4 Modern Outdoor Water Faucet Types and Their Unique Benefits

Now that springtime is on its way, learn about all of your outdoor water faucet options to determine if your home has the faucet type best for the family’s needs.

The most common outdoor faucet type consists of a spigot, or a hose bib, coupled with a simple compression valve. While this faucet style allows your family to obtain cold water outdoors when necessary, it lacks many of the benefits of today’s modern outdoor water faucets.

Learn about four modern outdoor water faucet types and each of their unique benefits.

1. Temperature-Control Faucet

Many homeowners are content with outdoor faucets that supply only cold water. However, temperature-control outdoor faucets that allow homeowners to obtain hot, cold, and warm water from their outdoor faucets are available, and they offer homeowners many unique benefits.

First, pet owners can bathe their pets outdoors with comfortable, warm water with this outdoor faucet type. In addition, parents can rinse children off after a long day of playing in the yard or lounging at the beach with warm outdoor water instead of bringing the mess indoors. Finally, many outdoor cleaning tasks, such as washing the car and even rinsing off dirty home siding, can be done more efficiently with a little warm water.

Temperature-control outdoor faucet installation is relatively easy. After you choose a new faucet with a temperature-control design, your plumber will connect it to both cold and hot water lines instead of just the cold water line that supplies your traditional outdoor spigot.

2. Frost-Free Faucet

Whether you need to replace an outdoor faucet that froze and burst this past winter, or you would like to prevent this plumbing emergency in the future, install a frost-free outdoor faucet.

Frost-free faucets have long metal pipes that extend through the home’s exterior wall and into a heated interior space. Traditional outdoor faucets lack this pipe. In addition, this faucet type has a shut-off valve behind the faucet handle and inside of your home’s warm interior instead of directly below it where it has exposure to the outdoor elements and freezing temperatures.

You can use this faucet in the same way you use a traditional outdoor faucet. But, after you shut it off, all water traveling to it remains in the pipe section behind the shut-off valve and inside of the warm interior space where it cannot freeze.

In addition, any water that remains in the faucet trickles out of the faucet head quickly before it can freeze due to the unique faucet design. Always remember to remove your hose prior to freezing temperatures.

3. Anti-Siphon Valve Faucet

In some areas of the country, local ordinances require that every outdoor faucet have an anti-siphon valve. However, even if local regulations do not require this valve, consider installing one on your outdoor faucet. This valve helps protect your family from contaminants that could enter your home water supply if your water spout does not have it.

Also called a backflow prevention valve, this outdoor faucet component ensures that all water that enters your outdoor faucet does not flow backward and remix with your home water supply. This feature is important, as outdoor faucets can contain contaminants that could potentially harm your family if they enter your drinking water supply.

4. Ball Valve Faucet

Most residential outdoor faucets have compression valves that gradually stop the flow of water out of the faucets as you turn their attached handles. Many homeowners enjoy this valve style, as it allows for optimal control of faucet water flow.

However, another outdoor faucet valve type to consider is the ball valve, or quarter-turn valve. This offers many unique benefits you cannot obtain from a compression valve.

First, ball valves typically have longer lifespans than compression valves due to their extreme durability. If you make frequent repairs to your compression valve, then consider switching to this more durable valve type.

In addition, some homeowners with arthritis and other physical disabilities enjoy the fact that these valves only need one slight quarter-turn to shut water completely on or off.

Be sure to choose a ball valve faucet with a frost-free design if you live in an area of the country prone to freezing temperatures. Since water passes directly through a hole in this valve type before it exits your water spout, these valves are more prone to freezing and bursting without proper anti-freeze protection.

Spring will be here shortly, and you may soon use your outdoor water faucet. Consider replacing your existing outdoor faucet with one or more of these modern outdoor water faucet features.

Contact the expert plumbers at Jim Dhamer Plumbing and Sewer, Inc., to schedule  outdoor water faucet replacement  today. Please call us at (630) 964-2222 to learn more. We look forward to helping you with all your plumbing needs, as well as assisting you with any questions or concerns you may have.

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