Freeze Miser Advantages
- , by Trudy Chuoke Trudy Chuoke
We are finally having some cold weather in Texas. Maybe you have weatherized your house already, but in case you haven’t, let me give you some ideas. I’m going to start with simplest thing, Freeze Miser. I say Freeze Miser is the simple answer because if you can attach a garden hose to the faucet outside, you can install a Freeze Miser. Once you screw on the Freeze Miser, then turn the water on full. If the water temperature is above 35 degrees, nothing will happen. But when the temperature in the water goes below 35 degrees, the Freeze Miser will start to drip, a very economical drip. If the water temperature keeps dropping, the Freeze Miser will continue drip and keep the faucet from freezing. The Freeze Miser also protects the pipes behind the faucet. You won’t have to wrap any outdoor pipes Freeze Miser will protect it all. You can leave your garden hose on and attach Freeze Miser to the end of your hose; just make sure Freeze Miser doesn’t touch the ground. I like to install a Y to the faucet, then keep a hose on one side and Freeze Miser on the other side. Keep the water on to the Freeze Miser side, and then when you need to water, turn the water on to the side of the garden hose. See how easy, and that’s a great advantage.
If you can’t find any Freeze Misers at your local hardware store, then you will need to install faucet covers. Faucet covers only will protect the faucet, and if you have an extended pipe to the faucet you will need to use pipe wrap. Faucet covers should sit tight against the house so that you have a good barrier from the cold. And faucet covers are very economical and will last for years. There are several types of faucet covers, there is the slip-on plastic cover that just slips over your faucet. There are no cords to tighten, and it will fit a standard faucet. Then there is a foam faucet cover that needs to fit over the faucet handle, then put the strap to secure it against the house and then slid the cord lock to hold the cover in place. Still remember if you have exposed pipes to wrap them with pipe insulation. Pipe insulation comes in several sizes from ½ inch to 1 ½ to take care of any pipe size and it is split down the middle for ease of installation.
Do you need to drip inside the house? If you are leaving the heat on in the house and the weather doesn’t get down to 20 degrees and stay there, no. But if we get a snowpocalypse like we did a few years back – yes drip those faucets. It will keep the water moving and not freezing. Now let me give you a tip, locate your water meter- just in case you need to shut off the water. Put a “sprinkler flag” in the hole of the cover. That way if it snows – you know where it is. And if you don’t have a water meter key- get one right now, before everyone needs one.
I decided that I would start this year and do a recap of all articles when we reach the end of the month. You will read this article on the 29th. I think it’s so funny because I am looking back and at the first of the month, we were having very mild weather, and I talked about mosquitoes. Then we talked about White Ring Remover to take care of any hazy spots on wood furniture caused by a sweaty glass. Then last week I wrote about E-Cloth and the differences in microfiber cloths. And now, I am writing about freeze protection. So, if you didn’t get any of these articles, just go to the website and look them up. They will all be there and any help that you need in finding the products.
Now to the email….
Question: During Christmas we were gifted a leather sofa from a family member. It’s wonderful but it has many surface scratches and it’s dull. What would you suggest to revive this leather sofa? It’s light golden brown.
Answer: Howard’s makes Leather Salve that works great on leather. I have seen it work on really worn leather and make it look so good. The good part, it provides protection from further damage.