Aggie said:

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Rockdoc said:

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I let mine drip inside the cover because even if it fails to drain thru the foam gasket and clogs up inside the cover, we're still just talking 32 deg, and hopefully not 5 or 10. That should spare the pipe inside the wall.

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Well it's supposed to be in the single digits.
There is no reason to wrap or cover pipes when it's only 32 degrees. Pipes won't freeze unless it's below 20 for about 4/5 hours.... which looks like we will get

Obviously there is no clear cut better method.
I'll wrap and cover my outside faucets and let the inside drip and hope for the best .

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No, what I'm saying is something covered with ice will only be 32 degrees. Ice doesn't get colder. The exposed air temp will be single digits

Dumb question, here, but hey I wasn't a science major. If I open up the Styrofoam cover to add additional insulation, won't I be trapping in freezing air, instead of the warm air when I first installed it? Or will the heat of the pipe and the house combine to raise up the temps of the new air trapped inside for it to be safe?

Turns out one of the insulation noodles I found in my late father's garage was foam, while the other was rubber.
For our purposes of insulating outside faucets, is the any difference? I assume the R values are pretty similar.

I decided to go with drip. And now...we wait. Probably won't be sleeping too well Monday night. May we all have good luck whatever we decide!

Counterpoint said:

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I decided to go with drip. And now...we wait. Probably won't be sleeping too well Monday night. May we all have good luck whatever we decide!

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Debrief is a must.

You won't know Monday night. You won't likely know until things start to thaw.

You'll know if the pipes freeze but won't know if they bust probably till Friday

By the way, a Styrofoam cooler with a light bulb or Christmas lights will go a long way. Make sure they are old school incandescent bulbs thst actually put out heat.

WheelinAg said:

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Rockdoc said:

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No, what I'm saying is something covered with ice will only be 32 degrees. Ice doesn't get colder. The exposed air temp will be single digits

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Wait, what?!?

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The idea that ice provides its own sort of oddball insulation, as it can't get any colder than 32 degrees, thus everything covered by it won't get any colder.

But then again, what would I know, as I'm apparently someone who thinks the air inside a Styrofoam cover is still the same as the day it was put on (see the general boards).

Goose83 said:

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WheelinAg said:

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Rockdoc said:

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No, what I'm saying is something covered with ice will only be 32 degrees. Ice doesn't get colder. The exposed air temp will be single digits

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Wait, what?!?

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The idea that ice provides its own sort of oddball insulation, as it can't get any colder than 32 degrees, thus everything covered by it won't get any colder.

But then again, what would I know, as I'm apparently someone who thinks the air inside a Styrofoam cover is still the same as the day it was put on (see the general boards).

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Except ice most certainly can get below 32 and does so routinely. In fact, the ice in your freezer is likely about 32 degrees below 32.

Why do people think ice can't get colder than 0C/32F? It most certainly can.

chickencoupe16 said:

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Goose83 said:

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WheelinAg said:

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Rockdoc said:

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No, what I'm saying is something covered with ice will only be 32 degrees. Ice doesn't get colder. The exposed air temp will be single digits

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Wait, what?!?

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The idea that ice provides its own sort of oddball insulation, as it can't get any colder than 32 degrees, thus everything covered by it won't get any colder.

But then again, what would I know, as I'm apparently someone who thinks the air inside a Styrofoam cover is still the same as the day it was put on (see the general boards).

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Except ice most certainly can get below 32 and does so routinely. In fact, the ice in your freezer is likely about 32 degrees below 32.

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Like I said, I'm no scientist, just something that some of us have heard passed around the grapevine over the years.

Aggie said:

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Rockdoc said:

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I let mine drip inside the cover because even if it fails to drain thru the foam gasket and clogs up inside the cover, we're still just talking 32 deg, and hopefully not 5 or 10. That should spare the pipe inside the wall.

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Well it's supposed to be in the single digits.
There is no reason to wrap or cover pipes when it's only 32 degrees. Pipes won't freeze unless it's below 20 for about 4/5 hours.... which looks like we will get

Obviously there is no clear cut better method.
I'll wrap and cover my outside faucets and let the inside drip and hope for the best .

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I can attest to this being false. We were not below 20 for 4-5 hours last night, and our pipes froze up.

Well, no Hot Hands Hand warmers to be found anywhere within 100 miles of Bryan.

