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Heated driveway ?
Who has a heated driveway ? Do they really work well......or it it something of a myth ? I'm sure they don't melt a foot of snow, but are they worth while ? I'm thinking of putting one in, but not sure if it's worth the money.
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I installed 40 feet of electrically heated driveway. It's not the entire driveway, just two strips on a steep hill. Each strip about two feet wide. The strips are always clear of snow even in the worst storms. A moisture and temperature sensor turns it on when conditions are right.
It's not cheap to install and uses a lot of electricity, but it has been doing the job for more than ten years. It could melt any thickness of snow, but the way it works is to melt it as it hits. |
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The driveway doesn't get hot, it does get warm enough to melt snow. One drawback is the melted snow runs down hill and forms a small patch of ice when it hits an area of cold driveway. After several storms you get a small speed bump of ice at that area.
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I did it myself, I'm an electrician. I did it when we were repaving using fiberglass mats between asphalt layers. Now I understand they have other options.
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Theres also hot water based driveway snow melting systems, however they can be very expensive to run (read several hundreds of dollars a year in fuel) that do the same thing as the electric systems. They require piping be run under the asphalt.
If you'd like more info PM me. |
I have seen the same situation that BI is refering to with water refreezing.Water bars or slight grade changes angled towards the side of the driveway solved that problem.The heated area must extend into the water bar.They sort of work like water bars on ski trails if you know what those are.
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I understand that FW Webb in Conway has the hot water system installed at their business and also sells the product.
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I would think that anyone who has radiant heat supplys would have what you need.
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When I was a teenager I worked for a plumbing supply house that heated there drive which was on a hill and 3 large trucks wide. it was about 150' (approx). The owner used 3 separate oil fired boilers (steam) heating the drive in 3 zones. This system worked fantastic with a light snow fall and medium icing conditions. When it snowed hard it just could not keep up with it and the stuff that had melted would turn to ice due to the amount of snow coming down on it. He used it for about five years and the piping started to spring leaks (Didn't have plastic or the new fancy stuff back in the 50's). Well anyway up it came and never went back again at least in all the years that I worked for them. :)
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**Way way off topic **
The city of Concord was one of the first municipalities in the country to use steam heat to melt snow off of a hill on, I believe, Centre St. in the 1890's! Imagine what that heating bill was like.
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Actually it was probably pretty cheap.Energy costs back then were not much of an issue.However,I believe Concord still has sidewalks that have steam heated melting capabilities.
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Try seely plumbing in Meredith. He put one in a paver driveway at one of my customers a few yrs back and it works good from what I have seen. He still services to this day. Although it hasent been turned on for 2 yrs till the other day and it worked just fine.
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SnowMelt
Snow melt for a driveway is essentially the same as radiant heat in a home floor,and is something that technology has greatly benefitted over the past 10 years. Plastic tubing buried beneath the asphalt, advanced insulation techniques, and condensing boiler technology make a snow melt system actually advantageous. You can make a system simple, such as throwing a switch when you want to melt, or complex, with moisture and temperature sensors running the whole show. Either way, it beats shovelling!
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What about a deck?
I know I am off topic, but I have a deck that hangs out further then my roof line. So needless to say the snow falls off the roof onto the deck and then the water drips on it creating a ice chunk of snow.
Does anyone have a recommendation on how to keep it clear, since it is just a weekend place I have a hard time getting all the ice packed snow off the deck. I looked at the roof cables but they should be installed on shingles. |
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http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...ead.php?t=5205 It won't keep all the snow off but it will let the water pass through. |
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