Freeze Miser?

[BroncoMo]

I thought I saw someone ask about this recently but I cannot find it. And the only other thread with it in the title is from 2019 with one response.

Does anyone in extreme climates use these? Anyone who thinks 20 F is cold, no offense but not eligible to participate

While this winter for me is unusually warm, I expect to get slammed in January and February, like usual. Last year we had a few weeks where the day time high was -20 F. Also I have wind. As in 50 mph sustained, 75+ gusts. I won’t turn this in to a physics argument, but my troughs that HAVE to be outside certainly freeze much worse than those protected from the wind. Also most of my troughs have to have between 80 and 150 feet worth of hose run to them. So I seriously question if these little devices, that appear to me to simply drip water, would suffice in an extreme environment. But on the off chance that these are some majikal secret money saver, I don’t want to be missing out

Anyone use them successfully?

EDITED I guess I should add that my definition of “use successfully” means to keep the trough from freezing, not the hoses or hydrant. But since I do have to run hoses to my troughs, then hoses and hydrants do become a concern.

[Mallard]

I’m in Eastern Ontario and just googled this, but am still unsure exactly what it is supposed to do. Keep the actual tap from freezing? But where the line comes in your barn it may still freeze.
I don’t have an outside tap. Our water tap is inside the barn in a heated cabinet and we run the hose from there. I bring the drained hose inside when I’m finished with it.
I have a 70 gal tank with a drop in heater. I have also been known to carry buckets out to the trough (50 feet) instead of dragging out the hose.

[Simkie]

Where are you planning on all that dripping water to go?

What’s the issue you want these to solve? Are your hydrants freezing? Or do you just not want to drain your hoses…?

[BroncoMo]

No I don’t have a problem I’m trying to solve. I’m just genuinely curious if there’s any way for it to keep troughs open.

I’ve read that people put a bucket under the drip or have a way to move it away from the area. Though that’s not always feasible.

I have electric heaters and meant to try out the 25 year old propane heaters before winter but never got around to it. I just keep seeing this little gadget go by on FB and it’s piqued my interest, but curious if anyone actually uses them to keep troughs open.

[Simkie]

It sounds like this is used in areas that don’t often freeze to keep spigots that aren’t frost free from freezing. Like, the hose bib at your south Texas house.

How do you see it keeping your troughs from freezing?

I’ve read that some use a bubbler to keep ice from forming in troughs. It uses less energy than a heater. But doubtful even that would work at the temps you’re talking.

[BroncoMo]

It’s in an ad on Facebook. It is implied that it can be used with auto floats on the trough and keeps the trough open. Which, I don’t trust auto floats after August.

[Texarkana]

I thought dripping water didn’t prevent freezing water per se, but prevented pipes from bursting if they do freeze by giving space for the ice expansion.

[Pico_Banana]

I saw this device on Amazon the other day. I am in a much more mild climate than you, but we do on occasion drop below 0 for a few days. Usually just once or twice a season. Upon reading how the device works, it didn’t seem like that great of an idea for super cold temps so I decided to pass and got some insulated faucet bags instead. If you do try it, please let us know as I’d be interested.

[BroncoMo]

I think that is probably what the intent is. The advertising seems misleading. They imply it’ll keep a trough open, but don’t quite tell you how.

There was a caption on FB that implied someone kept their stock tanks open with it at -40.

[Weezer]

I’m just south of Ottawa, Canada. We get below -30C for a couple weeks every winter. I don’t have any experience with these but my hay guy runs his hose on drip into the cattle trough all winter. The water overflows into a gutter in the unheated barn. There’s usually some ice in the gutter, but I’ve never seen large patches of ice in the 12 years I’ve been going there. The troughs never freeze, but his pipes do occasionally freeze.

I tried the bubblers but they aren’t sufficiently powerful to keep water moving below about -20C. I even have a fountain going all winter for a small pond and the surface of the pond will freeze, with the fountain still running under the ice.

[Texarkana]

I mean, rivers freeze. Waterfalls freeze. No slow drip or bubbler can put enough kinetic energy into the water to prevent freezing in extreme temps.

[Scribbler]

Niagara Falls can and does freeze.

[stargzng386]

We’re using these this year for our spigots and so far it’s fantastic. It works much better than the insulated faucet covers. We have frost free spigots but we’ve had 2 freeze in the past even with a cover. Our on/off valves are under the house in a very difficult to fit in crawl space. My husband can’t actually fit and it’s so tight I mentally can’t do it. When we’re below freezing it drops slowly think drip……pause….drip….etc. it saved us a huge plumbing bill to have a new valve installed. We have them on the brass splitter so I can still leave a hose hooked up.

I watched some videos of people using it for troughs and they have it hooked up to the end of the hose. When it’s on the hose it’s more of a steady stream/gushing because the water is really cold by the time it makes it there. My problem is then I’m essentially creating an ice skating rink. The one cool video I saw had a hole drilled in the trough just below the top with a tube gutter carrying the overflow water away from the trough to somewhere else. We have power so I just run extension cords to the troughs for heaters.

[clanter]

We have power so I just run extension cords to the troughs for heaters.

we moved south after the winters of the late 1970s when we had water lines buried at 36 inches freeze

[BroncoMo]

So what I’ve gathered from this is:

-very few people here have used these things.
-Niagara Falls freezes over.
-apparently im weird for asking a question without having a problem.

My water lines are well deep enough that in 12 years I have not had issues with them freezing. I’ve only had a frozen hydrant twice or so and was due to my own fault (unforcasted freeze and hoses were still hooked up).

[candyappy]

@BroncoMo

There was a caption on FB that implied someone kept their stock tanks open with it at -40.

There is ice everywhere in that picture? Looks like frozen overflow from the trough, and frozen water from the hydrant and pretty significant ice on 95% of the top of the trough.

I can’t see how that small piece of garden hose isn’t frozen solid. In reading what it is supposed to do I would be too skeptical to take the chance if I had a real long, cold Winter …

[BroncoMo]

Same! But there ARE some pictures of completely open troughs. I understand the problem with water run off. That wasn’t what came here to ask about. I simply wanted to know if there was something about this little gadget that ACTUALLY keeps a trough open, that I am unaware of.

[candyappy]

@BroncoMo

I simply wanted to know if there was something about this little gadget that ACTUALLY keeps a trough open, that I am unaware of.

You got me.

[BroncoMo]

Yeah I think I’ve pretty well concluded it would be worthless. If I had a way of running water as a test without risk of freezing a hydrant, I would just go put a trough in an area of no traffic and let it sit and trickle, to see what it does. But I’m not willing to risk a hydrant for an experiment

[Cowgirl]

NOT WORTHLESS!!! THEY ARE AMAZING!!! I live in Colorado. I have a very nice Morton Barn, with a wash stall, heated laundrey room/bathroom adjacent and a heated tack room. My barn is insulated, but not heated. Whoever built the barn put wash stall spigots that were not frost free. The first couple of years, the spigots exploded after a deep freeze (the brass actually split). There was no way to totally blow them out for the winter because I needed the water to continue to go to the heated laundrey room where I have a deep laundrey tub and faucet and toilet and laundrey machines. For the last two years I put the Freeze Misers on the spigots (there are separate hot and cold spigots) and put buckets under them. Last year, we had 2-1/2 months below freezing (yes it was a banner year for us) and yet the spigots didn’t split!!! (This past summer, though, I hired a plumber and put in frost free spigots). Yes, you have to empty 5 gallon buckets 2 or three times a day when it is below freezing, but they work!!! And you can use your hose if you put a splitter in.