heating grid in ramp

[alan]

The 20 inches of snow outside got me thinking. I was wondering if anyone has a concrete ramp with a heating grid embedded in it to melt snow and ice? If so, who installs such devices?

[jayday9]

I don't know...but I heard they're crazy expensive...

[rfbdorf]

I saw resistive heater wires to lay under bathroom tiles at Lowe's; I suppose you could use that & pour a thin layer of cement over it. Don't recall the price for sure; I seem to recall it would be about $400 or so to heat a 10x8 room. A ramp would be a lot less square footage. I think it also required a fairly expensive controller ($300?), but possibly you could dispense with that & switch it on only when needed.
You could also buy heat tape made to wrap around pipes; I suppose you could lay that under a thin cement layer. That'd be a lot cheaper than the floor heater: prolly well less than $100 for enough to heat a ramp. Last time I used that stuff it had a little thermostat built onto it, that would turn on when the temp was below freezing.
- Richard

[SCI-Nurse]

They are expensive:

http://www.warmzone.com/SnowMelting....FQk1GAodlG_bmg

http://www.floormat.com/snow-melting-mat.html

http://www.orbitmfg.com/htm/heated-d...sidewalks.html

http://www.oxfordplasticsinc.com/hydronic.htm

http://www.britech.ca/

(KLD)

[alan]

Thanks for the sites.

[alan]

I called some of the sites. Warmzone, for one example, has the in-concrete system (needs someone to install it, plus a 1/2 inch or one inch layer of concrete over it, which is an added expense), or a portable mat that can be attached to the ramp (so it doesn't walk away.)

Speaking of concrete, they sure don't make it like they used to. My neighborhood is 45 years old. Much of the original concrete sidewalks and driveways are still in good shape - that concrete has only needed replacement when broken by tree roots (developer put a silver maple on every lot, because they were cheap - silver maples have a lot of surface roots, and weak wood - very few are left in the neighborhood, as most have been taken down. Ours got hit by lightning twice before we did the deed.) The old concrete includes small stones; new concrete doesn't. New concrete doesn't last nearly as long as that old stuff before it needs sealing or replacing.
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