Frost King Electric Cable Heater

Those Frost King heat cables put out a lot of heat. I install them for folks up here in MN who have gutter and roof problems with icing. I have one I use in one gutter here, at home. A 60' Frost king cable can melt a frozen 4" gutter of ice in a few hours at 0f.
I wouldn't use one on a plastic water hose. They make thermostatically controlled heat tapes for small pies that would be a better choice. Enclosing the heat tape is sometimes desirable like in well pits and outdoor locations. You'd have to check the instructions. In GA, I'd think wrapping the hose with a good amount of insulation would work for occasional overnight low temps. You could also disconnect the hose and drain it, operating off your onboard tank for the few nights that are below freezing.

I recommend a premade hose.

http://www.amazon.com/Pirit-PWL-03-25-25-Feet-Heated-Hose/dp/B008VM889E

I would do it the easy way
Fill the water tank
And drain the water hose
Nothing to freeze

MrWizard wrote:
I would do it the easy way
Fill the water tank
And drain the water hose
Nothing to freeze

My initial thought also.

beemerphile1 wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
I would do it the easy way
Fill the water tank
And drain the water hose
Nothing to freeze

My initial thought also.

That's a great idea if your 'camping' for a couple nights. A real PITA to do that every night during winter, many many nights will be below freezing.
Looking for ideas from those that full time thru winter.
Spending north of $100 on another hose when I already have 3. nope! :)

Hi,

How are you using so much water? Or is your fresh water tank tiny?

You can heat the hose all you want--but what about the stand pipe at the campground?

Last year I used 2 25 foot heat tapes on a my 2 white hoses. I wrapped the heat tape around the hose an then covered it all with the black foam insulation tubes and taped around the foam. Temps got down to 5 degrees. I had water freeze at the hydrent . I found that I didn't wraps the heat properly at the hydrent. Re wrapped and all was good. So with the low temps you may face shouldn't get that bad.

Boozecamp wrote:

beemerphile1 wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
I would do it the easy way
Fill the water tank
And drain the water hose
Nothing to freeze

My initial thought also.

That's a great idea if your 'camping' for a couple nights. A real PITA to do that every night during winter, many many nights will be below freezing.
Looking for ideas from those that full time thru winter.
Spending north of $100 on another hose when I already have 3. nope! :)

Don't want to use on board tank. Want to use city water. My hose is 25' and the pipe stand is 3' tall. Was planning on buying a 30' heat tape/cable and attaching it to the stand at ground and running it full length of hose. There's me and the wife. We use a lot of water as if we were in our house.

Boozecamp wrote:

beemerphile1 wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
I would do it the easy way
Fill the water tank
And drain the water hose
Nothing to freeze

My initial thought also.

That's a great idea if your 'camping' for a couple nights. A real PITA to do that every night during winter, many many nights will be below freezing.
Looking for ideas from those that full time thru winter.
Spending north of $100 on another hose when I already have 3. nope! :)

Don't want to use on board tank. Want to use city water. My hose is 25' and the pipe stand is 3' tall. Was planning on buying a 30' heat tape/cable and attaching it to the stand at ground and running it full length of hose. There's me and the wife. We use a lot of water as if we were in our house.

sljkansas wrote:
Last year I used 2 25 foot heat tapes on a my 2 white hoses. I wrapped the heat tape around the hose an then covered it all with the black foam insulation tubes and taped around the foam. Temps got down to 5 degrees. I had water freeze at the hydrent . I found that I didn't wraps the heat properly at the hydrent. Re wrapped and all was good. So with the low temps you may face shouldn't get that bad.

May I ask what brand / type of heat tape you bought? And where did you get it?