Glossary
Heated Hose Glossary: GHT, GFCI, Self-Regulating, NSF/ANSI 61, cETLus and More
Listings for heated water hoses are full of abbreviations: GHT, GFCI, ID, NSF/ANSI 61, cETLus. This glossary explains each term in one to three sentences and says where the explanation comes from: a manual, a manufacturer, or a public agency. Terms that are only marketing are labeled as such.
The short version
The terms that matter most when buying a heated water hose: GFCI is the outlet protection the manuals require. GHT is the 3/4 in garden hose thread on spigots and RV inlets. NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 concerns what a hose leaches into water, NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 its lead content. A temperature rating such as −20 °F is the maker's own claim, and cETLus is an electrical safety mark.
The terms below are sorted alphabetically. Each definition names where it comes from: a manual, a maker's page or a public agency. Where a term has a page of its own, this introduction links to it.
How the terms hang together
The product. A heated water hose is an ordinary water hose with a heating element along its length. Whether that element is switched by a thermostat or limits itself as a self-regulating cable is explained on the page about how a heated water hose works. The thermostat's position is the one rule the PIRIT manual prints in capital letters, which is why “ambient temperature” has its own entry; the guide on how to hook up a heated water hose shows where it belongs.
Electricity. Watts, amps and kilowatt-hours describe three different things: what the hose draws, what it takes from the circuit and what ends up on the bill. The page on heated hose power use has the manufacturer figures and a calculator. GFCI, ground fault, pedestal and NRTL belong to the outlet side; the rules the manuals set for it are collected under heated hose safety.
Water quality. NSF/ANSI/CAN 61, NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 and “lead free” are often used as if they meant the same thing. They do not: one concerns leaching, one concerns lead content, and one is a legal definition. According to the EPA's guide to certification marks, NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 has also required compliance with NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 since October 2017; the page on NSF/ANSI 61, NSF/ANSI 372 and lead-free explains the labels. The page on drinking-water-safe heated hoses sorts out which maker names which standard and which certifier.
Marketing numbers. A temperature rating looks like a measurement and is a claim. The page on heated hose temperature ratings explains why −45 °F is not automatically more than −20 °F. Working pressure and inner diameter are plainer: they are stated or they are not.
Neighbors. Heat tape, Schedule 40 and overwrap come from the world of rigid pipes. They matter here because pipe heat cable is so often suggested for hoses; the page on heat tape for a water hose quotes what the cable maker says about that, and heat tape for RV pipes covers where it does belong. Spigot, riser, regulator and inlet are the unheated parts of every hook-up.
How to read a listing with this glossary
Take the title of any heated hose and sort its words into three groups:
- Facts you can check on the product: length, inner diameter, thread, the watts on the label.
- Claims with a named body behind them: a certifier for a drinking-water standard, a safety mark of a testing laboratory.
- Claims without one: the temperature rating, “lead-free” with no certifier, “self-regulating” with no data sheet.
The more of a title falls into the first two groups, the better the hose is documented. That is the principle behind the comparison on this site; how we compare describes it in full. Open questions that go beyond a definition are answered under questions and answers.
- Ambient temperature
- The temperature of the surrounding outside air. The PIRIT manual requires that the thermostat “must be exposed to ambient temperature”, not placed in a heated environment or an insulated compartment.
- Amp (A)
- The unit of electric current. Amps equal watts divided by volts: a 180 W hose draws 1.5 A at 120 V. The PIRIT manual lists 0.75 A to 4.5 A for its 12 ft to 100 ft hoses.
- cETLus
- A form of Intertek's ETL Listed Mark; it appears in the product names of Camco's heated hoses. Intertek describes the mark as proof that a product has been independently tested and certified to applicable safety standards. It is a product safety mark, not a drinking-water certification.
- City-water inlet
- The threaded connection on the outside of an RV where a pressurized water hose attaches. Water entering here feeds the RV's plumbing directly, without the fresh-water tank and pump.
- Freeze Ban
- The name under which Camco's heated drinking water hose is sold at the retailer Camping World, according to retailer listing data. It is a product name, not a technology.
- GFCI
- Ground-fault circuit interrupter. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, it constantly monitors the current in a circuit and interrupts power if the current flowing in differs from the returning current by as little as 0.006 amperes. The PIRIT manual and Miller require a GFCI-protected outlet for their heated hoses.
