Hot and Cold, Outside a Go

A few years ago I built myself a custom (ie. from scratch) shed with windows, keyless entry, an outdoor shower, power, and hot and cold running water. It is so nice to have the option of hot water outside, especially when cleaning items on cold days. The way that I designed my shed required two separate sillcocks since there are additional faucets downstream from the frost-free sillcocks coming out of the house. Did you know that there are a few options out there where the hot and cold are built into one faucet?

I know that not everyone is fond of the Woodford outdoor, frost-free sillcocks, but I have become a fan of them. The rebuild parts are readily available, they are easy to rebuild, and they are made in the USA. The most common Woodford sillcock found around Erie is the model 17 for cold water, but they also make the model 22. The Woodford model 22 is a two handle sillcock which allows hot and cold water to be blended and it is frost-free.

Swapping of a cold water only sillcock to a hot and cold water sillcock does take some work. A hot water supply pipe inside the home has to be tapped into to supply that is side of the Woodford 22 sillcock. My basement is unfinished, so that was not a huge deal; but a finished basement is another story. I also added separate shut-off valves where the hot and cold water lines were tapped into to isolate the added sillcocks from the rest of the house.

I'll be the first to admit that having hot water outside of a home is a creature comfort and not a necessity, but it is certainly nice. If you are having your sillcock changed, I would certainly asking how much more it would be to add the hot water option. If it was not much more, I would certainly add the feature.