I live in West Texas where we rarely see temperatures below 25 degrees, so I know next to nothing about what to do to prepare for the temperatures that are forecasted for the next few days (supposed to be 3 degrees on Monday morning!). Currently, we're not supposed to get above freezing until sometime Tuesday afternoon. I know that a lot of you on this board live in places that regularly get cold, so I figured that this might be the place to ask for advice. I'm mostly worried about my exterior faucets. I've got four of them, and they're all currently wrapped in towels and covered with those cheap styrofoam covers that probably don't do much when temps get below 20 degrees. One of the faucets in particular worries me. For whatever reason, the pipe sticks out about 8 inches from the exterior of the house, so I don't think that it's going to take much for it to freeze and burst. Does dripping the faucet work when temperatures get into the single digits and it's freezing for several straight days? If not, is there anything I could do to help them avoid freezing and bursting?
FYI: the house that I live in is an old rock house (built in 1929) with a pier and beam foundation, so the pipes under the house can be somewhat easily accessed. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Heat tape

Can you drain the outside lines at least?

If there are none yet, you can install shut off valves fairly easily if your current supply lines are copper or pex.

Any heat in the basement?

Heat tapes have been responsible for many fires over the years, so I avoid those.

You can also install frostless hose bibs for the outside.

I did that here in addition to the shut off valves (100 year old house) with no issues and I can drain any line either one at a time or all of them in minutes.

I purchased a heating cable (heat tape) from a local hardware store online a few minutes ago, but I've yet to pick it up. My problem is that the section of pipe that I want to heat is less than a foot long, but the cable is 6 feet long (only length they had available...I'm amazed they had the product in stock at all). I've read (in the last few minutes) that heat tape can cause fires. What usually causes the fires? I only need to keep the section of pipe warm for a few days, but I don't want to take any major risks.

Yes, it’s going to get cold here and this place does not build house to withstand the prolonged cold. That one faucet could be helped by wrapping it but also putting some kind of lamp with an incandescent light next to it or a heat lamp. Leave all your cabinet does open so the heat can get under your sink to your pipes.

Leave your faucet dripping and open your cabinet doors under the faucet. Good luck!

EVERYTHING electric has its inherent risks. For what its worth, in the field I work in we have to maintain a certain oil temp for our equipment to run properly. It needs to be explosion proof/class1/div1...heat trace is one of those things. Have had a oil tank wrapped with it for years, no issues. Don't get nervous, just do it.

Another option that I dont like but others love is a heat lamp. Go to Lowes or the Depot or any hardware store. Its a red bulb you put in a lamp, pretty simple, and it gets hot.

when i lived in a mobile home, live there for 20 years, whenever it got to 15* i would plug in the heat tapes. never had a frozen pipe above 15*. the pipes were wrapped with insulation thought so your results may vary. the pipes were open to the elements and protected by plastic skirting between the mobile home and the ground. the pipe originated directly from the ground about 1' away from the skirting. the insulation went to the ground and i packed dirt around the insulation for max protection. the pipes to the house were heavy grade copper, and the pipe from the ground was cast iron and stopped about 4" above the ground if it matters.
when i got to -10 below i would have to leave the water trickle in the bathroom, the closest faucet to where the pipe entered the home from the ground..

is there a way to just turn off the water to the outside faucet? if there is just turn it off and drain the line and don't worry about it.
if you can't turn it off. in your situation i would just let the outside faucet trickle and you should be fine. maybe hook a short hose to the faucet to keep the water build away from the foundation.
if you want to use heat tape just spiral wrap it around the pipe to get rid of the excess length.

GOOD LUCK.

I too live in San Angelo.

Just unhook any hoses and cover your outside faucets with those foam covers. Been doing that since I moved here in 05.

Lowes in town has them

https://www.lowes.com/search?searchTerm=faucet+covers

Thanks for all of the advice. I canceled the order for the heat strip because it was the wrong length (by a lot) and I read that you're not supposed to wrap the strip around itself (fire hazard) At work, I have access to lots of iron powder packs (similar to those hand warmers, but much larger) that oxidize and release heat. I'm thinking of wrapping a bunch of those around the pipe and wrapping a bunch of towels (and a trash bag) around those to keep it heated/insulated overnight. That should be OK for tonight (it's only getting down to the mid-twenties tonight), and I can maybe go and buy a heat lamp tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I can't count on using the iron powder when it gets down near zero.
I'm definitely not cut out for cold weather.
BTW, Sniper, nice to see someone else from Angelo here! (What a crazy week it's been with the water situation!)

I was too late in my shop, one plastic pipe under a 2x4 cracked big time, got lucky and the water gushed out right into a drain. I found the shut-off for the back of the building then went to the front and found the shut-off for the rest of the building since my boiler died and I can't afford to fix it let alone the $3K in gas it burns every month during the winter! Today I found that every single radiator in the showroom had the copper pipes feeding them had forced themselves out of the radiators! Very little water came out of them, can't wait until they thaw out in the spring and flood the building!

Similar thing where I use to live. 2' by 2' Pump house for the well had a 100 watt incandescent light in it that we turned on to keep the pump/pipes from freezing. Warmed it up enough to keep it from freezing. Maybe put a little wood box around the faucet and run and extension cord with a drop light to it.

Yeah we have serious issues with our water delivery system in this town. Upon further reflection, that one faucet with the exposed pipe, I'd probably crack it open and let it slow drip, the rest I'd use the foam covers on.

I have a crawl and in Michigan. I closed the vents for winter and have the rim joists insulated with foam board, i think it's 2" thick. Water pipes and heat ducts run through the crawl. I have nothing on the walls and may eventually get to it. But right now it is 12 degrees outside, 63 in the house, and 56 in the crawl. As far as outside faucets, I have the frost free ones. They have styrofoam covers on them and hoses disconnected. They use the 10" or so shutoff (not sure what it's called) that shuts off inside the crawl so there is no water in the outside portion.

This would work.

Oil filled radiators work nicely and their safe. Leaving the water drip is a must. Do it all the time during severe cold.

drip...drip....drip....

If you're REALLY worried about it, fill up a bunch of containers then shut off the water to your entire house and drain the pipes till the weather warms up. Yeah, not great advice, but it beats the hell out of a flooded basement and repairing burst pipes !!

If you have a basement and forced hot air go downstairs and uncover the vents in the duct work.
People tend to cover them up to be more efficient but they are there for this very reason.

Great advice, I do it to all of my properties if I leave for any amount of time in the winter or summer. I have insurance but just do not want to deal with the whole house screwed up from a burst pipe. I have a line drain valve right by the water shutoffs, makes it easy. I also pour a little rv antifreeze in all the drain traps.