- GHT
- Garden hose thread: the 3/4 in thread on US garden hoses, outdoor spigots and RV city-water inlets. A “3/4 in GHT adapter” in a listing describes the fitting, not the bore of the hose.
- Ground fault
- An unintentional electrical path between a power source and a grounded surface (Consumer Product Safety Commission). It typically occurs when equipment is damaged or defective. Outdoors, next to water, this is the fault a GFCI is there to catch.
- Heat tape (heat cable)
- An electric heating cable, usually with a built-in thermostat, that is fastened along a rigid water pipe. It is a pipe product: Frost King states that its kits must never be installed on any type of hose.
- Heated sleeve
- A heated cover that is sold to go over an existing hose instead of replacing it. There are versions for water hoses and for RV sewer hoses. Their data usually comes from the seller alone.
- Heated water hose
- A water hose with an electric heating element running along its length that keeps the water inside from freezing when the hose is plugged into a 120-volt outlet, with the heat switched by a thermostat or limited by a self-regulating cable. Sold under three names for the same product type: heated RV water hose, heated garden hose and heated drinking water hose.
- Heater hose (automotive)
- A coolant hose in a vehicle's engine bay. It shares search results with heated hoses and is a different product, as are CPAP heated hoses and industrial heated hoses. None of them is covered on this site.
- Heating element
- The electric conductor that runs the length of the hose and turns current into heat. Listings also call it a heating cable or heat strip. RVGUARD, for example, states a 7 W per foot heating cable.
- Inner diameter (ID)
- The bore of the hose, usually 5/8 in or 1/2 in on heated hoses. Camco states 5/8 in for its −20 °F line; some low-priced 50 ft hoses are 1/2 in, which carries less water.
- Kilowatt-hour (kWh)
- The unit on the electric bill: 1,000 watts drawn for one hour. How many hours a thermostat hose heats per day is not published by any maker.
- Lead free
- A legal term. Under section 1417 of the Safe Drinking Water Act it means a weighted average of 0.25% lead calculated across the wetted surfaces of pipes, fittings and fixtures (EPA). A listing that says “lead-free” without naming a certifier is making a seller's claim.
- NRTL
- Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory: in Intertek's words, an independent organization recognized by OSHA to test and certify products to ensure they meet U.S. safety standards. Intertek is one of them.
- NSF/ANSI/CAN 372
- A standard that concerns the lead content of drinking-water products. Camco's listing names a CSA lead-free certification to NSF/ANSI 372. Kohree cites the standard without naming a certifying body.
- NSF/ANSI/CAN 61
- A standard that concerns what a drinking-water product leaches into the water. It is not the same as a lead-content standard. Camco's listing names an NSF/ANSI 61 certified hose; most marketplace listings name no certifier.
- Overwrap
- Laying a heat cable over itself. Frost King forbids it because the cable may overheat. The same logic stands behind the PIRIT rule not to leave a heated hose plugged in while it is coiled.
- Pedestal
- The post at an RV site that carries the electrical outlets, often next to the water spigot. Under the 2023 National Electrical Code, section 551.71(F)(2), its 125-volt, 15- and 20-ampere receptacles require GFCI protection; older parks may differ.
- Portable GFCI
- A GFCI that plugs into a receptacle like any other cord-connected device and protects what is plugged into it (Consumer Product Safety Commission). Whether one may be used with a specific heated hose is decided by that hose's instruction sheet.
- Pressure regulator
- A fitting that limits the water pressure entering the RV. In a winter hook-up it sits between spigot and inlet as an unheated part; no hose maker we could read states where it should go.
- Riser
- The upright pipe a spigot stands on. It is rigid, unheated and exposed to the wind, which makes it the part of a hook-up that insulation is most often used for.
- Schedule 40
- A marking printed on rigid plastic pipe. Frost King allows its heat cable kits on plastic pipe only if it is a primary supply pipe marked Schedule 40 with an outside diameter between 3/8 in and 1 1/2 in.
- Self-regulating cable
- A heating cable without a switch. Raychem describes two parallel conductors embedded in a conductive polymer core: as the temperature drops, more electrical paths form through the core and more heat is produced; as it rises, less. On hose listings the term is a seller statement unless the maker documents it.
