https://www.freezemiser.com/pages/how-it-works

Glowing reviews everywhere. After my Christmas Eve pipe fiasco, which has been fixed, I'm tempted to give this a shot. Not the same as freeze-resistant spigot.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 12131,

No experience but I am curious. Do you need one of those on every external faucet? It might prevent the main line from freezing, but what about other lines in the house that would not be flowing? By my house design, the main can be flowing but my master bath water line will freeze. It is the most exposed (has least insulation since it runs on an outer wall) and the farthest point from where the main water line enters the house.

I'm tempted to just dig up my water supply line at the meter and add a tee with a block valve. It would allow me to close the main water to the house and blow clear the water lines in the house with my air compressor. I would not have any water to the house but I would guarantee my water lines would not freeze. I sure wish I could build a house so I could correct these ridiculous design flaws. It would be easy to fix with proper house design.

quote:

Freeze Miser

Sorry, I have nothing useful to add... but can't resist.



https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_SGlPnA_iCk

Looks quite interesting. There are a couple faucets I may have to try that out on.

I just use the Styrofoam caps to put on the outdoor faucets. Got down to nine degrees one year. No issues. Home Depot has them.

https://www.amazon.com/Frost-K...id=3TY3Y1AVSMDS0&key

quote:

By my house design, the main can be flowing but my master bath water line will freeze. It is the most exposed (has least insulation since it runs on an outer wall) and the farthest point from where the main water line enters the house.

^^^^^^^^^
I lived in central Wisconsion where the frost level reached nine feet. Put the outdoor covers on every faucet and run the master bath at a slow trickle. That is all it takes

Interesting concept.
Looks like all their products are sold out, but for $30 not a bad deal, if it works as advertised.

Two of our outdoor faucets are on the in-ground irrigation system, which gets shut off inside the house and blown out each fall. The third has a ball valve in the basement that gets shut off in the fall and the outside valve is opened so it can drain freely.

Only problem we've ever had was last spring, when my wife rushed the season a bit quickly, turned on the water to that one faucet, and we subsequently had a hard freeze. When she tried to turn that faucet on again, the gasket had been frozen to its seat and pulled off the stem. Easy fix.

The only water lines I'm too awfully concerned about is a pair that run about six inches inside the crawl space wall for the addition. But the crawl space is insulated and vented to the basement in two or three places, so it tends to stay warm-ish. Should only be a problem if we lose heat for too long in extremely cold weather. Those lines also have ball valves on them in the basement, so I can shut them off, if necessary.

So a number of fellows run them in TX - the issue is that the ice can build up under them.

Frankly, I have frost frees on everything. Not sure why any decent builder installs anything else.

Now, where it freezes 9’ deep…

I guess the only solution is install everything really deep but I’m not sure if that would work with spigots.

Q, I’m a KISS kinda guy. I replaced all my outdoor faucets with frost free ones after snowmageddon. They work by gravity. The actual valve is 6,8,9,12” inside away from the spigot. Once you turn it off the water in the pipe assembly drains out and due to the actual valve being in a wall (assumed to be warmer) it doesn’t freeze.

My dad was a plumber, so sweating them or using PEX was simple to me, plus I have the PEX tool. And I can do drywall and paint. Mrs. Mike can’t even tell where I did it in the master bedroom.

But if you can’t do those things the $30 cost for each, in my case 4 faucets, is cheaper than having a plumber and handyman do it. The frost freeze spigots were about $25 each. Plus a few crimps for the PEX. I already had mud for the drywall and the paint. Took 45 min each all told. My time is free to me.

I had one faucet on the end of a long pipe run that used to freeze up almost every winter. I made a cover cutting off the top of a quart plastic soda bottle with a long J hook and wing nut that catches the handle. Filled up the air space with scrap shipping Styrofoam peanuts and haven't had a freeze-up since. Must be global warming, I guess.

I ordered two, I’ll let you know how they do if we get cold weather again.

UPDATE: I bought two but never got a chance to use them, since it never got below freezing again. Until now. Screwed them a few days ago on the external faucets and turned the water full on in anticipation of this artic air. When the temp got below 37, the water started dripping, but very slowly. Right now, it's 18 degrees, water is dripping a little faster, at about 60 drops per minutes. So, they're working as advertised.

I put mine on buy have not checked them.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
UPDATE: I bought two but never got a chance to use them, since it never got below freezing again. Until now. Screwed them a few days ago on the external faucets and turned the water full on in anticipation of this artic air. When the temp got below 37, the water started dripping, but very slowly. Right now, it's 18 degrees, water is dripping a little faster, at about 60 drops per minutes. So, they're working as advertised.

Thanks for the update.
Since we've moved, I've got 1 external faucet that I can't put one of the foam 'hats' on due to the pipe configuration. One of these might suit it well, for the next freeze.

Checked mine earlier and they are working fine, water dripping slowly.

Just got back from helping a church member thaw their water line. I told him to try these things.

 
I have two. Used on two outdoor galvanized pipes that stick up 18" out of the ground with a hose bib on the end. I actually have 4 ways on the end of each, using one for the Freeze Mizer.
 
Per the info, they start dripping at 37 degrees. Both of mine performed as advertised, shutting off again when the temp gets back up to 37. We never have days where it stays below freezing all day, but we do have a couple of winter months where it will drop below freezing, usually just before dawn.
 
I put a bucket under each one, figuring a steady stream from a single source like that would probably dig a hole in the dirt. The bucket works well to spread out the drippage. I am sold on them.