Heated Driveways: Pros And Cons

When winter arrives and your driveway is coated with snow and ice, you may wish for a heated driveway that would relieve you of the burden of shoveling snow or eliminate the cost of hiring professional snow removal services.

However, you may be unsure whether a heated driveway is worthwhile, whether the benefits genuinely outweigh the drawbacks, or how much it would cost to install, use, and maintain such a system. This article is going to clear all your doubts.

Benefits of Heated Driveways

While the advantages and disadvantages of heated driveways vary depending on the type, the following are the benefits of heated driveways in general:

● Convenience:

Shoveling snow is hard on your back and is also a time consuming exercise. With heated driveways you can easily remove most of the manual work of removing snow from your daily winter routine. You can usually program heating to turn on and off at regular intervals or depending on a temperature trigger, but you can also manually switch it on and off.

● Health Issues: 

Slip-and-fall accidents, back pain, muscle strain, joint injuries, and hypothermia are all common side effects of snow shoveling. By “automatically” cleaning your driveway, you reduce the health concerns associated with being outside in the winter weather.

● Less Salt Damage: 

Your need for rock salt, calcium chloride, or ice melt on concrete driveway will be decreased or even eliminated with a heated driveway. When chloride based ice-melt on concrete becomes trapped in the small cracks, they attract water, which freezes and thaws during the winter. This contributes to the deterioration of your pavement. Many people are confused that at- What temperature does ice melt at-Ice melting is more effective at temperatures of 20°F and above. Rather than emitting heat, they pull heat from the environment to melt ice. The undercarriage of automobiles and vegetation near the driveway’s edge can also be damaged by salt.

Safe Paw is salt and chloride-free, non-corrosive to all metals, and non-conductive. It won’t short out circuits. It is non-toxic to both animals and humans, and it is safe to use around children and pets. The secret to finding a great ice melter is to discover one that works and does not contain sodium chloride.

Drawbacks Of Heated Driveways

While heated driveways are a good answer for cold issues, they aren’t perfect. Before you invest in a heated driveway, you should be aware of the following disadvantages:

● If the heat is not distributed evenly. Concrete might be stressed by hydronic heating tubing. Cracking can occur when the fluid temperature is significantly higher than the slab temperature.

● Repairing heating coils that aren’t working may necessitate tearing up the pavement. Occasionally, simply resurfacing is required. But most of the time, the entire driveway must be replaced.

● Heated driveways might be costly, but they can also help you save money on professional snow plowing services. They will also increase the cost of heating and hydro bills in the winter. Hydronic systems have a high initial installation cost and a low ongoing cost. Heating coil systems have a higher upfront cost, but installation is not prohibitively expensive if you’re already laying down a new driveway.

Conclusion

Whether or not you should build a heated driveway depends entirely on your circumstances. If you want to easily get rid of the slippery ice layer on your concrete driveway without damaging it, you can go with Safe Paw ice melt.

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