Heated Driveway News

Heated Driveways Add Value Without Steep Price Tags

The economy continues to be a delicate balance of many variables but one aspect that has improved a tiny bit is real estate. Buyers are still in the driver’s seat, so a seller does well to have remodeling projects finished that fit within their budgets or upgrades that add value to a home. One such home improvement that will add value to your home without totally breaking your wallet wide open is the addition of a heated driveway.  

Buyers are looking for homes that once were out of reach. They can afford a bit more with lower mortgage rates but they still want an amazing deal. As a seller it is up to you to provide an increased value to your home. Heated driveways sound fancy but don’t cost an arm and a leg to install. Therefore the perceived value to a potential buyer is higher without much of a higher investment on your end.

Heated driveways are a cost effective, energy efficient home improvement for you to enjoy for awhile too. Even if selling is not in your immediate plans, enjoying the fruits of a heated driveway’s labors is a smart use of home project funds. If you live in a cold climate, having a heated driveway is a smart move no matter how long you’ll be living there. An automated heated driveway does all the hard work of snow removal without you having to worry about a thing. When your snow melting system is working you don’t have too. It’s a valuable selling point for you now and for an eager buyer later.

Don't Expect Much Change on Your Electricity Bill!

Being concerned with adding a snowmelt system to your home and the impact that will have on the environment is admirable. Heavens know we don't want to create any extra burdens for our poor earth. However a radiant heated driveway is one of the efficient ways to remove snow as it runs on a 240 volt 30-amp breaker and only runs when the system is required. Snowmelt systems are not on around the clock so they don't drain unnecessary amounts of energy. An automatic snow sensor uses savvy technology to detect when the system should be turned on and does so remotely from your garage or basement (wherever you choose to install it).

The cost of operating a heated driveway is dependant on the spacing of the heat cables as well as how much space you are covering on your property. Having a four inch spacing is recommended most of the time for optimal energy efficiency as well as effective snow melting. If the rows are closer than the recommended four inches, obviously that will drain more energy and consume a higher wattage of power. The average operational cost for driveway snow melting is approximately $.28 per 100 square feet per hour the system is in use.

Driveway Heating is the Aspirin that Cures Winter Blues

Let’s face it, snow can truly be a royal pain in the you-know-what. Winters provide a white fluffy headache we all get to endure. Driveway heating systems can provide the antidote for your aches and pains. Radiant driveway heating is like a big aspirin you can pop to cure your winter angst. Not only does it do the heavy lifting for you, so to speak, but it offers and affordable home upgrade that will make it more appealing when it is time to resell.

Radiant heat cables can be easily retrofit to lie beneath your existing driveway or they are a wonderful decision as you are building a new home. Radiant heat cables are strung under your driveway’s surface and when engaged provide a suitable, simple solution to mounds of snow. The heated driveway system keeps the snow from piling up and melts snow easily and effectively to you are safe from slick and harmful shady spots in your yard. This is especially critical if you have a western facing driveway that doesn’t get very much sun throughout the day. These areas tend to be heavy laden with ice. This poses a risk and often a literal headache as people slip and fall on what could be unnecessary snow and ice build-up. A heated driveway is an attractive home improvement that gives you quite a bang for your buck and keeps the headaches at bay.

Combat Snow with a Heated Driveway

An eternal summer sounds wonderful as a concept. Enjoying endless days of blue skies riddled with fluffy white clouds, blooms on flowers, and green grass while holding tightly to a brightly colored Popsicle sounds like the right kind of world to me. Alas, snow inevitably falls and the blooms fall to the ground buried under all that falling snow. Driveways and lawns are covered for months at a time and houses with driveway heating become the envy of all the neighbors. Endless summers don’t truly exist, but nobody has to tell your driveway. With a heated driveway you can trick your driveway into believing that snow isn’t a real weather threat.

Heated driveways allow you to flip a switch and enjoy an eternal summer of your own. Maybe just on your private driveway but hey, you have to start somewhere. Radiant heat cables coil seamlessly beneath the surface of your driveway, generating heat throughout the day and night to keep your heated driveway clean and clear of accumulating snow. Automatic snow sensors work on your behalf to keep the outside temperature and snow fall monitored and turn the driveway heating system on when appropriate and needed. Even if the dream of an eternal summer isn’t reasonable you can still enjoy less snow and definitely less work during the winter by installing a heated driveway.

Enjoy a More Relaxing Winter with Driveway Heating

I remember watching the news late at night with my parents as a child, waiting for the weatherman to offer his sketchy predictions on what to expect the next day from the sky. This was especially critical to my dad during the winter time, as he was the self-appointed snow removal expert. In order to effectively plan his morning he needed to know if snow was coming and how much to plan on so he could appropriately gauge his time before work. A large snow storm in the forecast usually meant a much earlier morning for him as he fired up the snow blower, geared up in many layers and goggles and braved the dark morning to clear the snow so we could all leave the home safely.

