Why is there a window in my pump room?

[WarmNPrickly]

@carnivorousplant

Here are pictures of shallow well pumps.

If you have a deep well pump, you will just see a water tank and some plumbing.

I can’t see what is under that big metal bell in the pump room. I assume that it is just a bell and not a tank because there seems to be an extra in the room that’s not connected to anything at all. It’s not tank shaped. It is more like a really large version of the thing that screws of the top of a compressed gas tank.

But I’ve never heard pump noises coming from it, so I’m guessing that’s not where the pump is.

@tomndebb

(Does your house have a history of small animals visiting through that opening, or is the room closed off from the rest of the house?)

We have an occasional mouse issue despite two cats. I have a very strong suspicion that this is one of their major entry points. It is screened, so we haven’t had anything bigger than that.

[johnpost]

@WarmNPrickly

My pump room, is a little room in the basement where the pump for my well is.

That is what I want to do. I want to just nail it shut, because I don’t see any reason for it. My well froze up last night, and I don’t want to waste electricity on the heating or have my pipes freeze again.

@WarmNPrickly

OK I need to clarify a few things.

I’ve no idea what it is. If you say the pump is at the bottom of the well, I’ll have to believe you. The only control I see is a single button to restart it. It is pretty big so I assumed it was the pump itself. There is no obvious tank. So if my pump goes bad, they will actually have to dig another well?

@WarmNPrickly

We didn’t know enough about wells to get that information when we bought the house. I actually doubt the girl we bought it from knew either. There is water nearby, but I also notice that there are electrical wires heading out towards the well.

You would think that the water heater would provide enough heat to keep the pipes from freezing except that there is an open window to below zero weather. In fact, I just discovered that the previous owners left a space heater in that room, so I’m guessing they had this problem a few times. The question is, “Why the hell did the builder put that window there in the first place?”

Anyway, I think I’m sealing that window up tomorrow. That thing is almost as bad as the pet/possum door into the pantry.

an above ground jet pump would be bigger than a large bread box, think maybe bigger than a 5 gal. pail.

a submersed pump or above ground jet pump either would have a pressure tank above ground somewhere (jet pumps and pressure tanks can be in well pits which is a covered hole).

if you have a submersible pump you will see within 30 yards of your house a 6" to 10" pipe sticking about 2’ out of the ground. a pump can be replaced from the top of the pipe. these pumps don’t freeze in temperate climates, they are a a depth well below the depth the ground freezes, the incoming pipe should be placed well below your usual frost depth (like maybe 6’ down).

if you see a switch, wires going outside through the basement walls, a water pipe coming in through the basement wall then you likely have a submersible pump.

if you have something bigger than a 5 gal. pail that makes lots of noise in your basement then you could have a jet pump. in a house 20 years old i would doubt a well in the basement. an ancient home with a dug or driven well could have a well in the basement. in more recent times this isn’t allowed in places because of the difficulty of replacement or repair of the well when needed.

[ZenBeam]

Isn’t it just for ventilation? To let moisture out. In my mother’s house, the crawl space had a couple of vents about that size, with little sliding shutters to close them.

[WarmNPrickly]

I’ll bet that’s it. It’s hard to believe it would make much difference given how wet that room is, but it’s not that big a deal. I’ll close it up until spring then.