Do you or do you not leave outside faucets dripping when it's freezing?

[TexPatriot]

Wow. The information, comments, conjecture, and 'facts' in this thread are definitely entertaining. Some are downright hilarious.

To clarify a few different points, so-as-to muddy the waters somewhat AND get all ironical (see what I did there?), ya'll need to know that there are two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT styles of "hose-bib" sold on the market. There is the "internal shut-off" style made for cold-weather climates, and the "external shut-off" style made for balmy tropics which starts at the Canada/U.S. border and continues south.

Definitely not "all" hose-bibs are the same. So be careful with that statement AND checklist.

"moving water doesn't freeze"..... uh huh. Yup. That's a fact. Except for every river, creek, crik, and slough. They ALL freeze, to one extent or another. Now, to help explain matters, there is the ratio of "volume" and "velocity" and there is a whole set of criteria that match up with that. Couple that with 'temperature' and it gets complicated'er.

Metal will freeze. Water inside metal will freeze. The colder it gets, the more the molecules 'expand'. When that expansion overcomes the metals plasticity, then you've got a break. It's up to you to run the numbers, OR the odds, and see how it plays out.

The water supply lines to homes in this city are between 6 and 8' down from grade. There are MANY houses each year, that have 'frozen water lines'. Yes, that is water supply lines. I won't even get into the electri-magical methods that they use to thaw those lines. But, a 'temporary' fix is to run a garden hose from your NEIGHBOR'S hose-bib, AND you have to leave a faucet in the house running with a constant stream 'just a touch more' than drips. And yes, that can (and does) work for a few months, until Spring when the problem miraculously "goes away".

There are many different ways of plumbing a house. Those ways have changed over the years/decades as the BUILDING CODES have changed/adapted to newer methods, better materials, and other factors as well.

When the answer from someone starts with "You could just....."

Don't.

Run away while you still can.

And yes, I have 2 pairs of snowshoes downstairs, in the 'just in case' pile. Actually, 1 pair of snowshoes and 1 pair of 'bear paws'. There's a difference.

For when the power is out, here, we do have contingencies, secondary contingencies, as well as redundant contingencies. I'm thankful that we've never had the power out long enough that we need to entertain the redundancies,,,, but there's still there if needed.

I'll be not many here are even going to have a clue about 'electric roofs', right? Matter-of-fact, I just unplugged ours today. And yes, the "building codes" that enabled the necessity for that need have been improved and changed, to which construction nowadays (when done properly) do away with the need to have an electric roof. Ain't that gooder? At least it stops the indoor rain in the winter.

I hate having to need an electric roof, but I sure am glad we have it.

Have fun, play with that, enjoy, and right now it is -24/-32 outside.

Not sure I can smelt all that down and glean any useful information from it but thanks anyway.

I'm just going to drain the system as soon as I drink my coffee and take my last flushable shit and shower for the Christmas Holidays.

 

[TexPatriot]

We are really grateful for the people that love the great white north.
Snow shoes
Snowmobiles
Snow Sleds
Snow shovels
Snow tires
See the pattern? We don't want any part of it. Y'all can have it. We'd rather be eaten by bugs in 100 degrees and 80% humidity

The only people freaking out are the Yankees that have invaded.
A couple years ago I did a replacement HVAC system for a family from Maine. They moved here in December. He could not understand that a heat pump was sufficient and wanted it replaced with a gas furnace. They left six feet of snow and were laughing about schools being closed for a threat of a dusting of snow. I had to explain that he needs to realize that it'll be gone in a day or two and we really don't think that work and all the other shit people up north do is all that important that it can't wait a day or two.
We understand that y'all would be shut down from September until June.
When we hear people from the north bragging about how hardcore they are during winter we think: stooopidity shouldn't be bragged about.

I've always enjoyed the annual 'Record cold and blizzards shuts down the North' videos showing cold weather experts up north trying to push their front wheel drive cars through the snow and falling on their faces. They could put music to it.

