The frost-free faucet prevents water from freezing remaining inside your pipes or valves. The frost-free hose bib is designed with a long valve stem. The pipe is protected inside the warm home. Disconnect your hoses for winter.
A frost-free hose stem is 6 to 12 inches long. It prevents freezing your pipes due to the stem washer & seat valve is inside the heated building. The water that is turned off on a frost-free faucet is stopped behind the valve. So any water remaining in the pipe drains outside and nothing is left to freeze to burst pipe.
The frost-free spigot is self-draining because it is installed at about 45 degrees downward to stop water from collecting and remaining where it can freeze. The hose bib turns a long stem to the valve farther into the house.
Cold climate areas need frost-free spigots. A frost-free faucet is protection against water damage.
IMPORTANT
1. Know that there are rubber gaskets and washers inside the frost-free spigots. It is still a good idea to cover frost-free faucets because very cold, windy weather can still reach into your house through the pipe opening.
2. You should drain and leave outside faucets open during winter just in case. All the air space in the 6 to 10 inches of frost-free stem will allow any residual water to expand if it freezes.
3. Disconnect your hoses. If a hose or other restriction is still attached, the water cannot drain from the faucet can’t drain. A frozen, water-filled hose on the outdoor frost-free spigot can damage both the frost-free faucet and hose.