Should You Really Let Your Faucets Drip When It Freezes The Physics Plumbers Know

Does dripping a faucet really keep pipes from freezing, and is it worth the water? 🥶 The short answer: a cold-water drip costs about 15 to 24 cents a night, while a burst pipe can cost thousands. But the reason the drip works is not what most people think, and dripping the wrong faucet can cost you 6 to 10 times more. In this video we do the math, correct the "expanding ice" myth, and cover the safety rules first. 🔧 ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 A 15-cent drip vs. a burst pipe 1:00 Why the "expanding ice" story is wrong 2:03 What really bursts the pipe: the pressure spike 3:00 The cost math: cold drip vs. hot drip 5:54 Safety first: carbon monoxide, fire, and older adults 7:04 Which faucet to drip and which pipes really freeze 9:22 Insulation buys time (but not forever) 11:23 The hot water trap 13:20 Latent heat: why water resists freezing 19:16 Your drip is a small river 💧 KEY NUMBERS Cold drip (1 cup/min for 8 hours, about 30 gallons): roughly 15 to 24 cents per night Hot drip at the same flow, electric heat at $0.18/kWh: about $1.46 per night State Farm reported an average frozen-pipe claim payment above $30,000 (2024 to June 2025) 👍 If this saved you a plumber's call, hit LIKE. 🔔 Subscribe and turn on notifications. New videos Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 💬 Comment below: have you ever had a pipe freeze or burst? Where was it: crawl space, exterior wall, or unheated garage? 📚 SOURCES American Red Cross (Washington chapter), frozen pipe safety tips: https://www.auburn-reporter.com/?p=6681 Gordon, J. R. (1996). An Investigation into Freezing and Bursting Water Pipes in Residential Construction. Building Research Council, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: https://hdl.handle.net/2142/54757 Multnomah County frozen pipe guidance (drip as pressure relief): https://multco.us/file/46297/download State Farm frozen-pipe claims, as reported by NewsNation: https://fox5sandiego.com/news/nationa... Insurance Information Institute, winter-storm losses including frozen pipes (about $1.4 billion a year), as reported by the Durango Herald: https://www.durangoherald.com/?p=129258 National Institute on Aging (NIH), thermostat at least 68 to 70°F: https://www.nih.gov/node/10491 U.S. Department of Energy, 120°F water heater setting, as quoted in a Louisville, CO code packet: https://laserfiche.louisvilleco.gov/W... Latent heat of fusion of water (334 kJ/kg): https://sathee.iitk.ac.in/article/che... Gus Talbot is a narrated character. The math is real. Estimates assume electric heat at $0.18/kWh and water at $0.005 to $0.0075 per gallon. Check your own rates.