How To Reduce The Chance Of Burst Pipes With An Easy-To-Install Solution From Amazon

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Having a burst pipe is something you want to avoid. Not only does it cost you a lot of money in utilities, but you will also have to deal with your water being shut off and expensive repairs. The problem is that it's easy to forget to set up your outdoor spigots so they're less likely to freeze. Sometimes, you can be safe by shutting off the water to that pipe and draining it, but you'll be miserable if you forget to winterize your outdoor faucets, so you may need a better solution. The Outdoor Faucet and Spigot Freeze Protection by Freeze Miser on Amazon is an attachment designed to reduce the risk of outdoor faucets freezing.

This product requires no power and is automatic. You install it the way you would attach a hose, by screwing it onto a spigot. Then, you turn the water on fully. The Freeze Miser responds to the temperature of the water reaching it. When the temperature drops below 37 degrees Fahrenheit, its thermal wax and spring mechanism open a valve to release water, drawing warmer supply water into the line. It adjusts the flow as the water temperature changes and closes when the water warms sufficiently. It won't run until the pressure gets too high, and it will close up again when the temperature is warm enough. 

Overall, reviewers mostly enjoy the product, giving it an average rating of 4.6 out of 5. "This is for my dorm's outdoor faucet. Temps drop fast here and I hate busted pipes. Last week it got super cold and I checked — no ice on the faucet at all. I just screwed it on in a minute and left it. Glad I don't have to worry about frozen water every time the weather changes," said a five-star review on Amazon.

These are also useful for people who use a spigot that ends in a Y and who want to keep one side usable. You can attach this to one opening and let the other one stay free for things like watering animals or plants on warmer days. 

However, there are also some flaws, especially if your water is hard. Because hard water contains minerals, mineral buildup can sometimes clog the spigot, preventing it from closing. You need to act quickly if your pipes freeze, so don't forget to check them fairly regularly to make sure they're working as intended. To help combat buildup, you can try unhooking the Freeze Miser tool on warmer days and letting it soak in vinegar for a little bit.

Tools like this shouldn't be your only form of protection against the elements. All the Freeze Miser does is let water in your pipes drip out as it gets colder. If you regularly have below-freezing temperatures, this can still be a huge loss and raise your utility bill, as it will be running almost every night. In fact, several reviews mention that if the temperature drops as low as 20 degrees Fahrenheit overnight, quite a bit of water may come out. "I put my hose in an empty 125-gallon cattle waterer with the Freeze Miser. The next morning, the waterer [...] had overflowed. This was after around 12 hours," said a one-star review on Amazon.

If the product works correctly, it helps relieve enough pressure to keep your pipes from bursting, even if they freeze. However, the amount of water you lose in the process may not be worth it, so you should also take steps to improve the insulation overall. Heat tape and foam wraps are some useful products to prevent your pipes from freezing during winter, and may reduce how often the spigot protector has to work. It's extra effort and money, but adding insulation to the vulnerable areas of your pipes helps keep everything working properly and further reduces the risk of freezing.