DRIVEWAY SNOW MELTING SYSTEM INSTALLATION
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Why shoveling, salting and sanding during the winter? There's an easier way. People usually find time is more valuable in our life then anything else. Why depends on snow cleaning contractor ??

The concept of utilizing radiant heat to improve your life also works outdoors. A Snow & Ice Melting system keeps your driveway and sidewalks clear by melting snow and ice before it has a chance to accumulate. It can be installed under any  surface.

Why install a driveway heating system?  Some of the obvious benefits are, of course, not having to shovel your driveway again, avoiding injury due to slippery surfaces, and having the confidence that your driveway will be cleared when you need to use it. Other notable benefits include adding value to your home, preserving the life of your driveway, and avoiding damage to bordering landscape with harmful salts and chemicals.

Where and when can you install a system?  Driveway heating systems can be installed in almost any location, in almost any medium (including concrete, asphalt, under pavers, etc.), and nearly anytime of the year (depending on the medium). The most popular and ideal time to install a system is during new construction. However, with weather permitting, there are no limitations as to whena snowmelt system can be installed.

How do the systems work?  Snow melting systems are composed of three main items: the heating element, the controller, and the activation device. The heating element can be either an electric resistance cable or PEX hot water tubing. These heating elements can be installed in almost any medium. The simplest application for installation is under brick or stone pavers and in new pour concrete. Asphalt can also be used, but the installation methods call for more care and labor to avoid injurious contact to the cable because of the asphalt's temperature and abrasive nature during the paving process. These systems are controlled by either a wall-mounted control box for electric systems or a small mechanical room to house a boiler, pump, manifold, etc., for hydronic systems. Both types of systems use manual and/or automatic activation devices. Available automatic sensors include aerial-mounted or pavement-mounted snow switches. These sensors activate the system when there is moisture present and the temperature is below approximately 38 degrees. Most systems also include a manual timer to preheat an area before a large storm to curb snow and ice accumulation.

The benefits are many:

• Comfort / Quality of Life - No more shoveling or sanding and it's a tremendous time-saver.
• Safety - Keeps access to your home open and free from dangerous ice and snow. Helps prevent slips and falls, reduces liabilities due to snow and ice accumulating in pedestrian's pathways.
• Reliable - Goes to work to prevent snow and ice from accumulating as soon as it starts to form.
• Economical - Eliminates contracted snow removal costs, eliminates the need for costly and dirty melting agents and sand applications.
• Cleaner - No salt or sand is tracked into heated spaces.

Just as with radiant floor heating, warm water circulates through durable PEX tubing . The tubing can be buried in concrete, asphalt or a sand bed. The water heats the slab and melts the snow and ice. Systems can be designed to operate automatically or manually with an on/off switch.

The costs to operate snow melting systems vary widely depending on the size of the area being treated, local utility costs, the average total hours of snowfall, and how fast the system user wants to melt the snow. Obviously, the larger the area being heated and the more snow there is, the higher the operating cost. Also, a system used in a colder climate may require a higher wattage (for electric) or more Btu (for hydronic) than a similar system used in a warmer climate.

Watts Heatway , a supplier of hydronic systems, says annual operating costs range from 12 to 25 cents per square foot. So on average, it would cost $120 to $250 each winter to melt snow off a 1,000-square-foot driveway.

     Depending on local utility rates, electric systems may cost even more to operate. EasyHeat , a supplier of electric mats for snow melting applications, says that the seasonal cost to heat a 1,000-square-foot slab at 50 kilowatts will run about $276 in areas of light snowfall (50 inches per year or less) and $692 in areas with average snowfall (50 to 100 inches). Those estimates are based on an average kilowatt cost per hour of $6.92.

     Material and installation costs vary widely too. For Warm Floor Center's electric system, the materials alone run $4 to $6 per square foot, according to Blackburn. Lee Hydronics' system runs about $5 to $10 per square foot installed. "The biggest variable is how far the embedded tubing is located from the power source," claims Bailey. The farther away the utilities are, the higher the installation and operating costs.

If you want a heated driveway, you don't need to install a whole new driveway because sometimes the tubing can be run under your current one. Although, the majority of the time the driveway needs to be ripped up and replaced because the installation process often leaves the driveway in shambles. Many factors influence whether you need to have the driveway replaced including time of year, soil compaction, trees in proximity, etc. Replacing the driveway ensures the job has been done correctly.
 

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