We’re in the thick of winter. Is your home equipped to handle more cold weather? If you haven’t already, you should be sealing up your windows, caulking up any cracks — oh, and doing everything in your power to ensure your pipes don’t freeze! Luckily, there’s an easy way to help prevent this (very costly) misfortune: placing these ArtiGifts Pro Outdoor Faucet Covers over your spigots. They’re insulated to keep the cold out, so you can breathe a little easier this season. Grab two for just $12 on Amazon.

These winter essentials are insulated to trap heat and help ensure frigid air doesn’t reach your faucet and travel up through the pipes. Made of a sturdy, waterproof fabric, ArtiGifts Pro Outdoor Faucet Covers also keep excess moisture away from your spigots — because what does moisture do when it’s freezing outside? It freezes! Ice puts pressure on your pipes, which can lead to ruptures. Not good.

I bought some faucet covers just like these at the insistence of my local hardware store owner. I’d told him I was traveling and wanted to know if there were any precautions I should take aside from keeping my heat on and turning my water off (which you should absolutely do if you’ll be away from home!). He recommended spigot socks, and seeing as they seemed like a quick fix, I happily purchased them.

Now, when I tell you that installing them is easy — if you can even call it installing — I mean it. All you do is slip the opening over your faucet, twist the drawstring around the cover a few times and pull to tighten for a secure fit.

Over 8,600 Amazon customers swear by these faucet covers for protecting their pipes during the winter

“Living in Houston, it is rare that we need to protect our pipes, but [we] recently had a snow event and sub-freezing temperatures for a few days,” wrote one relieved user. “I bought these in preparation and am very happy with them. They are very simple to use and worked great during the three days of sub-freezing temps. Great option for the price.”

“Like a down jacket for outdoor faucets,” began another impressed shopper. “I live in the Southwest, where we do experience winter freezes, but it rarely gets below freezing and never below zero. I usually leave my hoses out and hooked up all year round, but we were having a particularly cold winter. I got these just to be safe and never regretted the purchase. You just slip them over the faucet, tighten down the cord lock and you’re all set. There is a flare of material to cover any exposed pipe.”

“I had no issues in our Dallas deep freeze this year with these on my outside faucets!” exclaimed a third. “We were well below freezing for four days straight and these held up well!”

Some fans note that they’d love to see more variety.

“This is my second time buying it. It comes pretty handy to use whenever there is a significant temperature drop,” raved a generally satisfied buyer. “I do wish the size could be slightly bigger, it would be even more helpful.”

“They’ve lasted two winters and [are] still in great condition,” wrote a final fan. “Would buy again, just wish they came in different colors so we could have ones that blend into the siding color.”

If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $35 or more.)

The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.