One step behind again.

for what its worth, I've had to go out with a wad of newspaper and a lighter and melt the ice on a spigot before..

so you NEED to drip...

doubledog said:

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An old sock and a large Styrofoam cup works well too.

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For those that are going to drip water from the hose bib: I have never in my life heard of anything like this. Please report back after the freeze.

My theory is that the water will freeze as it drips. Cold air will pass through the valve of the hose bib. The line will freeze. When it thaws out, it will burst, and water will shoot out of burst until the line is turned off.

Pictures, video, and testimony, PLEASE!!

Goose83 said:

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chickencoupe16 said:

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Goose83 said:

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WheelinAg said:

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Rockdoc said:

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No, what I'm saying is something covered with ice will only be 32 degrees. Ice doesn't get colder. The exposed air temp will be single digits

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Wait, what?!?

---

The idea that ice provides its own sort of oddball insulation, as it can't get any colder than 32 degrees, thus everything covered by it won't get any colder.

But then again, what would I know, as I'm apparently someone who thinks the air inside a Styrofoam cover is still the same as the day it was put on (see the general boards).

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Except ice most certainly can get below 32 and does so routinely. In fact, the ice in your freezer is likely about 32 degrees below 32.

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Like I said, I'm no scientist, just something that some of us have heard passed around the grapevine over the years.

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I wonder where that came from. Everything I know from high school science says ice can be below 32 degrees. Maybe it has to do with the phase change holding at 32 degrees until the ice is solid, then continuing to cool?

legalbird said:

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For those that are going to drip water from the hose bib: I have never in my life heard of anything like this. Please report back after the freeze.

My theory is that the water will freeze as it drips. Cold air will pass through the valve of the hose bib. The line will freeze. When it thaws out, it will burst, and water will shoot out of burst until the line is turned off.

Pictures, video, and testimony, PLEASE!!

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I'd love to figure out if there's some commonality to people who drip the hose bibs. I've always done this with no insulation around them every time it freezes, and I've never had a problem, not even at 15 degrees. I thought everyone did this!

My dad did this all the time while I was growing up. No problems.

Decided to go with low flow (not drip) and covers on outside bibs. Never personally dealt with <15 temps. but figured overkill better than the alternative.

I only have 3 faucet covers but I have 4 faucets. In addition, 1 is where I don't want a mound of ice. So, I'm dripping 1 with no cover, dripping 2 with covers, and not dripping 1 with a cover. I'll report back.

There has been a lot of discussion regarding faucet covers, insulation, and dripping faucets. I have a water manifold. Is there anything else that should be done after turning the water off to my 3 hose bibs and draining the faucets?

MiMi said:

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There has been a lot of discussion regarding faucet covers, insulation, and dripping faucets. I have a water manifold. Is there anything else that should be done after turning the water off to my 3 hose bibs and draining the faucets?

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Check to see if your hose bibs are already frozen. Malek came out and put covers on ours, and said most peoples were already frozen as of Friday when he was doing them.

legalbird said:

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For those that are going to drip water from the hose bib: I have never in my life heard of anything like this. Please report back after the freeze.

My theory is that the water will freeze as it drips. Cold air will pass through the valve of the hose bib. The line will freeze. When it thaws out, it will burst, and water will shoot out of burst until the line is turned off.

Pictures, video, and testimony, PLEASE!!

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We have a spigot that constantly drips (need to fix it). No issues yesterday when everything else froze up.

Also lived in montana for 5 years with extreme cold (-20 was a normal occurence). Dripped hose bibs never froze over. Think of it like a river in extreme cold- the top of the river freezes, while water flows freely underneath. The hose bib is the same. Dripping water will keep a continual flow through it, keeping it from freezing completely.

Quote:

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Check to see if your hose bibs are already frozen.

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Is there anything that can be done if they are already frozen?

You put a hair dryer to it. I've done that before.

MiMi said:

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Quote:

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Check to see if your hose bibs are already frozen.

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Is there anything that can be done if they are already frozen?

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Hair dryer or heat gun of you have one.

histag10 said:

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MiMi said:

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There has been a lot of discussion regarding faucet covers, insulation, and dripping faucets. I have a water manifold. Is there anything else that should be done after turning the water off to my 3 hose bibs and draining the faucets?

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Check to see if your hose bibs are already frozen. Malek came out and put covers on ours, and said most peoples were already frozen as of Friday when he was doing them.

