Heated driveway information?

[Mark]

They're quite common.

Using a glycol mix also allows you to run a higher boiler temp for your house if you have the need.

[Joseph Meehan]

I live in Hilliard Oh and worked in Columbus. The only two systems that worked most of the time that I know about in Columbus was the State House Parking Garage and the walk in front of the Rhodes Tower (State Office Tower).

[m Ransley]

A waiste of $ , hire a smow removal co, cheaper in the short and long run

[Shrek]

[Stephen King]

Shrek wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Shrek, you don't know. You're just a cartoon character. LOL

[Mark]

Oh, how I disagree.

There's nothing like sitting inside by the fire watching your neighbors shovel and freeze while your driveway is just wet.

No, I don't have one.....so close at one point, though. My old house had a very small driveway and it wouldn't have been bad to do. I ran the numbers and it would have cost less than $5K to install (the right way) and a guesstimate of under $100/year to use. My current house has a 350' driveway and I don't know if Bill Gates could afford to heat that! ;)

[Noozer]

If I was pouring a driveway I'd probably spend a few extra dollars to plumb it for heat or run a heating wire.

Personally I think using liquid would be better than electric because you can use the return fluid to determine if you need more or less heat based on it's temperature.

[Mark]

Even if you never end up using it, it may help in a sale down the road.

I would think that hydro would be much more cost effective than electric. There are very few parts of the country where electric heat of any kind is affordable anymore.

I know in New England you could count on spending 10x to heat a home with electric vs gas/oil.

[nehmo54]

- Nehmo - One pavement heating arrangement is to circulate ethyleneglycol/water in a closed loop to a water-to-water heat exchanger and to the pavement tubes. In the heat exchanger's other circuit is water that circulates to the standard domestic hot water heater.

[larrybud2002]

Why is it nonsense? Is it nonsense to use a dishwasher instead of washing by hand?

Why is the luxery of using a snow blower over a shovel valid, where using a heated driveway over a snow blower is nonsense?

[HeatMan]

I'm gonna chime in here.

We are looking at a new (to us) house. It's about 10 years old and the driveway looks like crap. We're going to offer slightly less than asking price because of the driveway condition. When I get it repoured, it WILL have PEX tubing in it for ice melting purposes. We don't get a lot of snow or ice around here, but at least we'll be able to get out when it does snow or ice.

[Nehmo Sergheyev]

- HeatMan -

- Nehmo - I don't see why not. How much would some PEX (or perhaps Pex-Al-Pex) cost? With some precautions, you can protect the tubing from cracking when the concrete cracks. If you use a heat exchanger (to use with a loop to your regular domestic hot water heater) and a couple of pumps, you really wouldn't need much other equipment.

I like the electric systems too. Electricity is more expensive than gas, but, all in all, in terms of costs per season, the price is acceptable.

But there must be some kind of image or psychological problem with heating pavement, though. Look at the reaction you get in the NGs when the subject is opened. And hardly anybody seems to have a mature marketing strategy.

has the best site, but it seems they can't decide on which system to promote.

[HeatMan]

It will have a HX when it gets hooked up to the boiler. By the time the snow melt water gets back to the HX, it's going to be near freezing and the boiler won't be able to handle the thermal shock.

As far as the new concrete I have poured cracking, I'll protect the concrete with control joints and sleeve the PEX at the joints.

Not to me, but I will have a boiler already by the time the new driveway gets poured.

Do I look (or type) like I care? IIRC, there's a city in Colorado(?) that has snowmelt on the city sidewalks clear.

I like the water based stuff better than electric. You can repair PEX, but you break a wire, you're out of business.

[Duane Bozarth]

HeatMan wrote: ...

Not to argue, but I don't really see the difference??? You can repair wire as well and, if it's under the slab, maybe even find the approximate location of the break more easily w/wire than tubing???

[artinist]

here is something you can install on your own if you are handy.

run a pipe of approx 1" diameter from the house plumbing and route it to the driveway.

make an indentation into the driveway concrete along the higher point of the driveway but the pipe stick out of the driveway just slightly.

along the edge of the exposed pipe, drill small holes so that water can exit out and flow down the driveway.

connect it to the hot water line of the house and whenever you need to clear the driveway open the valve and woalla.

it wont use nearly as much energy as any of the $$$ systems since it won't need to heat the entire concrete slab. instead it will get under the snow and loosen it so its real easy to push off the driveway or just wait till it completely melts.

you could even connect it to the cold water source since even that is warm enough to melt snow.

[Matt]

I officially nominate this as the dumbest idea ever thought of.

[Jim Elbrecht]

I'll second your nomination. Posting a comment without including what you are commenting on is the dumbest thing anyone can do on Usenet.

Jim

[Matt]

Unless you are one of the few rocket scientists on the planet who knows how to read indented text. How many years have you been brain damaged, Jim?

[Noozer]

What are you talking about?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

And just where is all this water going to end up? And then freeze?