I have two outside spigots on my house. With the extreme cold temperatures, it is currently -6, is it a good idea to let the spigots drip to prevent them from freezing?

You always hear people talk about leaving faucets drip when it is really cold. I have never left the outside spigots drip it in the past but it hasn't been this cold around here in quite a while.

My only concern with leaving them drip would be the buildup of an ice dam and also letting water run down my foundation.

What are your thoughts, experiences, and opinions?

It is to late, they have froze now. For each one you should have a valve inside to close for the winter so you could have opened the outside one and let it drain.
Unless you have frost free ones and then you just have to remove the hose so it can look after itself.

 

Not sure there would be a point to letting an exterior spigot drip. Even with a good steady stream the cold is likely to take over and freeze it. Like most I have a cut off valve and shut off the exterior spigot's water supply [and drain the pipe] when extreme cold is forecasted.

 

Nope, bad idea. It works inside the house because the comparatively warm water is enough to keep pipes INSIDE the house above 32F. But when it's that cold outside, the water is just going to ice up. If you have a frost free spigot, keep it shut. If its not frost free, you ought to have a shutoff inside so that you can shut off the water and open the spigot to drain any water from the exterior side of the shutoff.

 

Niagara Falls froze solid for 30 hours in 1848... letting it drip didn't help.

 

It didn't have a supply of 50*F water to drip.

 

Thanks to everyone for the replies and info.

I do have shutoffs inside but unfortunately they both look like the one I took a picture of. I tried to turn them and they didn't want to turn. I was afraid to put too much torque on them, break them, and be in a worse situation. Is there a trick to break them loose or am I better off to just leave them alone?

Also, in preparation for the next freeze, is it possible to just unscrew the valve part to replace it and not have to cut out the old shutoff assembly
and solder a new one in?

 

Thanks to everyone for the replies and info.

I do have shutoffs inside but unfortunately they both look like the one I took a picture of. I tried to turn them and they didn't want to turn. I was afraid to put too much torque on them, break them, and be in a worse situation. Is there a trick to break them loose or am I better off to just leave them alone?

Also, in preparation for the next freeze, is it possible to just unscrew the valve part to replace it and not have to cut out the old shutoff assembly
and solder a new one in?

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That's just sediment build up from packing nut leaking. The handle is crusted shut.

Soak that area with some penetrating oil like kroil or at least some wd40 if you have nothing else, let it sit for awhile, then, by hand, slowly work it close/open. It may free up, and become operational again. Tighten down the packing nut if it starts to leak again.

 

Also can carefully put a wrench on the packing nut and work it back and forth to loosen things up.

 

They have these great things called frost proof faucets, give them a Google!

 

They have these great things called frost proof faucets

but they are only effective if the other end is in a heating space, if the other end is in an unheated crawlspace or otherwise exposed to frigid air it will freeze

 

If the outdoor spigot was still turned on and has froze, you're likely going to need that valve. The expanding ice will split the pipe or can even split the spigot valve itself apart. It probably won't even leak until it thaws a little and begins to drip, the water can suddenly start to flow, either inside or out. You almost never get by with freezing at that level of cold without getting some kind of damage.

You need t try about whatever you can to get the valve to shut off. Once it's turned off, remove that little cap on the left side to drain the water from the line, unless you can thaw out the spigot enough to get it open to drain.

If you can't get the valve closed, you may need to know how to shut off water to the whole house.

 

It's probably the wrong time for you to be working on it but that valve can be cleaned up without too much problem.
You should have to shut off your water main first and put a wrench on the packing nut.
I'd take a wire brush and clean it off and maybe spray a bit of WD-40 on it a day before you were going to tackle it.
Once you break the nut free you should be able to twist the valve and remove the entire assembly.
Then you can clean it up.
If you put a wrench on it you most likely will free it.
If you break it you will be calling a plumber.

 

Loosening the packing nut will not allow the stem assembly to be removed. That is a globe valve and the nut under the packing nut will allows for disassembling the valve unit.

 

Actually, it is a good idea, even if they freeze. Saw a good video several years ago that measured pressure under freeze conditions. It's not only the expansion from the freeze that bursts the pipe, but the total increased pressure within the confined volume of the closed pipe. Frozen pipes with spigot cracked open had way lower pressure and did not burst. (I could hardly believe it myself, but it made sense when the gauge showed it.) The pressure of a "closed" pipe that froze would exceed 1000 psi, as I vaguely recall, before they would burst, whereas a cracked open one came nowhere near that.