Outdoor Faucet Covers and Texas Winters
Many people ask us, “Do outdoor faucet covers really work?”
The short answer is Yes, they work.
Frozen, Burst Water Pipes
Many of us vividly remember the havoc that the February’s snow storm wreaked on Texas. If your home survived without a burst pipe, water heater failure or any other plumbing problem, consider yourself VERY lucky.
When the temperature drops to single digits and below, many homeowners dread the idea of a burst pipe. Texas homes are not built to handle single digit temperatures. When a frozen pipe bursts in your home – you generally know it immediately. You need act quickly to shut off the water to your home and call a plumber.
Did you know that one of the most vulnerable locations for a freezing pipe is an outdoor faucet? Without a cover over an outdoor faucet, cold air can find easy access into your plumbing system, especially if you don’t drain it and close the valve before winter. Many homeowners do not know how to drain and close a valve on an outdoor faucet.
Faucet Covers are Inexpensive Protection
Trident recommends a simple and low-cost remedy that can help reduce the risk of a burst pipe to your outdoor faucet – a faucet cover. Faucet Covers and Water Meter Keys* can both be purchased at any home improvement store, such as Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, or Walmart. You will need to disconnect all of the hoses and any attachments to the outdoor faucets before covering with the faucet cover. These Styrofoam insulated covers are easy to install and fit over the top of your outdoor faucets providing an extra layer of protection against freezing temperatures.
Are the covers fail-safe for extreme temperatures? Nothing is 100% effective when dealing with extreme temps – such as the sub-zero temps we experienced in February, but they certainly can help decrease the likelihood.
Because faucet covers may not be 100% fool-proof, we encourage you to purchase a water meter key and learn about how to shut off the water to your home.