For all the 'People down south don't know how to build a house' commentors is laughable when they never learned what All Wheel Drive and 4x4's are for.

 

[Tempest 455]

Get the bread and milk first before you do anything.

 

[Stugots]

Never done that here in Minnesota. I do drain the outside spicket and attach a foam insulated dome though. Never had frozen pipes.

 

[Sandhog308]

Get the bread and milk first before you do anything.

Don’t forget …..Beer and/or Jack Daniel’s or some local Shine .
Us in the South aren’t used to dealing with this shit. Cold front is in North West Arkansas as I type. Wind chill is 11*f there …..47*f here , only 100 miles from me. I’m baby sitting 21 Chickens and one Mean Rhode Island Red Rooster ….13 cats ( hate cats) and 2 horses while my best friend & wife are in Goa India. They left , leaving me totally unprepared for this.

 

[hunter1959]

open all of the outdoor spigots, then turn the cutoff valves to closed indoors on the pipes leading to those spigots...... that is, if you have those cutoff valves

 

[NoDopes]

You guys have running water? In the house?

The ultimate in white privilege. You should all be ashamed.

 

[xciapup]

I was told by the company that drilled my well and set my pressure tank to leave my furthest outside faucet running, not dripping, running at a constant stream during the upcoming freezing temps. And leave indoor faucets running at a trickle. I was all set to do that at noon tomorrow.

Now I'm getting the completely opposite advise on my local news.

They're saying, "Don’t drip your outside faucets. Your hose spigots need to be covered and turned off to protect against the pipe from bursting."

So, which is it?.

The last major freezes in 2011 and 2021 I didn't leave the faucets dripping, just covered, and the PVC pipes froze at the pressure tank and broke.

Run your dishwasher and clothes washer with staggered delays so one is running all night.

The time to design, plan, install, test cold weather plumbing is Summertime. What I am hearing in this thread is mainly wasteful, self-induced, largely ineffective emergency procedures brought on by the mistaken belief that there will never be another Winter.

 

[TexPatriot]

open all of the outdoor spigots, then turn the cutoff valves to closed indoors on the pipes leading to those spigots...... that is, if you have those cutoff valves

I shut power to the well off, opened the two outside faucets includind the furthest one downhill on the back of the cabin. They blew until the pressure tank emptied. The furthest downhill one was still dripping one drip every five seconds about 30 minutes ago. The indoor faucets are all open but nothing coming out, dead, nada.

When the front hits in a couple hours I'll close the two outdoor faucets and cover them and turn off the shut off valve at the tank. I'll leave the indoor faucets open because why not.

 

[TexPatriot]

You guys have running water? In the house?

Not now I'm not. If Santa doesnt like it he can fuckoff.

 

[mtrmn]

For those arguing that moving water will/won't freeze I will add that movement is not the only factor in play here. The water is moving from a non- freezing environment to a freezing one. The water moving through the line normally comes from underground or inside the house and carries it's heat with it, helping to prevent freezing in the line. If the line is not insulated it will still rapidly lose that heat and freeze unless there's considerable flow, which in itself causes a multitude of problems. As far as movement alone goes, those icicles hanging around were formed by moving water.
All this is just my opinion based on my unscientific observations.

 

[orkan]

Water outside this time of year is called ice.

 

[cas6969]

Never gave it much thought, are frost free spigots only used above a certain parts of the country? I can see people in Texas for example never thinking they'd need them and not using them.

As for insulating outside exposed pipes... it's not like your coat, it's like a cooler. If it doesn't have any warmth to keep in, it's not going to help. Learned that the hard way with the pipe from the cistern to the cabin decades ago. Insulation alone, frozen and split. Heat tape alone, frozen. Insulation over heat tape, happy down to -20 or more. (at which point the pump inside freezes up since there's no insulation on the floor or in the walls lol)

 

[TexPatriot]

Never gave it much thought, are frost free spigots only used above a certain parts of the country? I can see people in Texas for example never thinking they'd need them and not using them.