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We've been lucky so far. One of our faucet covers didn't seat completely so some air appears to gotten in, but when I ran it to check, the water flow was normal (of course now I have a bib full of water - Hope that doesn't cause any problems). Fortunately, we live in a community with town homes that are ten feet (at most) from each other, which helps with wind exposure, along with maybe a slight heat island effect as well.

Of course, the real test will be tonight and tomorrow. Hope the faucet covers, along with the small section of rubber insulation I put on the pipes earlier today will be able to withstand the onslaught. We've had mid-teens before without problems, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

pants said:

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Goose83 said:

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chickencoupe16 said:

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Goose83 said:

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WheelinAg said:

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Rockdoc said:

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No, what I'm saying is something covered with ice will only be 32 degrees. Ice doesn't get colder. The exposed air temp will be single digits

---

Wait, what?!?

---

The idea that ice provides its own sort of oddball insulation, as it can't get any colder than 32 degrees, thus everything covered by it won't get any colder.

But then again, what would I know, as I'm apparently someone who thinks the air inside a Styrofoam cover is still the same as the day it was put on (see the general boards).

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Except ice most certainly can get below 32 and does so routinely. In fact, the ice in your freezer is likely about 32 degrees below 32.

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Like I said, I'm no scientist, just something that some of us have heard passed around the grapevine over the years.

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I wonder where that came from. Everything I know from high school science says ice can be below 32 degrees. Maybe it has to do with the phase change holding at 32 degrees until the ice is solid, then continuing to cool?

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That could be it, a sort of urban folk take/misunderstanding of the science involved. I just remember as a kid hearing hat a thin layer of ice on plants supposedly helped protect them during extended cold weather.

As king of the stupid (and repetitive) questions here on Texags, I have yet another to drive everyone nuts with (one which I had referred to briefly earlier).

Earlier today, I suspected a bib spigot may been exposed to freezing weather when the faucet cover came loose over night. So, I decided to give it a check by running it for a few seconds (it ran just fine).

Now I'm curious - Did I screw up? That faucet hasn't turned at least two years, but here I go running it in freezing temperatures and filled an empty spigot full of water. Is the amount of water remaining in the pipe after running it for a few seconds going to be enough to cause any potential problems during the freezing conditions we are experiencing (and yet to experience)? Since I hadn't planned on dripping it, I promptly shut it off, and reinstalled the faucet cover. As before, guess I was worried that I might now have a bib spigot full of water just waiting to freeze and burst later tonight when temps hit single digits. Or will what remains in the pipes just simply drain out into the faucet cover?

Sorry to keep on with the (increasingly) stupid questions, but it's my Mother's house, and I don't want to screw anything up for her (as she has enough to worry about as is). And here I thought 2021 was going to be a less stressful year.

Life certainly sucks at times like these when you're a non-science major.

Ok, so this thread made me go do some experiments. I bought 3 of the nicer hard shell covers at HD Wednesday before they sold out. Took an inside/outside thermometer to see what sort of temp delta these were maintaining. After letting it sit for 2hrs, it was maintaining a 4 degree delta (28.4 outside ambient and 32.2 under the cover). That ain't going to fly with single digit lows. Experimenting with some other things now.

Goose83 said:

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As king of the stupid (and repetitive) questions here on Texags, I have yet another to drive everyone nuts with (one which I had referred to briefly earlier).

Earlier today, I suspected a bib spigot may been exposed to freezing weather when the faucet cover came loose over night. So, I decided to give it a check by running it for a few seconds (it ran just fine).

Now I'm curious - Did I screw up? That faucet hasn't turned at least two years, but here I go running it in freezing temperatures and filled an empty spigot full of water. Is the amount of water remaining in the pipe after running it for a few seconds going to be enough to cause any potential problems during the freezing conditions we are experiencing (and yet to experience)? Since I hadn't planned on dripping it, I promptly shut it off, and reinstalled the faucet cover. As before, guess I was worried that I might now have a bib spigot full of water just waiting to freeze and burst later tonight when temps hit single digits. Or will what remains in the pipes just simply drain out into the faucet cover?

Sorry to keep on with the (increasingly) stupid questions, but it's my Mother's house, and I don't want to screw anything up for her (as she has enough to worry about as is). And here I thought 2021 was going to be a less stressful year.

Life certainly sucks at times like these when you're a non-science major.

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Goose - Thank you for posting this question! Now I"m worried I may have done the same thing. I waited several hours after I let them drip before I wrapped them but hope I didn't create a problem.