With the dawn of driveway heating , those weather reports are not as necessary for him or others just like him who have heated driveways. The weather is just something you talk about with grocery store clerks or your lesser-known co-workers to fill the awkward din of conversation. Snow could fall or not fall, what would it matter to you with a heated driveway? And think of all the extra sleep you’d be getting if you didn’t have to wait until the end of the news to get the weather report. You could get the highlights broadcast early on, then flip off your light, tuck yourself in and drift off, confident that your driveway will be clear in the morning no matter what happens over night. You’ll find you are more relaxed with a heated driveway and not quite as caught up in watching the forecasts.

Stop the Insane Hard Winter Work and Ease Up with Radiant Heated Driveways

In life there is typically a right way and a wrong way to get things done. Often we find that the right way is the hardest way and then sometimes we are surprised to find that the right way can be the most simple. A  heated driveway is one of those cases that when done right adds comfort and ease to your life.  Radiant heated driveways automatically clear snow, and when done right are the easiest way to combat winter and all the snow that comes with it.

Driveway heating is becoming more popular as winter seems to be harsher with each succeeding winter. Snow fall records are broken time and again and each year several people try to clear their driveways the hard way: a shovel or blower and some muscle power. There are often injuries associated with these methods making winter seem cruel and unforgiving. People with driveway heating systems are doing it right and enjoy the luxury of automatic heat delivered to their driveways via radiant heating cables. Shoveling may not necessarily be the out and out wrong way to handle snow but it sure seems one of the hardest. Consider a radiant heated driveway and banish snow automatically.

Wake Up and Smell the Melted Snow

Owning a home with a radiant snow melting system is a gift. If your neighbors are not as lucky as you, you may be tempted to rub it in every time they are out shoveling heavy snow blankets from their driveway. You? All you have to do is wake up and smell the coffee as you gaze out across your snow-free driveway. Enjoy the sight of melted snow and then enjoy your morning coffee from the warmth of your living room without ever lifting a finger to remove snow.

It will be tempting to walk outside and gloat a bit as your next door neighbor struggles to scrape ice off the sidewalks and runs out of gas in his snow blower. You’ll most likely have a slight smirk on your face as you sip your hot breakfast beverage and see the sweat beads forming on poor Mr. Neighbor. A heated driveway gives you many welcome snowy mornings during the winter simply because you don’t have to bother with accumulating snow.

Radiant heated driveways literally do all the back-breaking work for you. You can wake up and go, never worrying about whether or not you’ll be able to push your car through the overnight blizzard deposits. So go ahead, wake up and see and smell the joy of your snow melting system and enjoy a stress free morning where you don’t have to add snow removal to your long list of to-do items.

Catch the Right Home Heating Trend at the Right Time

By now winter is wearing us all down. We’ve been in the clutches of the piles and piles of endless snow for far too long and we are searching the horizon for signs of spring. Next year winter will come back though and with a vengeance you will be reminded by all your smart neighbors about installing a heated driveway . It’s not a matter of keeping up with the Jones’s. It’s simply a matter of being smart enough to catch on to one of the smartest home heating upgrades you can install for a minimal outlay of cash. You honestly do not want to be the last one on your block to be savvy enough to recognize all the perks to having a heated driveway.

Radiant heat is our friend. Now more than ever we are realizing how many uses we can enjoy radiant heat with. There are radiant heated floors, radiant snow melting cables, and radiant heat cables for our roofs and gutters. With a radiant heated driveway you can enjoy a snow-free environment, at least on your paved surfaces. The snow stays where it can be more appreciated, like your front yard, but not on your driving or walking surfaces. A heated driveway is an automated system that can be installed to save you time and wear and tear on your body. You no longer have to wake up bright and early to clear the overnight storm from your only exit point. You can wake up, share breakfast with your family at a leisurely pace and then leave at the same time they all do. The beauty is that if you bet on this home heating upgrade you will drive away from your home on a sleek surface free of snow and hassle.

Prudent Thinking, Prudent Spending

How many of us plow out of the other side of winter saying to ourselves, “I think I’ll move to Florida?” After the back breaking, agonizing work of shoveling snow and clearing driveways and countless sidewalks, the Sunshine State with its charming flower, the Orange Blossom, seems like a blissful way to survive next year’s snowy months. Sadly, most of us don’t have the luxury of picking up our lives and shifting to greener, sunnier pastures where orange blossoms, well, blossom. Winter is almost behind us this year and the memory of that hard work is still fresh in our minds. Right now is the most prudent time to start thinking about installing a heated driveway snow melting system.

As the final signs of winter move behind us for another year, many products go on sale in the hope of clearing shelves for brighter, cheerier summer products. Snow shovels and sleds are the clearance “item of the week” for many hardware stores as they hope to make room for plastic swimming pools and sand toys. The same can be said for radiant heated driveways. Installing a heated driveway during the off season can always save you money. It’s like rushing out to buy Christmas lights for your house, the day AFTER Christmas. There is always a good deal to be found.

