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Anyone have heat cable on your roof??

montanajoemontanajoe Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 60,240 ******
edited October 2019 in General Discussion
We had self regulating heat cable installed this year. Curious of average cost to run it?
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  • BrookwoodBrookwood Member, Moderator Posts: 13,768 ******
    edited November -1
    My house has a metal roof but I still get ice dams along the down sloping edges. Get some pretty big icicles as well if we experience long spells without sunshine.

    When the sun does come out, the ice melts away quickly but I like to direct the falling heavy stuff with my roof rake so the dogs are safe in the backyard.

    I am curious about electric heat cable and will be watching this post with interest!
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  • NeoBlackdogNeoBlackdog Member Posts: 17,277 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Here's a site that helps you get an estimate of costs for de-icing cable.
    https://www.roofcalc.org/roof-heat-cable-calculator/
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  • jwb267jwb267 Member Posts: 19,664 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I do
    I have never paid any attention to the cost because I only plug mine in when it starts to snow
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  • jwb267jwb267 Member Posts: 19,664 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I do
    I have never paid any attention to the cost because I only plug mine in when it starts to snow
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  • spasmcreekspasmcreek Member Posts: 37,717 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    i prefer the heat on the inside of my house...i can remember times when we got some light icing and the coat on the house made for good insulation against the cold wind ...been a long time since we have had damaging ice storms and i still have pics
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  • montanajoemontanajoe Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 60,240 ******
    edited November -1
    Brookwood wrote:
    My house has a metal roof but I still get ice dams along the down sloping edges. Get some pretty big icicles as well if we experience long spells without sunshine.

    When the sun does come out, the ice melts away quickly but I like to direct the falling heavy stuff with my roof rake so the dogs are safe in the backyard.

    I am curious about electric heat cable and will be watching this post with interest!
    Only self regulating heat cable is recommended for metal roofs. The constant draw type over heats on metal roofs.
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  • nmyersnmyers Member Posts: 16,892 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I would use caution.

    The heat cable advertised on Amazon doesn't appear to be listed by UL or any other testing lab. And, it got a lot of bad reviews from buyers. I'd look at the specs (& warranty) for any unit very carefully.

    You need at least one 20A line for a heat cable, & most builders install 15A outside outlets.

    I haven't researched these cables, so I don't know if the NEC or the Fire Code permit their use.

    Neal
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  • allen griggsallen griggs Member Posts: 35,692 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Damn, I never heard of such a thing. I live in the NC mountains and we get two to three feet of snow each year. Why I remember the Blizzard of '09, we had 11 inches of snow in one night!

    Nobody around here has a heat cable.
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  • bambihunterbambihunter Member Posts: 10,792 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    allen griggs wrote:
    Damn, I never heard of such a thing. I live in the NC mountains and we get two to three feet of snow each year. Why I remember the Blizzard of '09, we had 11 inches of snow in one night!

    Nobody around here has a heat cable.

    Snow and ice are two different problems though. We rarely get more than a foot of snow here in Oklahoma and it is easy to clear off. But, it seems every year or two we get a very thick layer of ice. So much so that vehicles outside freeze shut. A friend of mine had remote start installed for the sole purpose of being able to thaw out his vehicle enough to get into it after he got frozen out a few times.
    Fanatic collector of the 10mm auto.
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  • asopasop Member Posts: 9,020 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Put them in 4 areas of valleys and after 3 years removed them. Just couldn't understand exactly the value of what they accomplished ;) Never missed them :)
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  • select-fireselect-fire Member Posts: 69,529 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    No
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  • montanajoemontanajoe Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 60,240 ******
    edited November -1
    We get snow here. We get lots of snow here. We also get very cold temps and wind, which drops the temps even lower. We also get ice and ice dams on roof edges (cold edge), and gutters and down spouts.
    These ice dams will thaw a little and re freeze. This will peel your roof right off the house and cause leaks.
    There are numerous videos explaining when and why to use heat cable on your roof. They also show how to install the cable.
    There are basically two types of cables: The hardware store DIYer style; is a 'constant' temp./constant energy draw heat tape. It is either on or off. Some have a built thermostat. These cables can not touch themselves or they will overheat and melt itself,short out. These cables usually last two seasons.

    The other cable is 'self regulating'. It can touch/lay against itself without causing any problem at all. This cable is usually 'hard wired' in and controlled seasonally by manually turning a circuit break in the house. This cable self regulates how warm to get or not and is very efficient to run.

    Our house is wired with all circuits at 20 amps. I had our electrician come out for a walk through of what I wanted for heat cable. Our electrician confirmed we have enough power coming into our panel to support more usage.
    He added a new/separate breaker in the house main panel. That breaker supplies a new sub panel installed in the garage. The new sub panel has three separate 'dedicated' circuits of 20 amps each with the new GFCI breakers. The heat cable is ran on the roof in three separate circuits/zones.
    We used the 'Raychem' self regulating cable. This cable is rated to last 12-15 years. (dam near life time warranty for me)

    The heat cable is installed,in service and works great. It was a considerable investment for us but a whole lot less than a 30 thousand roof job,plus the water damage in attic and interior of house. Yes,we are happy with our investment.
    But, we have not had the new system in use long enough yet to see an increase on the power bill. That is the question I ask, if anyone else has such cable as to tell me their cost to run it.
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  • montanajoemontanajoe Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 60,240 ******
    edited November -1
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZqiOA9dusQ&fbclid=IwAR2arxnP1Z1dTe4O82n68O_wWeC5wemIDZzDx-p3_XaoatoW_LzIPqR6mnE
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  • montanajoemontanajoe Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 60,240 ******
    edited November -1
    387674_d432017648974e6c444db65bacff7e3a.jpg387674_b8d57a800bab5977a0559e42d4e9d3ff.jpg387674_40c11000f52ab2fbbd869c6332912cfe.jpg387674_7cc1e598677047bd88b426842c07ffab.jpg387674_b05a63fd25ae1174b0b40d20b9c573c4.jpg387674_6ef5ad6610fd9e0c89fc344ea58bcd97.jpg
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  • montanajoemontanajoe Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 60,240 ******
    edited November -1
    387674_63ffa576f51d4dc06f6efcac5aae7351.jpg387674_14767ffb46c31d7f1757919f023c5ae7.jpg387674_f50287beb11100438a6128e3aba5d744.jpg387674_5d57fea3608c41058e7544692df8f952.jpg387674_5c2d9e1d5858e8adfc1731f89df62eec.jpg
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  • Smitty500magSmitty500mag Member Posts: 13,623 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    bambihunter wrote:
    A friend of mine had remote start installed for the sole purpose of being able to thaw out his vehicle enough to get into it after he got frozen out a few times.

    Back years ago before I retired, when I was working in a colder climate, my work vehicle sat outside so I kept a small ceramic heater in it with a timer on an extension cord. When I got home from work in the evenings I would just plug it up to the extension cord and by the time I got ready to go to work the next morning the heater would have been running 30 to 45 minutes before time for me to leave. It would be nice and warm and the windows were clear and dry.
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  • bambihunterbambihunter Member Posts: 10,792 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    That's a good idea. I've seen a few different ideas how people cope with it.

    A guy I used to work with had an old vehicle without working heat/air. He heated the bottom of a candle with a lighter then "glued" it to his cash right in front of him. When needed, he'd light it to defrost and/or defog his windshield. :o I honestly can't imagine that being enough, but I had to admire his ingenuity.
    Fanatic collector of the 10mm auto.
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  • montanajoemontanajoe Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 60,240 ******
    edited November -1
    but did he have heat cable on his roof?
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