Deicing technology is a broad canvas if we investigate it further. There are a variety of applications, including in plumbing and aviation. However, our particular interest this time lies in removing snow, ice, and frost using heat from electricity, and the best deicing cables we recommend.
Other ways of achieving this goal might include physically scraping the frozen mass away with shovels, or using environmentally controversial chemicals. Experience has taught home-owners that neither of these are appropriate, as they require climbing up a slippery roof which can prove dangerous.
How Roof Deicers Work – The Theory
Ice, frost, or snow glittering on a roof surface in sunlight may look mighty pretty, but these can interfere with water flow, and that’s the problem. The moisture can find a way upward between shingles, through a phenomenon that engineers call capillary action.
Capillary action is a process whereby water flows through a narrow space, without external assistance including from gravity. We see this ‘wick effect’ in action when water spreads up through a cloth dipped in the liquid.
The best deicing cables such as we recommend to clients, help prevent this happening on Calgary roofs in icy winters. However, as if often the case, there are cheaper alternatives on the market, that experience teaches us to avoid.
Choosing the Best Deicing Cables for Calgary Winters
All deicing cabling products snake across a roof, carrying electricity that generates heat, and prevents snow, frost, or ice building up. The cables may be in horizontal bands across the roof surface, or more intensely over the eaves. There are two broad types of cable to choose from:
- Consistent output heating cables, offering simple solutions where winter temperatures are predictably low.
- Thermostatically-automated heating cables, that vary their output in accordance with shifting air temperature.
The Best Way to Install Deicing Cables
Safety comes first in any home improvement project. A moment of inattention can change the direction of our lives. How are you going to climb up onto the roof if you decide to do the job yourself. How will you recover your balance if you catch your foot while standing on the roof edge?
Those thoughts and attendant risks may affect the way you set the cables out. Work up from the lowest edge of the roof, because once you lay the cables down they restrict further access. Ask a qualified electrician to inspect the electrical connections before you switch on.
Valiant Exteriors’ Choice for Deicing Roofs
We use safe, reliable, high-performing roof and gutter deicing cables by rVent RAYCHEM, as we find they blend best into the overall building design. Please call us if you have an ice dam problem. There is more to laying the best deicing cables than you may think of at first sight.
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