There were times when I didn't want to have to mess with filling the water tank and draining the hose so I made a heated hose.
Based on local advice in Grand Junction CO where they have a lot of oilfield workers and sell a lot of heat tapes, hoses, etc, I bought a black polyethylene water hose and a heat tape at a True Value hardware store.
Be sure to check the instructions with the tape, because some specify that the tape should not be spiral wrapped, but simply taped along the length of the hose.
I used sections of foam pipe insulation with sticky edges - there is a plastic strip that keeps them from sticking until you are ready - to cover the hose with after installing the heat tape. I covered the butt joints with duct tape.
In CO at my sister in laws place I also had a five gallon bucket with fiberglass insulation in it and a short heat tape on the upright and hose bib.
This served me well for eleven full timing years.
Of course I tried hard to never have to use it, but sometimes you just have to be in a cold place for a while.