- Spigot (hose bib)
- The outdoor faucet a hose screws onto. At campgrounds it often stands on a post and is called a hydrant. A heated hose does not heat it: the PIRIT manual says the hose is not designed to provide freeze protection to the water supply.
- Temperature rating
- The lowest air temperature down to which the maker says the hose keeps water from freezing, for example −20 °F, −40 °F or −45 °F. It is the maker's claim: no listing, manual or standard reviewed for this site names a test method behind it.
- Thermostat
- A temperature switch that turns the heating element on in the cold and off in milder air. Makers give different switch points: Miller below 40 °F, RVGUARD on at 47 °F and off at 60 °F; the PIRIT manual says only that the heater will not turn on unless the ambient temperature approaches freezing.
- Watt (W)
- The unit of electrical power: what the hose draws while it is heating. The PIRIT manual lists 90 W for 12 ft, 180 W for 25 ft, 360 W for 50 ft and 500 W for 100 ft. Camco and Kohree publish no wattage.
- Working pressure
- The water pressure a hose is built to carry in use. The PIRIT manual states up to 200 psi; Camco's listing names a maximum of 100 psi. Figures that appear only in a marketplace listing are seller statements.
Questions people ask
What does GHT mean on a heated hose?
GHT stands for garden hose thread, the 3/4 in thread used on garden hoses, outdoor spigots and the city-water inlets of RVs in the United States. A listing that names a 3/4 in GHT adapter is telling you the hose screws onto a standard spigot. It says nothing about the inner diameter of the hose, which is usually 5/8 in or 1/2 in.
What does cETLus mean in the Camco product name?
It is a form of the ETL Listed Mark of Intertek. Intertek describes the mark as proof that a product has been independently tested and certified to applicable safety standards, and states that it is a testing laboratory recognized by OSHA. The mark concerns product safety. It is not a drinking-water certification; those claims refer to NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 and 372.
Is self-regulating the same as thermostat-controlled?
No. A thermostat is a switch: it turns the whole heating element on below a set temperature and off above it. A self-regulating cable has no switch. According to Raychem, its conductive core produces more heat as the temperature drops and less as it rises. Listings sometimes combine both words; what a specific hose contains is only certain from its maker's data.
Where this comes from
- PIRIT Heated Hose, care and use manual (Series V, PDF via Mor Electric Heating)
- Miller Manufacturing: heated hose help page (DH25, DH50)
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: GFCI fact sheet (PDF)
- EPA: use of lead free pipes, fittings, fixtures, solder and flux for drinking water
- Intertek: the ETL Listed Mark
- Chemelex (Raychem): self-regulating heat tracing technology
Keep reading
- Know-howHow it worksHow a heated water hose works: a heating wire along the hose, a thermostat that reads the outside air, a grounded 120 V plug. With maker data and the PIRIT patent.
- Know-howPower useHow much electricity a heated water hose uses: 90 to 500 watts by length, per the PIRIT manual and Miller. With amps, the kWh formula and a cost calculator.
- Buying guideDrinking water safeHeated drinking water hoses compared by their potable-water claims: Camco names a standard and certifiers, Kohree a standard, most listings only say lead-free.
- Know-howTemperature ratingsHeated hose temperature ratings such as −20, −40 or −45 °F are maker claims without a named test method. What they tell you and what to compare instead.
- Know-howElectrical safetyA heated water hose is a 120-volt appliance used outdoors next to water. The rules makers put in writing: GFCI outlet, no extension cord, never coiled, cord checks.
- OverviewQuestions & answersCommon questions about heated water hoses, answered briefly with the manufacturer sentence or code section behind each answer, and linked to the detailed guides.
Compiled by
heatedwaterhoses.com Editorial Team
Spec sheets, manuals and electrical rules for winter water hook-ups
We are the editorial team at heatedwaterhoses.com. We read the manuals, spec sheets and listings of heated water hoses line by line, check drinking-water and electrical claims against primary sources such as the EPA and the National Electrical Code, and turn that into plain-English buying advice with sources on every page.
- Manuals quoted with source
- Watts and amps per the maker
- Ratings labeled as maker claims
- Compared by manufacturer data
- Publisher details in the imprint