As for insulating outside exposed pipes... it's not like your coat, it's like a cooler. If it doesn't have any warmth to keep in, it's not going to help. Learned that the hard way with the pipe from the cistern to the cabin decades ago. Insulation alone, frozen and split. Heat tape alone, frozen. Insulation over heat tape, happy down to -20 or more. (at which point the pump inside freezes up since there's no insulation on the floor or in the walls lol)

I'll be honest, I just learned some Yankee ingenuity in this thread. I thought a spigot and hose bib were just other names for faucet and any freeze protection was the sock you wrapped around it before you stuck a Whataburger styrofoam cup over it, which works, btw.

 

[EddieNFL]

Turn all faucets to the full-on hot position.

 

[Cowpokey]

Turn all faucets to the full-on hot position.

That’s is a proven preventative measure to keep your utility meters from freezing.

 

[chevy_man]

Frost free bibs work best. Install them this summer and never worry again. Mine are just fine today.

 

[TC.TURTLECREEK]

There is a reason the south lost the war. This shit seems to happen every year or two but heaven forbid you actually build a home correctly so all you don't have to freak out every time you have weather. Seriously I'm beginning to think all the southern stereotypes are for real. This is just stupid.

Makes you wonder why we can't turn around without running into one of you yankee som-bitches moving down here telling us how bad it is "back home". go home if you think we's so stoopid. oh, and bless our heart.

 

[TexPatriot]

Makes you wonder why we can't turn around without running into one of you yankee som-bitches moving down here telling us how bad it is "back home". go home if you think we's so stoopid. oh, and bless our heart.

I've never met one that doesn't have the correct way of doing things like they do back in their shithole state.
Californians are just as bad, as they they flee a seaboard they made uninhabitable.

 

[Lightning8]

Tell the Yankees to come pick up their weather. It’s in our yard again.

 

[Lightning8]

 

[kenny1773]

I can't explain why, but I had a frost free faucet freeze and split
I got lucky it started to show as a slow drip

I would not rely on them 100%

 

[kenny1773]

and this pic went viral the last time Texas froze

 

[BikePilot]

We saw -32F at my place yesterday morning. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary and as best I can tell nothing froze or broke. The gas bill will probably suck though.

 

[mahlv]

I can't explain why, but I had a frost free faucet freeze and split
I got lucky it started to show as a slow drip

I would not rely on them 100%

View attachment 8028647

Those need to be installed with grade towards the outside. The other cause for failure is that hoses get left connected, which don't allow the water to drain out.

 

[kenny1773]

Those need to be installed with grade towards the outside. The other cause for failure is that hoses get left connected, which don't allow the water to drain out.

The grade was correct

I can only think the previous owner of my house left a hose connected. House is 16 years old, the faucet was original
I bought the house in June, caught the leak in September, no chance of a freeze in that time period in central VA

but that makes perfect sense. The previous owner of my house was a moron and did a lot of stupid things

 

[NotByWorks]

@TexPatriot

So did your pipes survive?

I drained a couple of unoccupied buildings and blew out the lines with the air compressor. Worked just fine.

 

[Lightning8]

This is old hat to those in cold climates - 12 degrees and sustained cold weather is not normal in middle Georgia where I live. My house was fine but MANY busted lines in houses around middle GA - so bad that the water storage systems drained and a "boil water" message went out for a few days. Lots of plumbing work for a couple of weeks. I am 62 years old and this was a one in a lifetime cold event in middle GA - no, the houses are not built for this, they are built for 100 degree summers.

 

[TexPatriot]

@TexPatriot

So did your pipes survive?

I drained a couple of unoccupied buildings and blew out the lines with the air compressor. Worked just fine.

Yes, thank you. No broken pipes this this time.

I drained the cabin line and turned the well pump off. I'll be doing that whenever it gets in the teens in Austin which means low teens and single digits out here to the west.

Next time I do need to blow air through to get the water out of a low spot.

 

[NotByWorks]

Glad it worked out for you.

