Remote Controlled Water Valve, Garden Hose Edition

[MarkSLSmith]

Hi Folks,

I need to leave my faucet dripping during extreme cold weather, but I need to be away for an extended period of time and I think it would be bad to leave the faucet drip for the entire time that I am away.  I thought I would buy a wifi activated valve to attach to the utility sink that I could turn on and off remotely.  Does anyone have good experience with a valve and can provide a recommendation on what to buy?

Thanks,
Mark

[jteneyck]

Hi Folks,

I need to leave my faucet dripping during extreme cold weather, but I need to be away for an extended period of time and I think it would be bad to leave the faucet drip for the entire time that I am away.  I thought I would buy a wifi activated valve to attach to the utility sink that I could turn on and off remotely.  Does anyone have good experience with a valve and can provide a recommendation on what to buy?

Thanks,
Mark

If you are going to be away for an extended period of time, turn the main water supply off and drain that line.  If, for whatever reason, you can't turn the water supply off, how about wrapping that line with heating tape?  

Leaving your house for any length of time w/o turning off the main water supply is just asking for trouble.  I had a friend that had a water hose burst on his upstairs washing machine.  Huge damage.  I had an expansion tank leak on my boiler once when I was gone for a week.  Fortunately, my neighbor taking care of the cats saw it and turned off the make-up water supply to the boiler.  That convinced me to install an electric ball valve just after the water meter.  It's wired to a switch next to my alarm system panel.  We turn that switch off every time we leave the house.  

John

[MarkSLSmith]

If you are going to be away for an extended period of time, turn the main water supply off and drain that line.  If, for whatever reason, you can't turn the water supply off, how about wrapping that line with heating tape?  

Leaving your house for any length of time w/o turning off the main water supply is just asking for trouble.  I had a friend that had a water hose burst on his upstairs washing machine.  Huge damage.  I had an expansion tank leak on my boiler once when I was gone for a week.  Fortunately, my neighbor taking care of the cats saw it and turned off the make-up water supply to the boiler.  That convinced me to install an electric ball valve just after the water meter.  It's wired to a switch next to my alarm system panel.  We turn that switch off every time we leave the house.  

John

I agree, but I have constraints.  The previous owner told me that the well head is susceptible to freezing at very low temps, and that I should leave the water dripping while the temps are very low.  I have no power at the well head to do a heat lamp or other means of preventing this.

In the long term, I can build a better well house and run power to it to prevent this, but that isn't going to happen quickly.

Mark

[MstrCarpenter]

I agree with the heat tape approach. Some are thermostatically controlled, and some are self regulating. I would just run an extension cord to the well head wrapped with the heat tape, wrap everything with fiberglass insulation, then cover/bundle up everything (including the electrical connection) with a contractors bag. I would also try to avoid the cord when using the snowblower.

[MarkSLSmith]

I agree with the heat tape approach. Some are thermostatically controlled, and some are self regulating. I would just run an extension cord to the well head wrapped with the heat tape, wrap everything with fiberglass insulation, then cover/bundle up everything (including the electrical connection) with a contractors bag. I would also try to avoid the cord when using the snowblower.

I measured the length of the extension cord at 275 ft.  Would the heat tape still work with this voltage drop?  I would also have to cross a gravel driveway that will still be in use while we're gone.

Mark

[MarkSLSmith]

Hi Folks,

I need to leave my faucet dripping during extreme cold weather, but I need to be away for an extended period of time and I think it would be bad to leave the faucet drip for the entire time that I am away.  I thought I would buy a wifi activated valve to attach to the utility sink that I could turn on and off remotely.  Does anyone have good experience with a valve and can provide a recommendation on what to buy?

Thanks,
Mark

Refinement to original plan.

Original plan: use utility sink, leave water on to house.

Refined plan: use the drain valve on the pressure tank in the crawlspace to mount the remote controlled valve, turn off water to house.

Mark

[MarkSLSmith]

Hi Folks,

I need to leave my faucet dripping during extreme cold weather, but I need to be away for an extended period of time and I think it would be bad to leave the faucet drip for the entire time that I am away.  I thought I would buy a wifi activated valve to attach to the utility sink that I could turn on and off remotely.  Does anyone have good experience with a valve and can provide a recommendation on what to buy?

Thanks,
Mark

BTW, in case I use the refined plan mentioned above, I'm still looking for recommendations for reliable remote controlled valves.

Mark

[jteneyck]

BTW, in case I use the refined plan mentioned above, I'm still looking for recommendations for reliable remote controlled valves.

Mark

This is the one I have.  Remote control in this case means hard wired.  Link

Something like this one is what I'll consider if the one I have goes bad again:  Link

If you buy a 3 wire valve, I think it would be pretty easy to add a relay that you could control from your smartphone, too, if that's a priority.  

John