Outdoor Faucet Covers- do they work and which ones?

[tbm5690]

The home was built in 2019. I have no idea of the outdoor faucets have freeze protection. Never hear of freeze protected outdoor faucets until reading about them in this thread.

If you take a pic of it (exterior) and post we can let you know. It should be pretty obvious. If the handle rotates "around" the pipe it has an interior valve and is frost-free.

I've never lived in a climate that doesn't routinely get below freezing, so I never knew some faucets didn't protect against that . Imagine my surprise seeing my brother's tankless hot water heater installed on the exterior of his house in SC!

 

[shortyb]

The home was built in 2019. I have no idea of the outdoor faucets have freeze protection. Never hear of freeze protected outdoor faucets until reading about them in this thread.

It's rather amazing your outside faucets don't have a shutoff valve of some sort. I'm on a slab too and both of mine do. I think it may even be plumbing 101 to install some sort of mechanism to shut off water that travels to the exterior besides a frost/freeze proof spigot. One of my valves is right next to the water main as it enters the house in the garage. Main has a shutoff valve too, obviously. The other valve was much harder to find as it was in the upstairs bathroom. This was the closest water source to that exterior faucet. This may be your case as well, start looking for valves close to the nearby water sources of those faucets.

 

[walterjay]

Yes. Send pics and you will be advised.

 

[wavinwayne]

I've rednecked it before with wall/attic insulation, covered by an old t-shirt, covered with a couple of plastic bags and duct taped closed. Wasn't pretty but it always worked for our 2 months of "winter". That was a long time ago. Now I just use the foam ones.

 

[xspeedy]

I have a limestone wall, so it is very uneven unlike brick or stucco. So I use the insulated bag type that seal against the wall better. Those hard styrofoam ones hit a high spot on the wall and leave big gaps.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frost-King-2-1-4-in-Sock-Faucet-Cover-FC3/203221860

 

[Hall]

The home was built in 2019.

Being that new and if you're in a climate that gets freezing temperatures, I'd expect them to be freeze-proof spigots.

 

[GON]

Here are the pictures of the two outside spickets. Earlier this morning I installed the covers over the spickets, yet I do wonder how much these actually help.

 

[tbm5690]

Here are the pictures of the two outside spickets. Earlier this morning I installed the covers over the spickets, yet I do wonder how much these actually help.

View attachment 257098View attachment 257099View attachment 257100

Yeah those are not frost-free so you definitely need a strategy for when it drops below freezing. They make soft covers with 3M Thinsulate that I feel would work better than the styrofoam ones.

 

[Nukeman7]

Yeah those are not frost-free so you definitely need a strategy for when it drops below freezing. They make soft covers with 3M Thinsulate that I feel would work better than the styrofoam ones.

Yesterday, I purchased the same hard covers from Home Depot that @GON used. However, I pondered over the black soft fabric covers with the 3M Thinsulate on the shelf right next them. Ultimately, I chose the hard shell styrofoam covers because the reddish-brown color matched the brick facade of my house. LOL

What is your reasoning that the soft covers would be more effective for freeze prevention?

 

[tbm5690]

What is your reasoning that the soft covers would be more effective for freeze prevention?

You can get a good tight seal on the soft ones using the attached Velcro strip, and I figure the Thinsulate is bound to have a higher R value than styrofoam.

 

[GON]

Yesterday, I purchased the same hard covers from Home Depot that @GON used. However, I pondered over the black soft fabric covers with the 3M Thinsulate on the shelf right next them. Ultimately, I chose the hard shell styrofoam covers because the reddish-brown color matched the brick facade of my house. LOL

What is your reasoning that the soft covers would be more effective for freeze prevention?

If my local Home Depot or Lowes stocked the 3M Thinsulate faucet covers- that would have been the route I would have gone with. I am not sure the product I used does much if anything.

 

[nomas]

Here are the pictures of the two outside spickets. Earlier this morning I installed the covers over the spickets, yet I do wonder how much these actually help.

View attachment 257098View attachment 257099View attachment 257100

I use the foam covers like that for my spigots . We seldom get below the mid 20's and they seem to work ok .

 

[Nukeman7]

If my local Home Depot or Lowes stocked the 3M Thinsulate faucet covers- that would have been the route I would have gone with. I am not sure the product I used does much if anything.

Interesting...my perception was that 1/2" of styrofoam and ~1" of air gap space would have more insulating value than what appears to be 1/4" of 3M Thinsulate inside a fabric bag. This is somewhat analogous to the apparent temperature when holding a cup of hot coffee in a styrofoam cup vs. a Starbucks paper cup with the cardboard sleeve.

In reality, I am not certain that either cover offers much freeze protection in an extended cold spell where the temperature of the interior volume of the cover would likely reach equilibrium with the outdoor temperature. Perhaps the key is retaining enough heat to defer it from freezing solid during the lowest overnight temperature with the assumption that it will regain some thermal energy during daytime high temperatures.

Also, for those who are unfamiliar with how the frost-free spigots work, the cutaway view below should be self explanatory.

 

[#18FAN]

It gets really cold what I do simple 0F and below outside. Just a 60watt light bulb.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

It gets really cold what I do simple 0F and below outside. Just a 60watt light bulb.
View attachment 257357

I saw one like that not long ago and had to explain to the person that since they replaced the old school filament bulb with an LED it was not generating much heat.

I've repaired multiple frost free ones because they were installed in a non-insulated and drafty bay.

 

[#18FAN]

I saw one like that not long ago and had to explain to the person that since they replaced the old school filament bulb with an LED it was not generating much heat.

I've repaired multiple frost free ones because they were installed in a non-insulated and drafty bay.

I promise this is not a LED bulb.

 

[repairman54]

Get rid of those back flow preventers on the faucets, they trap water in the valve. This way they fully drain back to the valve seat and less heat loss in the metal with covers on them.