 

[TACC]

Yes, thank you. No broken pipes this this time.

I drained the cabin line and turned the well pump off. I'll be doing that whenever it gets in the teens in Austin which means low teens and single digits out here to the west.

Next time I do need to blow air through to get the water out of a low spot.

Why not just RV pink antifreeze in the lines.

Just did mine in upstate NY, going to get down to zero and they never freeze.

 

[UKDslayer]

Sh*t I just realize I left water running in the far bedroom other end of the house from the last "arctic freeze" months ago..

 

[Dead Eye Dick]

Two facts
Moving water can freeze
Water, warmer than 33F has one hell of a time freezing.

Reason water running from faucets not freezing, because the source being drawn from is well above freezing. If at any point it is subject to continuous freezing weather, allowing the temperature of the water to fall below .33 degrees its gonna freeze.

All that said, our little farm house in Downsville was built on piers, had no protection under the sills allowing plenty of 32 degree and colder air to circulate among the pipes. If we did not keep water running it would freeze.

Our lake cottage is also a pier home but it‘s main foundation is a solid wall, based in a concrete footing. So, the temperature under the home, not being exposed to weather remains well above freezing.

Still, with memories of freezing pipes from the farm (and the barn, it was awful, I promise you, a total mess made in hell, a frozen hell to be sure but H E L L !!! ) i keep the indoor faucets dripping when the weather drops into the low 20’s or colder. The outdoor faucets are protected and never had a problem.

(During Christmas 1983, we had a major freeze. Our pond froze hard enough to play ice hockey on, in North Louisiana mind you. The barn water froze solid despite efforts to protect it and thaw it out. I managed to turn the spigot on and not realizing the peril of my ways, I failed to turn it back off. Since it was frozen solid, hard to notice. Well guess what? We had a major overnight thaw and rainstorm. Then, an immediate re-freeze. The water poured out, flooded stalls filled with bedding and some manure and horse urine and all that froze into as nasty, flooded, slushy mess than one can ever imagine. Had to put a really nice show horse out in the pasture so I could put a stud in her stall as his stall was one that was a flooded / frozen / nasty / shitty slush.

Never forget the look on her face as she stared at me, frost on her back, as I shoved that frozen slushy mess out of the barn…for days. All the while that worthless little stud enjoyed the comfort of her dry, warm stall). He was an orphan and true to form, orphans and twins never amount to anything. (Quoting Walter Matthau as Lloyd Bourdelle in “Casey’s Shadow”). its true, never purchase a horse that was raised as an orphan or one or both horses who are twins.

 

[TexPatriot]

Two facts
Moving water can freeze
Water, warmer than 33F has one hell of a time freezing.

Reason water running from faucets not freezing, because the source being drawn from is well above freezing. If at any point it is subject to continuous freezing weather, allowing the temperature of the water to fall below .33 degrees its gonna freeze.

All that said, our little farm house in Downsville was built on piers, had no protection under the sills allowing plenty of 32 degree and colder air to circulate among the pipes. If we did not keep water running it would freeze.

Our lake cottage is also a pier home but it‘s main foundation is a solid wall, based in a concrete footing. So, the temperature under the home, not being exposed to weather remains well above freezing.

Still, with memories of freezing pipes from the farm (and the barn, it was awful, I promise you, a total mess made in hell, a frozen hell to be sure but H E L L !!! ) i keep the indoor faucets dripping when the weather drops into the low 20’s or colder. The outdoor faucets are protected and never had a problem.

(During Christmas 1983, we had a major freeze. Our pond froze hard enough to play ice hockey on, in North Louisiana mind you. The barn water froze solid despite efforts to protect it and thaw it out. I managed to turn the spigot on and not realizing the peril of my ways, I failed to turn it back off. Since it was frozen solid, hard to notice. Well guess what? We had a major overnight thaw and rainstorm. Then, an immediate re-freeze. The water poured out, flooded stalls filled with bedding and some manure and horse urine and all that froze into as nasty, flooded, slushy mess than one can ever imagine. Had to put a really nice show horse out in the pasture so I could put a stud in her stall as his stall was one that was a flooded / frozen / nasty / shitty slush.

