Radiant Snow Melting – Getting the Most Bang for Your Buck

An effective and efficient radiant snow melting system requires a great product, careful design, correct installation and automated activation.  If one of these four things is missing effectiveness and/or efficiency of the radiant snow melting system will be compromised and the customer’s expectations may not be satisfied.

A Great Product

What makes a great product?  I would submit to you that longevity, performance, quality, and service all play a very big roll in defining a great product.

Longevity can be estimated by history and warranty.  If a given product has a short warranty, or a warranty that is less than straight forward, and/or the company or its products has only been available for a short period of time then perhaps there is a reason for concern.  After all what is the average useful life of asphalt, concrete and brick or cement pavers?  Most people expect these surfaces to last many years into the future and history says that they certainly should.  Given that asphalt, concrete and brick or cement pavers should last for an extended period of time, it only make sense to ensure that only products with long life expectancies get embedded into or installed under them.

Performance is only achieved when expectations are realized and expectations can only be realized when the products value proposition has been properly explained.  In other words performance is in the eyes of the beholder.  So, prior to completing a purchase it is essential that you make certain that your radiant snow melt product vendor has explained, to your satisfaction, how a snow melt system works and what you can realistic expect it to do.

Quality is a very over used and often undelivered term.  A quality product will perform, over a long period of time, as it has been advertised or better.  Nothing more and nothing less.

Service is essential for any great product.  Without service and accessibility during problem times even the best of products show poorly.

Careful Design

Anyone can sell PEX tubing or high voltage or low voltage electric cables, along with the other components necessary to make a snow melt systems, but it takes a true professional to make certain that they are compatible and capable of delivering the desired performance in the most energy efficient manner possible.  Radiant snow melting professionals know and understand the products that they put into each design in order to satisfy the performance expectations of the customer and the requirements of geographic location and other variables of the project.

A good designer should also be willing and able to communicate the power and other energy requirements of the products that have been incorporated into the design.

Correct Installation

In addition to a careful design, good installation instructions and readily available technical support are essential in order for effectiveness and maximum efficiency to be realized.  Never under estimate the importance of having the ability to ask questions to a technical support department that has experience and speaks your language.

The difficulty of the installation of snow melt products covers a broad range, so it is important that the design and installation instructions be carefully followed.  Hydronic radiant snow melting products have many different components that must work in concert with one another in order for the promised value proposition to be achieved and the customer expectations to be satisfied.

While much simpler, in design and component count, than hydronic snow melt products, electric radiant snow melt products are just as effective at delivering performance.  Still it is essential that they be installed per the design and installation instructions