Outside Faucets

[Michael G.]

With a cold week coming up, does anyone cover their outside faucets to prevent freezing?

[BostonRich]

Yes if there is a hard freeze warning forecast. You can buy insulated covers at Home Depot or Lowes for a low price.

[Stu from NYC]

I would think that since we do not get a hard freeze not necessary.

[Mrs.Guy]

A hard freeze warning is issued when temperatures drop below 28° for 2 hours or longer. Forecast low temp. Sat. night is for 28*..... don't know for how long. In 18 years we have covered ours several times and even let them trickle a few times. Consider doing what makes YOU comfortable ..... ;)

[retiredguy123]

With a cold week coming up, does anyone cover their outside faucets to prevent freezing?
It's highly unlikely that they will freeze. But, if you are concerned, wrap a rag around them and tie it with string. The biggest risk is if they are subjected to a strong wind.

[rjm1cc]

To be safe I would put a cover on each. I keep the covers on year round for the ones I do not use.
Another question is are all the pipes in the walls insulated enough to go through a hard freeze or do you need to let a little water drip out of the facet? For hot water when I want it I use a circulation pump on a timer. I have it run about 4am and 6am for 15 minutes in the winter so I do not have to worry about the pipes.

[Papa_lecki]

What about irrigation?


I guess it wont be below freezing for long enough to freeze, since they are below ground.

[Michael G.]

But, if you are concerned, wrap a rag around them and tie it with string. The biggest risk is if they are subjected to a strong wind.

Great idea, save a trip to Lowe's and Home Depot

[Gobragh]

With a cold week coming up, does anyone cover their outside faucets to prevent freezing?


Yes I cover mine. I wrap a towel around them, just in case!

[sdeikenberry]

Last year when we had sustained temps below freezing for some 8 hours we did not cover our faucets and we had no problems.

[bowlingal]

this is not like up North. A frost/ freeze for 2 days is not a problem here, the day time temps will rise once the sun comes out. Maybe frost on the plants will kill them, but just move them into your garage if possible or if not, cover the ones in the ground with sheets all the way to the ground.

[Nucky]

The first time it got that cold after we moved here I wanted a refund. We thought it was warm year round. I drip the water in the house and cover the two outdoor faucets. All good so far.

[Battlebasset]

An additional step that I take is to set my dishwasher to run starting about 2:00 am. That moves water through the pipes and fires up the tankless water heater on the outside of the house. I figure that and towel wrapping the outside spigots is adequate.

Also read that you should shut off your lawn sprinklers so as to not ice them and your plants up.

[eeroger]

[QUOTE=Papa_lecki;2167934]What about irrigation?


I guess it wont be below freezing for long enough to freeze, since they are below ground.

I turned my irrigation off yesterday and won't turn it back on for a week after freeze. Old wives tail to water grass during a freeze.

[jojoturf]

How about tankless water heaters outside? Should they be covered against cold nights? Signed, Newbie….

[Battlebasset]

How about tankless water heaters outside? Should they be covered against cold nights? Signed, Newbie….

Not an expert by any stretch, but if it does fire up and it's still covered, wouldn't that potentially interfere with the exhaust? Not sure you would want to do that.

[GpaVader]

How about tankless water heaters outside? Should they be covered against cold nights? Signed, Newbie….

I would think the tankless would be fine and I'd be concerned about covering a gas appliance with anything.... Assuming yours is gas....

[john352]

With a cold week coming up, does anyone cover their outside faucets to prevent freezing?

I lived in The Villages for 18 years. I never covered the outside faucets and did not have a problem. Had several winters with a hard freeze daily forecast.

[Southwest737]

It's highly unlikely that they will freeze. But, if you are concerned, wrap a rag around them and tie it with string. The biggest risk is if they are subjected to a strong wind.

Will the strong wind blow the spigot off? 🌪️

[retiredguy123]

Will the strong wind blow the spigot off? ������️
No, but every time I have experienced a pipe freezing, which has been a few, there was a cold wind blowing against the pipe or the building wall where the pipe penetration was not properly sealed to prevent air from seeping into the wall.

Also, convective heat transfer works faster than inductive heat transfer. It is the concept behind convection ovens.

[coconutmama]

With a cold week coming up, does anyone cover their outside faucets to prevent freezing?

Outside house faucets, no. Cover pool piping, yes.

