A great many similarities exist between hydronic and electric snow-melt systems. The concept is simple: Input heat-energy, melt snow/ice and provide safe passage for people. As the old saying goes, the devil is in the details. In addition to the primary reason — people safety and avoiding liability — the secondary reason for snow-melt systems is the damage to concrete, bricks and landscaping caused by snow-melt chemicals and mechanical snow removal.

Designing snow-melt systems requires an accurate assessment of the intended construction of the area to be treated, the geographic area, physical property layout and runoff of melted snow/ice. It certainly helps to have programs such as Watts’ RadiantWorks Pro (download here).