One major difference between a hose bib and a spigot is how you use these faucets. You can use a spigot in various ways, such as filling a bucket for cleaning or connecting to a sprinkler system.
Hose bibs are designed with threading specifically to connect a garden hose. However, that doesn’t mean a spigot can’t have threading, too. But if your garden hose isn’t fitting correctly to your spigot, you may need a quick connector or hose adapter to fit onto the spigot. This will allow you to securely connect a garden hose without leaks.
Hose Bib vs. Spigot: Differences in Maintenance
Maintaining any outdoor hose is important, but there may be slightly different tasks to check off your to-do list, depending on whether you have a hose bib or a spigot.
Cleaning
You should clean the inside parts of the hose bib or spigot, like the aerator, washer, and valves, about once per year. The outside should be cleaned regularly to clear away grass after mowing or mud after a rainstorm.
Winterizing
Before you vow to curl up inside all winter, you must ensure your spigot is appropriately winterized. To do this, you’ll need to drain the spigot fully by opening the shut-off valves to the fixture and leaving it open for a few hours, letting as much water as possible drain out. Then, you can insulate and cover the spigot to minimize the risk of freezing, which can lead to cracked pipes.
You’ll need to go through the same process with a hose bib, but first, you’ll need to drain and disconnect the garden hose if you have one attached. You can store this in the garage or shed until you’re ready to use it again in the spring.
One type of hose bib, a frost-free hose bib, has a longer pipe attachment that keeps the hose bib’s valves inside the house at a warmer temperature, better protecting the hose bib from freezing. You’ll still need to turn off the water to the hose bib and disconnect the garden hose, but you may not need to add the extra insulation and cover. Of course, if you want to minimize the risk of frozen pipes as much as possible, it doesn’t hurt to take a few extra minutes to insulate and cover even a frost-free hose bib.
Hose Bib vs. Spigot: Differences in Life Span
An average spigot will last about 10 to 20 years, depending on the material and maintenance. A hose bib, especially one that is frost-free, may last even longer, about 15 to 25 years. The best way to get the most out of your outdoor faucet, whether a hose bib or a spigot, is to keep up with maintenance, like cleaning the faucet and replacing worn-out gaskets as needed.
Hose Bib vs. Spigot: Differences in Cost
Whether you’re considering the cost of a sprinkler system to help keep up with the best time to water your lawn or just looking to replace an old spigot before it’s time to fill up your kids’ pool for the summer, you can weigh the differences in installing a new outdoor faucet or replacing an existing fixture.
Installing a New Faucet
Maybe your existing hose bib or spigot is too low to the ground to access easily, and you want to install a new one in a higher location. Or perhaps you’ve just planted a garden on the eastern side of the house, but the hose on the western side is too far to reach for watering. No matter the reason, installing a new outdoor faucet costs about $100 to $4,000. Because installing new pipes to connect the hose bib or spigot requires expertise to prevent a major leak, be sure to hire a plumber near you for outdoor faucet installation.
Replacing an Existing Faucet
Whether you have a hose bib or a spigot, replacing an outdoor faucet costs about $100 to $300. The parts cost about $10 to $60 for a basic hose bib or spigot, about $35 to $200 for a frost-free hose bib, or about $45 to $200 for an anti-siphoning spigot. The anti-siphoning spigot has a valve designed to prevent non-potable water from back-flowing into your home’s drinking water supply in the event of negative pressure in the pipes.
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing
