Those of you that have exterior faucets on your house that are Frost Proof are fortunate. It must be nice to be able to use a hose in the winter (as long as ya don't forget to unhook the hose). Next year I'm going to see what it would take to swap in a frostproof faucet on my house. I suspect it might be a pain, partly because I think it involves soldering in an area where ya gotta be really careful to avoid starting a fire. My cousin was showing me this 1 he put on his house.

Now a days a guy can use a Shark bite fitting and keep the soldering to a minimum. I install dozens of frost proof hose bibbs each year,

Chris

Shark Bites fitting
Easy peasy

Why? I ain't got a frost proof anything and I can use my hoses all winter. LOL

Just make sure the faucet you get doesn't have threads at the end of the rod that the handle is on that are aluminum as they will eventually strip out and the water will leak out until replaced

Shark bite fittings might be a little more spendy but they are the ONLY way to go. Especially when you Measure wrong or need to redo something, they have a tool to remove the fitting so that you can salvage all the brass fittings. No glue, no mess. They’re the bees knees

with them sharkbites dont let them freeze! they will shoot out like icbm missles!make shure they are inside the wall into the warm zone!

As said above shark bite is as brain less as it gets. Just ensure you have the pipe so it is not sitting level. It needs to drain towards the hose connection to prevent water from sitting on it and freezing.
God Bless

Dustin

Yea hoses can be used year round if you remove them after use. Problem I have is the hose its self freezing up. AS for the shark bite you guys have at them. My Mom and Dad's basement flooded because one was defective. They had gone to town to buy groceries after a Dr visit and the water line popped loose. Seen it several time in the first ones out. If you don't want to solder and you are replacing the faucets , compression fittings are much better.

I did plumbing professionally for a bit. Had to sweat in joints in the most difficult places that were just about guaranteed to light up or at least singe the wood surrounding the pipe. Shower valves are a typical example as they can be held in place by framing and you are working in tight quarters if you cannot access the backside.

Simple solution. Take a spray bottle filled with water , soak down the entire area that could ignite. Sweat the pipe , wet wood resists ignition. Even if it lights up a little bit , use the spray bottle to douse the flame or hot spot.

Done this many times.

I'll make a suggestion that works in my climate. Frost free, fool proof, cheaper and easier.

Forget buying a frost proof faucet. Just buy a regular hose bib. Run a line, either Pex or copper, on a small slope from the hose bib and up through the floor under your kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower, laundry room etc. Anywhere you already have water in a temperature controlled area.

Install a Tee in the cold water line and attach the new line with a shark bite. But also put a 90 degree ball valve at the Tee. When you are done with outside water in the fall, just shut the ball valve but leave the hose bib open so all water drains out of the line

good tip

Put a couple feet of pex on the bib and then hook that pex up to copper somewhere easier and more accessible.

I have all pex, but the picture gives you an idea of how much easier it is.

you still need to disconnect the hose the water can sit in the hose and bust them up

I tried the 1/4 turn type and ended up replacing a few

went to the multi turn and they are more forgiving

the only difference frost free vs non frost free is that you shut off the water at the spigot or a foot into the wall


a foot into the wall if in an unheated or little heated space can still freeze especially when outside is well below zero

I put valves in a couple of feet I still turn them off and let the water drain out of the spigot the outside wall just isn't insulated enough that the metal pipe won't freeze in a foot from the outside which is really about 3 inches into the basement