent them from flowing properly, or even cause them to burst in serious situations. As a result, most older installations specify that pipes must run underground below the frost level until they enter a building to protect them from the cold. While this keeps the pipes from freezing, it also presents its own problem, because it can be difficult, messy and expensive to work on or replace older pipes because they are often buried under gardens and even under concrete or the house itself. Groundbreaker and INSUduct are plumbing systems that allow all of the connection with the house to be handled safely above ground, so it’s much easier to make repairs and replacements as well as alter the connection.
How do Groundbreaker and INSUduct work?
Groundbreaker is an insulated box that contains all of the elements that a house or industrial building requires to be connected to the grid, including the stop cock, the connection with the building and the water meter, all attached to the side of the building above ground. The box is specially insulated against the cold, allowing water to safely pass through it and into the house while also housing the stop cock and meter at the same time, putting them all together in one easy to use package. Based on the same principle, INSUduct is designed to shield up to three OD pipes from the area below the frost line up through the ground to the Groundbreaker, allowing the entire connection to happen above ground where it is easily accessible.
What are the benefits of Groundbreaker and INSUduct?
The primary benefit of Groundbreaker and INSUduct® pipe entry protection box is the cost of the system, which eliminates the majority of the expense of fitting in both new build and retrofit projects. For new build projects, the Groundbreaker water box and INSUduct fitting method means that you don’t need to install separate access points for the water meter or the stop tap which would usually be buried separately on site, because both are to be found inside the Groundbreaker box. It’s also not necessary to fit the water pipes through the building’s foundations, because the connection can happen above ground just like the gas or electricity connection.
These benefits are even greater on a retrofit project, because it allows you to eliminate the most expensive part of the works, which is usually excavating the old lead pipes through concrete or even through the base of the building itself. Instead, you can fit INSUduct to the outside of the dwelling and bypass the old connection, creating a new one above ground in the Groundbreaker box. You can also move the meter and stop tap, meaning you don’t need to replace or repair separate existing systems because they’re all in one place. These systems can protect against temperatures as low as -15 degrees Celsius for up to three days, and can save as much as 60% from the cost of the project compared with traditional connections. We also stock Groundbreaker SHalloduct insulation which can also help when pipes become blocked or even damaged.
