I know these have been discussed on here, but I cannot find the thread. It must have been over a year ago.

For a house that is not visited every day, what are the thoughts of the all-knowing OB?


https://www.amazon.com/Freeze-Miser-Outdoor-Protection-Replacement/dp/B01KYDVTVG

I looked into them and read a bunch of old threads here. I ultimately decided not to go with them. A lot of posters liked them but quite a few said they broke rather quickly especially for what they cost. Not to mention if they do fail it could be really bad. I decided to just do it the old fashioned way going forward.

I have them on my stock tanks. I would not use them on my home and do not trust them completely. My advice, cut the water off, open all faucets and drain. If as you described, I would consider blowing the lines out with air to make sure all water is out during the winter.

Used them at the ranchito, and was very satisfied.

I love the idea and there are lots of satisfied folks. I need 26 of them and I just decided that when it gets cold enough to freeze the one or two times during the winter, I open all my valves and purge half a mile of pipe with my air adapter. I just need to get the water below the ground which doesn't take much. If you decide to go this route, and you have ball valves anywhere, they MUST REMAIN OPEN or you must ensure the valve is clear of water. In the off position, the ball hold a 100% volume of water and it will hydraulically fracture when it freezes. Guaranteed.

They work incredibly well. Dribble out just enough water to eliminate freezing threat. It'll adjust flow w temperature. A lot more reliable and less messy than manually adjusting a drip.

BrazosDog02 said:

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I love the idea and there are lots of satisfied folks. I need 26 of them and I just decided that when it gets cold enough to freeze the one or two times during the winter, I open all my valves and purge half a mile of pipe with my air adapter. I just need to get the water below the ground which doesn't take much. If you decide to go this route, and you have ball valves anywhere, they MUST REMAIN OPEN or you must ensure the valve is clear of water. In the off position, the ball hold a 100% volume of water and it will hydraulically fracture when it freezes. Guaranteed.

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This is why true garden valves aren't ball valves. Plus, during normal operations, you can dial in the preferred flow rate easier on a garden valve.

The reviews looked solid so I bought 12 of them for different places, but haven't had a freeze yet. PITA running around everywhere to drip them, etc when a lot going on.

fyi - found them new on ebay for (I think) $21ish each which should be ~30% off normal. The more the cheaper.

I bought 4 of them last year and they worked very well. I expect I'll be putting them out again shortly.

Used last year for the first time on the house. Worked flawlessly.

I used one once on a y for a line to my stock tank at the end of a long hose. Sucker ran full bore, overran the tank and iced everything within 5 feet of tank. I'm guessing the long length of uninsulated hose meant the water was cold as **** by the time it got to the miser so it just ran constantly.

BrazosDog02 said:

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Chetos said:

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BrazosDog02 said:

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I love the idea and there are lots of satisfied folks. I need 26 of them and I just decided that when it gets cold enough to freeze the one or two times during the winter, I open all my valves and purge half a mile of pipe with my air adapter. I just need to get the water below the ground which doesn't take much. If you decide to go this route, and you have ball valves anywhere, they MUST REMAIN OPEN or you must ensure the valve is clear of water. In the off position, the ball hold a 100% volume of water and it will hydraulically fracture when it freezes. Guaranteed.

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This is why true garden valves aren't ball valves. Plus, during normal operations, you can dial in the preferred flow rate easier on a garden valve.

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Pfft…I'm not getting any younger. My water lines are all 1.5" and I don't "do" dialing in. That mofo is all on or all off. Full port American on a 3/4 rubber hose is a thing of glory.

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Yeah, with 26 valves, I'm thinking you got some real Tim Allen irrigation going on. I thought I was over the top with my 8 valves… all ball valves btw, that I'm slowly replacing with arrowhead green handle brass valves .

Have 4. Went down to 8*. Worked perfectly. Piece of mind for my OCD self.

My luck with these is considerably worse than y'alls... at least 1/3 failure rate inside of a year. By failure, I mean a constant dribble whether 20F or 70F.

That said, I don't know of a viable alternative at that price.

They do make some cool ice sculptures

You can also "test" them by putting in a freezer for a few hours, then attach to the hose bib. They should drip and then cut off when they warm back up.

Running nearly 2 months late on a freeze here, so haven't tested mine yet this year.

Avg first freeze is Nov 15. Nothing predicted through next 10 days. Crazy.

DoitBest said:

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You can also "test" them by putting in a freezer for a few hours, then attach to the hose bib. They should drip and then cut off when they warm back up.

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I do this with all of mine every year before i put them on just to make sure another year in the garage didn't kill them. got them for the feb 2021 freeze which they handled and haven't had any complaints since

I use them and highly recommend them.

Get them now if you're up to speed on what's coming next weekend.

I just got two to prepare for the freeze coming, but I'm still on the fence about using these versus just the styrofoam cap covers. I'm in a new house now that I've never been through a freeze with yet. My former home was fine through the 2021-2023 winters with just the cap covers. Can anyone convince me to go one way or the other? My fear is what if I get a faulty freeze miser?

Thunderstruck xx said:

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I just got two to prepare for the freeze coming, but I'm still on the fence about using these versus just the styrofoam cap covers. I'm in a new house now that I've never been through a freeze with yet. My former home was fine through the 2021-2023 winters with just the cap covers. Can anyone convince me to go one way or the other? My fear is what if I get a faulty freeze miser?

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I have OCD off the charts on certain things. Pipes bursting is one of them. I used 4 and my crazy ass was outside every few hours making sure they were still dripping. They were.

I hear what you're saying…

Just checked mine. Working as intended.

Just ordered four more for the house that wasn't here last year. I have three on the shop from last year.

Duck Blind said:

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Thunderstruck xx said:

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I just got two to prepare for the freeze coming, but I'm still on the fence about using these versus just the styrofoam cap covers. I'm in a new house now that I've never been through a freeze with yet. My former home was fine through the 2021-2023 winters with just the cap covers. Can anyone convince me to go one way or the other? My fear is what if I get a faulty freeze miser?

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I have OCD off the charts on certain things. Pipes bursting is one of them. I used 4 and my crazy ass was outside every few hours making sure they were still dripping. They were.

I hear what you're saying…

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Same here…I'm up in Tulsa and we're expecting near 0 temperatures this weekend…This will be my first winter using them….nervous as heck!!

Home Depot sells them and seem to have quite a few in stock.

alittleright said:

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Home Depot sells them and seem to have quite a few in stock.

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Yep. Bought 4 yesterday and they had plenty of them.

Good friend and owner of Bee Cave Drilling in Dripping Springs, Jim Blair, puts them on all the wells he installs. He says they are the best way to prevent busted pipes. Go to Bee Cave Drilling Website and see his videos on how to install and test.

Do yall just leave these installed yesr round? Or just screw em on for the coming events then remove when the cold front is gone.?

SGrem said:

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Do yall just leave these installed yesr round? Or just screw em on for the coming events then remove when the cold front is gone.?

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I take them off when the threat of a hard freeze is over. They won't release water above 37* so you have to remove them to use faucet.