What type of driveway heating is right for you? The answer is, “it depends.” The bottom line is that installing radiant heated driveways is easier than ever and very affordable, making it a prudent way to spend in this tight economy. Heated driveways can be installed in new construction or under existing driveways and sidewalks, so maybe you won’t have to move to Florida after all. Consider the following:

There are two types of radiant heat for your driveway, electronic and hydronic. Both systems require heating elements be installed beneath the surface of your driveway. Electric driveway heating systems utilize durable long-line heating cables while hydronic systems generate heated water which is pumped through plastic tubing. Electric driveway heating systems are generally cheaper and easier to install than hydronic systems. Electric heating is ideal for home use, while hydronic is better suited for larger heating projects in excess of 4000 square feet.

Heated driveway systems are highly customizable and can be installed in any phase and configuration of home construction. It doesn’t matter if you plan on concrete, asphalt, or brick, a heated driveway system uses radiant heat to warm the surface you choose. As a plus, if you live in an existing dwelling where the driveways and sidewalks are already in place, radiant heated driveways can easily be installed. Using concrete saw-cut technology, appropriately measured grooves are cut into the concrete (or asphalt). Once the grooves have been cut, radiant heating cable is laid into the grooves, sealed using an epoxy topcoat and driveway heating becomes a reality. Weather is rarely a factor for installation, so there are few limitations on the timing of placing a driveway snow melting system. A side note to be aware of is that it is recommended that all electrical connections to the master control box be handled by a qualified electrician.

The cost to install a heated driveway is minimal compared to the long term benefits. Electric snow melting systems have three basic components: the heating element, the controller, and the snow sensor. Thanks to DMC-100 master control unit, which was recently developed for use by Warmzone, the snowmelt system features fully automated operation and manual override capability, as well as energy-efficient driveway heating. An outdoor snow sensor is connected to the master control unit and is programmed to automatically activate the radiant driveway heating cable when the sensor plate detects precipitation and temperatures are below 38 degrees Fahrenheit. With this smart technology you never have to worry about running the system needlessly, thereby eliminating energy waste and saving you from high operational costs.

A home that boasts the convenience of a heated driveway system has added property value. While the initial monetary outlay exists to install a snow melting system, installing radiant driveway heat ends up being a smart investment in the long run as you reap the property value benefits and the added convenience of never buying and replacing snow shovels, blowers, ice melt, ice picks, salt and other harsh chemicals.

(Continued. See Part II )

Prudent Thinking, Prudent Spending (Part II) 

Heated driveways are highly effective, yet low maintenance, low impact systems. Once you install a heated driveway, you’ll find that it practically becomes invisible in its operation. The snow sensor signals the control unit when the temperatures and precipitation levels warrant its use, activating the system only when it is needed. Basically speaking, you can install a heated driveway and forget about it year round. (Of course, you'll be reminded that it's there every time you look outside on a snowy day and see your nice, clear driveway.) Many people install heated driveways in second homes where it is not possible to remove snow after each storm. Having a heated driveway provides the peace of mind that you’ll never be blocked when entering your property or have to dig yourself out when exiting.

Having a heated driveway is safer for your health and easier on your driveway and can extend the driveway's life span. The health benefits of a radiant heated driveway are obvious, as the need to perform back-breaking work each time a storm hits is eliminated. The convenient electric radiant heat goes to work for you under your pavement. No more shovels, no more digging out, no more sore necks, backs, or wrists.

Generations moving into their golden years no longer have to worry about moving into a condo where the joys of a garage and a yard are left in suburbia. Having a snowmelt system installed means even if your bones and aching back no longer wish to haul out the snow shovel, you can still live where the snow falls and not worry about manually removing the snow from your driveways and sidewalks.

Another benefit of a heated driveway is that without shovels or snow plows constantly scraping the surface of your driveway, the lifetime of your driveway increases. Driveway heating systems also eliminate the need for salt or ice melt which can corrode and damage the driveway as well as harm nearby plants and grass.

If you are environmentally conscientious, installing a heated driveway can help save the planet. Yes, it’s true, there is one more way to love Mother Earth. Using an intelligent snow sensor allows the driveway heating system to operate only when needed, thereby sparing unnecessary energy usage. Having an electric heated driveway also allows you to avoid harsh chemicals or products used to melt snow, scrape ice, or keep driveways clear.

After putting prudent thought behind prudent spending a good place to start when considering whether or not to install a heated driveway system is by locating a trusted product backed up with customer satisfaction. Warmzone's renowned ClearZone radiant heat cable is known as the premier snow and ice melt radiant heat product. Using ClearZone cable for your driveway heating projects gives you unmatched durability. This cable can be safely installed in new concrete pours and under harsh, high temperature new asphalt construction projects. The heat cable is easy to install, and once activated offers a fast response time compared to other radiant snow melt systems on the market. With the companion use of the high-performance snow sensor the system is fully automated and essentially maintenance free.

For those lucky few living in Florida, we gaze enviably on your sunny winters. However with the popularity of electric heated driveways throughout the country, homeowners are discovering the convenience and long term benefits of having a dependable snow melt system, making winter a bit more bearable for the rest of us.