ok, heres my first...... learned this one from the rv'ing world
fresh water hose in winter
ok, lets say you have a 50 foot fresh water hose and it is dipping into the single digits at night still below freezing during the day, here is how to keep it from freezing
go to your fav big box store and buy 10 five foot sections of pre formed foam pipe insulation, the good closed cell stuff, not the cheaper open cell light duty stuff..... in a nut shell the smoother and more void free stuff
and get a roll of that crazy over priced gorilla brand duct tape, the wet weather outdoor kind
now get the appropriate length heat tape for your needs
a 1/2 inch hose would use 5/8 inch pipe foam.... 5/8 inch hose 3/4 inch
on your way home stop and get a roll of heavy duty aluminum foil
lay out the hose, lay out the heat tape along side
snugly wrap up in the aluminum foil and place heat tape side down into the pipe foam, peel the sticky wrap off and seal the pipe foam around the hose/tape/foil assembly
a good wrap of the gorilla tape every 6 inches or so will keep the assembly together (that pipe foam sticky aint the best at staying stuck.... especially when bent around corners)
they make several different corners, elbows, tees, etc.... so configuring something around spigots and valves is just a matter of trying different pieces in different ways
keeping the seam up helps to keep tape on bottom of hose (heat rises), and the theory is the aluminum foil helps blanket the entire hose in heat that it soaks off the tape
i have used this 2 winters now and going strong, i know of people up north been doing this same thing for a decade or more with great results