Never forget the look on her face as she stared at me, frost on her back, as I shoved that frozen slushy mess out of the barn…for days. All the while that worthless little stud enjoyed the comfort of her dry, warm stall). He was an orphan and true to form, orphans and twins never amount to anything. (Quoting Walter Matthau as Lloyd Bourdelle in “Casey’s Shadow”). its true, never purchase a horse that was raised as an orphan or one or both horses who are twins.

I would have thrown a blanket on the stallion and turned him out into the pasture. Nothing worse than a wet, muddy horse stall and the sucking sound of a horse trying to slog around in it.

 

[Dead Eye Dick]

I would have thrown a blanket on the stallion and turned him out into the pasture. Nothing worse than a wet, muddy horse stall and the sucking sound of a horse trying to slog around in it.

Would have been my first choice if it was a safe choice. Best case, he would have busted through a fence and tried to breed someone else’s mare (gotten me sued for sure considering some of the horse owning neighbors) worst case, he would have busted the fence and hurt or killed someone trying to get to another mare. A stud simply cannot be trusted. We eventually gelded him but as I said, he never turned out to be much. His grandsire was a world champion and like his grand sire, he had a nasty temperament.

 

[turbo_bird]

I've never left outside faucets running in cold weather, or covered them up. Even the regular old gate valves that shut off outside the wall have never been a problem, and it gets fairly cold here in the winter, before Christmas was down to -34. Maybe it's because the copper piping comes from a heated basement and doesn't stick out very far, but as long as there's nothing connected like a splitter tee or something, we've never had an issue. I finally replaced the 40 year old originals on the house last year because a couple weren't shutting off properly any more, but that was just because of age.
Kristian

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

Two facts
Moving water can freeze
Water, warmer than 33F has one hell of a time freezing.

Reason water running from faucets not freezing, because the source being drawn from is well above freezing. If at any point it is subject to continuous freezing weather, allowing the temperature of the water to fall below .33 degrees its gonna freeze.

All that said, our little farm house in Downsville was built on piers, had no protection under the sills allowing plenty of 32 degree and colder air to circulate among the pipes. If we did not keep water running it would freeze.

Our lake cottage is also a pier home but it‘s main foundation is a solid wall, based in a concrete footing. So, the temperature under the home, not being exposed to weather remains well above freezing.

Still, with memories of freezing pipes from the farm (and the barn, it was awful, I promise you, a total mess made in hell, a frozen hell to be sure but H E L L !!! ) i keep the indoor faucets dripping when the weather drops into the low 20’s or colder. The outdoor faucets are protected and never had a problem.

(During Christmas 1983, we had a major freeze. Our pond froze hard enough to play ice hockey on, in North Louisiana mind you. The barn water froze solid despite efforts to protect it and thaw it out. I managed to turn the spigot on and not realizing the peril of my ways, I failed to turn it back off. Since it was frozen solid, hard to notice. Well guess what? We had a major overnight thaw and rainstorm. Then, an immediate re-freeze. The water poured out, flooded stalls filled with bedding and some manure and horse urine and all that froze into as nasty, flooded, slushy mess than one can ever imagine. Had to put a really nice show horse out in the pasture so I could put a stud in her stall as his stall was one that was a flooded / frozen / nasty / shitty slush.

Never forget the look on her face as she stared at me, frost on her back, as I shoved that frozen slushy mess out of the barn…for days. All the while that worthless little stud enjoyed the comfort of her dry, warm stall). He was an orphan and true to form, orphans and twins never amount to anything. (Quoting Walter Matthau as Lloyd Bourdelle in “Casey’s Shadow”). its true, never purchase a horse that was raised as an orphan or one or both horses who are twins.

That was the year, the only year on record, that the Red River froze. That was a frikkin cold two weeks.