Freezing pipes

We have a forecasted high...HIGH of 18f coming next Thursday. That's cold af around here. I got one metal pipe at my shed, that's heated but insulated, it comes up out of the ground next to the shed and stands about 2 foot. Should I be worried about it freezing?

 

That’s cold enough to freeze a pipe. It depends on how long it will be below freezing. You can pick up some pipe insulation and wrap it. Or, if you can shut off and isolate that pipe until it warms that may be a good idea as well.

 

I'd definitely insulate it. Get one of those drip misers things that @TaquitoBandito uses too if you feel necessary.

 

Yes, it will freeze unless you protect it. You can get pipe insulation at any home improvement store, and probably at most hardware stores. Wrap the faucet with some old towels, and cover the whole thing with a bucket with a weight on top so that it doesn't get knocked or blown off. It doesn't get cold here in Texas very often, but this has kept my outside faucets safe so far. My outside faucets also stick out of the ground and are low enough that a standard Home Depot bucket will cover them. Good Luck, and stay warm!

 

Same. I drain all my outdoor pipes and hoses, i have a heater in the line to the house, but i'll have the home heater on and the vents to unused room closed, a small space heater in the master bath (furthest), bathroom cabinets open, and i'll probably run the dryer to warm my clothes in the morning, so i'm contimplating moving the potted plants into the garage and ducting the dryer exhaust into the garage.

 

Long term I would install a frost free hydrant. Sort term, you could get some heat tape and cover it with a bucket or trashcan. You could a;so just stick an incandescent light under the bucket or can. Wouldn't take much wattage to keep it above freezing.

 

several good suggestions already, also suggest leave tap dripping to avoid freezing. Not a longterm solution but works in areas where don't freeze often.

 

They have already changed the forecast to 28, maybe it was a typo.
Thanks for the info guys. I've always seen those frost free hydrant but never knew what they were. Might call my plumber see how fast he could hook me up.

 

A one day thing it looks like.

 

Minus 3 for a high down here.

 

1983 Lowery AFB training. Woke up at 0530 and it was like 60. Told the guy in charge let's leave our field jackets since it's going to be warm. He said no doing, we'll be marching home in snow on the way back. Damn if he wasn't right.

 

The older I get the more the cold bugs me. I could see myself retiring somewhere warm.

 

Check out the temp forcast for next thurs. Sat and sun are the same as friday. Gonna be rough for some folk, but this year i saved about 20 gallons of fresh filtered water in orange juice jugs, and over 50 gallon milk jugs of sink & toilet water. In case any neighbors have trouble.



those gusts are problematic, too. Im on top of a 700ft hill.

 

Freezemiser saved my ass during Snovid. A lot of the mom and pop hardware stores have them - there's a store locator on their site.

https://www.freezemiser.com

 

That's interesting, it only starts dripping when it needs to. Nice! wish I could get it online.

Woops, there it is. https://www.freezemiser.com/collections/faucet-freeze-protection

 

Score for the Tundra crew



Dang thing showed up just in time for the freeze. Temp didn't get above 28f today, going into single digits this evening and in the AM. Since this thing is doing this does that mean I would have had busted pipe or that it's just preventing it?

 

Hard to say but for sure preventing it.

I generally take a towel and wrap it around the faucet and then secure it with a couple loops of duct tape. Never an issue.

 

What happens when the water coming out of the tip freezes and seals it shut?

 

Running water doesn't freeze.

No sprinklers but I wonder if my cheap electric pressure washer is toast. It's in the uninsulated shed with the mowers.

 

Disagree.
This is the st Lawrence River. (Connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean)

 

That makes sense if you live somewhere that stays below freezing, but start and stop as day time temps rise above freezing and night time temps dip below freezing would leave water on the tip.

 

Since my mid 50s my low temperature alarm goes off at my age.

 

But my faucet isn't the St. Lawrence River.