You may have already had to contend with troublesome snowfall or icy conditions that hindered the standard movement of paths and stairs on your property. Removing said obstacles by hand is time-consuming and often dangerous – there is a risk of slipping and injury.
Fortunately, there are systems to help solve this problem. These are heated paths and precipitation-sensing stairs. What is worth knowing about them? Check it out in our article!
Thanks to them, you can increase the comfort of daily use of home, office or work space. Anti-icing systems can consist of wires or heating mats. Interestingly, the developer is able to install them not only on the driveway, path or sidewalk, but also on the stairs. This is possible due to the fact that all the objects mentioned are usually located on a sand bed.
It is only worth noting that the decision to install them should be made before the contractor begins to build the pavement around a particular property. Another point is that the mats or cables do not have to cover the entire surface, for example, a terrace. They can be installed in spots or in a continuous line, following the route traveled when using the space in question.
The way they work is similar to underfloor heating systems. Electric heating cables or filled with water with a fixed amount of glycol or brine – substances that prevent freezing – are placed under the selected surface: a path, stairs, terrace or garage driveway.
Electric anti-freeze systems for surfaces should be equipped with automation. The technology will measure the humidity and temperature of the pavement.
Using the data, it adjusts the operation of the system to the current weather conditions. The initial cost is quite high, but later operation requires less money than heating with water.
If the investor decides to install a water system, then he will also have to invest in a heat source – a central heating boiler. To make sure that everything works as it should, the whole system should be complemented by a circulating pump, as well as a buffer with a heat exchanger of appropriate capacity.
Wanting to adjust the power of the system to your needs, it is worth asking for help from a specialist, who will take accurate measurements and select an installation with efficiency adequate to the investor’s needs.
This is definitely an option worth considering if you have a terrace, driveway or pathway that during the colder seasons gets covered with ice and makes standard use difficult. Heated paths and stairs with a precipitation sensor will be extremely useful, especially if on your property the mentioned areas have an irregular slope and ice or snow settles in hard-to-reach places. Taking into account the mentioned issues, it is worth opting for this system.
The price of the system should also be mentioned. The average cost of installing a heating system including the use of cables for a driveway, for example, with a surface area of 18 m2, will equal about $1500. In turn, for the mats, moisture and temperature sensors, you need to pay about $1000.
main photo: unsplash.com/Nathan Walker
