Living in the northeastern part of the country, the excessive amount of snow is a huge problem.
For about six straight months, we deal with constant snowfall.
It’s not usual for us to accumulate several feet in a single night. I’ve spent a great deal of time shoveling snow and scraping ice. It’s frustrating to need to repeat the same job every few hours. However, an icy driveway can lead to serious safety and even liability issues. Hiring someone to plow adds up to considerable expense. Putting down harsh snowmelt chemicals causes damage to landscaping and paved surfaces, and can get tracked inside and ruin carpeting. The repetitive freeze and thaw cycles shortens the lifespan of all types of pavement. My husband and I eventually invested into a snowmelt system. With a boiler heater already installed in our basement, the expense was doable. We rely on the boiler to heat our home and supplement our water heating needs. The boiler system is exceptionally reliable and easily handles temperatures way below zero. The system now supplies hot water to a series of pipes concealed beneath our driveway, walkways, patio and garage floor. The snowmelt system is triggered by temperature and moisture, automatically starting up when necessary. It keeps all the surfaces completely clear at all times. We don’t end up walking through feet of snow and getting wet feet. We don’t slip and fall on the ice or worry about where to pile all of the snow. The snowmelt system runs efficiently, without draining our budget when it operates. It has made the winter season way less work.