My community is in northeast Ohio about 40 miles south of Youngstown. I had a guy go through the community and install water meters on all the homes. All were put under the homes between the tap and the piping up into the home. Residents were instructed to insulate their lines and add heat tape. This seems to make sense for servicing reasons.
Now I have a resident insisting the meter will freeze in the winter and no way he will pay for it.
For those of you in climates similar to mine, are meters typically installed in this location?
Meters are typically installed on the water line, in ground, below frost line, with a removable lid to facillitate meter reading. It sounds like yours will surely freeze as they are…cold weather is coming…start digging ASAP
Under each home near the rear is a large diameter, 8 or 10" plastic pipe with the water line coming up through it. As far as I can tell, all the pipes in the community are within the line of the skirting of the homes. The water line shut off is actually down inside of the large plastic pipe. People connect a line from their home to the water line that comes out of the ground and heat tape/insulation goes from bottom of the trailer down a little way into the large pipe. The meter is cut into the middle of the water line between the bottom of the home and large pipe coming out of the ground. A remote read is attached by wires to the front of the home for easy reading.
Does the above sound like what you have or have seen?
I work in Southwest OH and what you have described is exactly how the majority of meters I have seen are installed. However, I have seen some that are buried as Shawn suggests. In order to protect an inline meter from freezing we:
a. Keep the meter off the ground. Even if it is under the home it should be suspended and not touch the ground.
b. We heat tape the water line from the point it enters the home to the point it enters the ground. When we get to the meter we do one full wrap around the meter with the heat tape. The water lines are then wraped with the insulation and;
c. We purchase a form fitting insulation boot that fits completely around the meter leaving nothing visible except the top of the meter. The boot comes in 2 pieces and slips right over.
d. It is also important to make sure all the skirting is in place to mininmize the cross-drafts under the home.
If you do all of these you should survive the winter with no problems. But it seems like they all work together. If any one is left out you will have problems sooner or later.
Call the manufacturer of the meter and ask if they make a water meter insulation jacket. There are general ones out there but the ones made from YOUR manufacturer will fit the best;
No real thoughts on the plastic vs. brass. I guess maybe the brass wouold withstand a larger temp variation than the plastic. We always use brass with no reason to change.