Safest way to have hot water outside

[janeinshanghai]

Hi. I’m renovating and want to put in an external tap that can supply me with warm water outdoors (tap will be about 3m from the main house). Planning on burying most of the external pipe work and lagging the tap. I’m thinking I’ll put an isolator valve where the pipe splits off the main house pipe work and an adjustable blending valve in the same location to mix the hot and cold water before it comes out of the outside tap.

We’ll be away from the house for weeks at a time so want to avoid this tap causing a burst in winter that will affect the main house.

If I install as described and shut that pipe off in the house and leave the outside tap open in winter should I be safe?

Any experience anyone?

Hoping @pigletjohn will appear...

What an interesting question. No idea how but I'd love to know why. Is it an animal thing?

We have an outdoor hot tap with isolator valve where it splits but no join to the cold. It’s on the outside wall next to the cold one so we use a shower type hose connector to mix the two. Never had any issues with it, and have never shut it off.

It’s lovely to have warm paddling pools in summer!

the outdoor water will still freeze eventually, lagging just slows it down a bit. Really you ought to have a drain cock at the lowest point to empty the water out before winter comes.

It would be preferable to have an indoor isolator on the hot pipe and another on the cold pipe. A blender valve might allow water to pass from one to the other. Thiswill be more or less serious or likely depending what sort of hot water system you have.

Kind of. Once my hands get cold I can’t get them warm again and I don’t fancy washing a dog/muddy boots etc with freezing cold water in winter!

my parents installed a powershower kind of water heater in the shed.
for frost or when not in use the water pipe is turned off completely at the house.

@agreatusername thank you!

@woodencoffeetable thanks - that’s another option worth looking into!