[Bob45]

With a cold week coming up, does anyone cover their outside faucets to prevent freezing?

Faucets, no. I cover my plants and run my pool solar.

[rsmurano]

I always cover my spigots with the styrofoam covers. The more important thing to do is to remove a hose from the spigot, this is the 1st part that will freeze. In the north, they put in freeze proof spigots that stops the water well within the wall so they won’t freeze, they don’t do that here.

[Regorp]

With a cold week coming up, does anyone cover their outside faucets to prevent freezing?
Another reason we moved from New England, worrying about frozen pipes. Not concerned in the least, Santa!!

[tibbetts]

We do, can get covers that hook on to the facet, you might want to make sure that you have the sprinkler pipe and valve on the top covered, the valve is about $90 if it freezes aqnd breaks.

[PugMom]

Last year when we had sustained temps below freezing for some 8 hours we did not cover our faucets and we had no problems.

we didn't cover them either, but am now considering doing so after seeing how low the temps will get. better safe than sorry, i suppose

[jjombrello]

Yes. I use the styrofoam covers available at Lowes and Home Depot.

[Michael G.]

Yes. I use the styrofoam covers available at Lowes and Home Depot.

Rags are cheaper

[bowlingal]

Nucky....totally unnecessary. This is not like up North. I remember dripping the faucet also and leaving the cabinets open so warm air can circulate in them. NO MORE!

[spinner1001]

[QUOTE=Papa_lecki;2167934]What about irrigation?


I guess it wont be below freezing for long enough to freeze, since they are below ground.

I turned my irrigation off yesterday and won't turn it back on for a week after freeze. Old wives tail to water grass during a freeze.

Orange grove growers will water their trees trying to protect their fruit on the trees during some freezes (the icicles are spectacular). I don’t believe this tactic is helpful for lawn grass.

[Dmossien]

Yes I cover mine. I wrap a towel around them, just in case!
The MOST important thing is to disconnect your hose. I never used them in New York as we have frost free hose bibs. I doubt if these are frost free but the hose disconnect is most important!

[Garywt]

It is not going to be cold enough long enough to be a problem. As long as it is above freezing during the day it will be fine. If it ever gets to the point the during the day it remains below freezing, then there could be an issue.

[MrChip72]

It is not going to be cold enough long enough to be a problem. As long as it is above freezing during the day it will be fine. If it ever gets to the point the during the day it remains below freezing, then there could be an issue.

Finally someone with some common sense.

As someone that grew up living somewhere with 5 months of solid winter, some of the comments in this thread make me almost laugh about the overkill and worry over a few chilly nights. It seems like basic physics or common sense gets thrown out the window when people start to overworry about things.

No their pipes aren't going to freeze and burst from a few or even several hours of -3 weather. It's physically impossible considering most of your pipes are inside your home and the warm parts of the pipe will always distribute heat towards the cold parts of the pipe including your outdoor tap. Unless your home is freezing cold inside like close to freezing inside, there will be plenty of heat for the warm side of your pipe to heat the cold side.

Up north I never bothered to shut off the feed to my outdoor taps for the winter until several days or even a few weeks of below freezing overnight temps. Never had an issue.

[Altavia]

How about tankless water heaters outside? Should they be covered against cold nights? Signed, Newbie….

Cold Weather and Your Tankless Water Heater: How to Prevent Freezing (https://www.waterheaterleakinginfo.com/cold-weather/)

During cold weather tankless water heaters need extra care. Even water heaters installed indoors could be prone to cold weather complications. Most manufacturer warranty's do not cover damage caused by freezing.

However, many manufacturers, such as Rinnai and Rheem have built-in some type of freeze protection which allows the unit to protect itself when temperatures fall below freezing.

Rinnai tankless water heaters have two lines of defense to protect them from cold weather and prevent freezing. The primary protection for a Rinnai heater, is the addition of ceramic heaters which are placed on the heat exchanger and other internal parts, as well as water lines. These ceramic heaters fire-up when the temperature drops into the low 30's and prevent the internal parts from freezing.

If the ceramic heaters fail for any reason, or the temperature drops too fast, a secondary freeze protection method is also built-in. This system utilizes a sensor inside the unit which determines if the tankless is below freezing. If the sensor is triggered it'll automatically turn the unit on for a few seconds and continue to cycle the heater on-and-off until the threat of freezing has past.

