replying to Eigenvector, Allan wrote: They do block wind which which drives temps lower. Other then that don't expect much if a deep freeze lasts several days but they may be better then nothing at all.
They trap a little of the heat that is in the water.
But the best solution is still a faucet that drains the water that might freeze . Lacking that , I'd leave the faucet dripping during periods of extreme cold .
Since this thread is over 10 years old, maybe the OP could tell us if they work.
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Agree.
Too late:
The OP was standing outdoors in the cold, watching the faucet. The temperature was minus 42 deg.F. He froze to death, in less than one hour. Now we will never know if that $5.99 foamie worked....
Only if the spigot is wet, and the evaporating water drains heat from the faucet. Winds feel colder to people because our skin is (almost?) always slightly wet from perspiration
Plus if you have metal pipes and a basement, the heat in the basement is conducted to the spigot, slowly but 24 hours a day.
It woudl be interesting to actually measure all this. One could put a glass thermometer thought the foam cover and get some idea.
I used to use the totally foam ones but they broke. Later they made one with a plastic case and hard foam inside.
Definitely . I keep thinking I shoudl ask some n'bors. It may be that in Baltimore it doesn't get cold enough and maybe they never drain their faucets and then I wouldn't have to do more than they do.
The valves inside do have those drain knobs, which the valves I grew up with didn't have.
The faucets I'm referring to have the actual valve about a foot inside the exterior wall . Any water outside the valve itself drains out the hose connection - assuming there is not a hose connected . We had one of those standpipe water faucets that are supposed to drain into a gravel bed at the foot of the unit . First one froze and cracked several years ago while we were in Memphis for Christmas - the water supply to the camper was hooked to it - and the second got broken off at the base when I ran over it with the car ... now I have a regular faucet that's at the bottom of a buried kitty litter bucket with the bottom cut out . It's about 16" below grade and in winter I cover it (the KL bucket) with a piece of plywood . Good thing that first standpipe unit froze , because the drain pipes also froze and if it hadn't the camper would have flooded . Not a problem any more , all my plumbing is under the house and none of the supply lines are on an outside wall . Camper is still in place but since we neither sleep nor cook there any more the water is disconnected and all lines/drains winterized . -- Snag
snipped-for-privacy@inyourpants.com was thinking very hard :
Had he been wearing foam, he would have froze to death in two hours.
The faucet does not have to be wet. The faucet is on the end of a pipe going into the house, where it is warm. It will be conducting heat from the house to the outside. Moving air past it increases the conduction. Putting a foam cover around it will lessen it.
Best solution is a freeze proof sillcock.
Called a freeze proof or frost proof sillcock.
Any gerbils? :-)
That would be convection, and perhaps radiation being addressed by the foam.
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