Both of these methods provide freeze protection to the Rinnai unit as long as both electrical power and gas is available to the unit. Be sure to check your owners manual for details on your specific tankless.

[coconutmama]

The MOST important thing is to disconnect your hose. I never used them in New York as we have frost free hose bibs. I doubt if these are frost free but the hose disconnect is most important!

Yes! We do disconnect the hoses. Thanks

A hairdryer worked, if we did get a frozen spigot, back in the day

[retiredguy123]

Yes! We do disconnect the hoses. Thanks

A hairdryer worked, if we did get a frozen spigot, back in the day
A hair dryer can unstick a hose bibb handle, but, if the pipe freezes, the water will expand and cause the pipe to break and leak.

[DonnaNi4os]

I covered mine with an oven mitt last year. It worked perfectly

[Michael G.]

BTW....For those looking at Lowe's for faucet covers their inventor online shows 15 left.
Drove to Lowe's just now and their all sold out. WTF

Guy in the store said don't believe Lowe's inventor online
That store sucks.

[airdote22]

wrap with a small towel tied or taped, then tape a plastic bag over it to keep out the wind and rain

[Bogie Shooter]

Probably had inventory on Labor Day.:shrug:

[Nucky]

How about heat tape? My wife remembers that we used it on a spigot in N.J. that was openly exposed to the wind coming across the H.S. softball field. It worked.

We have a lemon tree/bush in our yard that was given to us as a joke present. I covered that baby like a baby and it was doing well. I would guess it was ready to give us some small lemons that coming spring. I forgot to cover the lemon baby an almost killed her. Luckily we got a few small lemons that spring and the verbal beating from everyone stopped. I have a lot on my mind nowadays. Like doing NOTHING. Best of luck to all during the cold snap and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

[JMintzer]

BTW....For those looking at Lowe's for faucet covers their inventor online shows 15 left.
Drove to Lowe's just now and their all sold out. WTF

Guy in the store said don't believe Lowe's inventor online
That store sucks.

Their inventory shows what is sold, not what has been stolen...

[Fastskiguy]

What I've done is place a thin wicking material around the faucet then wrap the whole thing in a thicker layer then cover it with a faucet cover I bought a lowes. The three layers really insulate it well and prevent freezing and expensive damage due to pipes freezing and bursting (I've heard it can cost thousands of $$$). I do this on any night it its forecast to get below 40 degrees, just to be sure. 3 years and our pipes are just fine!

Oh, wait, actually I've done absolutely nothing for these 3 years and our pipes are just fine. No covers, no running water all night, no nothing. I think I'm gonna stick with what works...and its easy.

Joe

[Mrs.Guy]

Their inventory shows what is sold, not what has been stolen...

:thumbup: That's just what I was told my management at the Lowes on 441.

[Mrs.Guy]

BTW....For those looking at Lowe's for faucet covers their inventor online shows 15 left.
Drove to Lowe's just now and their all sold out. WTF

Guy in the store said don't believe Lowe's inventor online
That store sucks.

:) If anyone is interested Amazon has them in stock for Prime Delivery by Friday. That would work just fine.
"faucet covers for winter" less than $4 each.

[ElDiabloJoe]

"Up North" I would stuff a ratty, raggedy old moving blanket into the water meter vault at the curb also. Put it in there late fall, take it out early spring. Keep the pipe in the open air (uninsulated) lawn vault cozily insulated.

[retiredguy123]

:) If anyone is interested Amazon has them in stock for Prime Delivery by Friday. That would work just fine.
"faucet covers for winter" less than $4 each.
They have a lot of faucet covers, but I didn't see any for less than 4 dollars, and most of them arrive after Christmas. Can you provide an exact link?

[Altavia]

You can make them from pool noodles.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OS6jAWPt_IQ&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE

[Mrs.Guy]

They have a lot of faucet covers, but I didn't see any for less than 4 dollars, and most of them arrive after Christmas. Can you provide an exact link?

Frost King faucet covers - $3.99 for 1 and $14.99 for 4...... BUT THE FRIDAY DELIVERY IS NOT THERE NOW. Sorry..... you snooze you loose! I find Amazon changes minute to minute and I mean prices too. Less than a hour ago it said delivery Friday for Prime Members. :oops: