MarkCO Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 18" of snow, 23 degrees, neighbors shoveling...me drinking coffee with a dry driveway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I've heard a lot about stuff like that Mark. The citizens in this town like to b*tch about the Federal Bldg. here because they have heated sidewalks, and the whole "our taxes at work" thing. But me thinks they're just jealous!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Ho Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 We've had 18" of snow too! Since about 1950 until now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 18" of snow, 23 degrees, neighbors shoveling...me drinking coffee with a dry driveway Life is good, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JQ- Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 18" of fresh...I'd be driving up to Summit county instead of enjoying my fine driveway :-) Jealous on two fronts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quedude Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 We need some of that snow here in KC so I can find my habit (shooting) have not had any to speak of this winter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quedude Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Fund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colt22man Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Picture or 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 When I travel to place where it snows, some of the hotels have them. It is nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Picture or 2 Here is the pipe and underlayment before the driveway was poured: Here is a photo last year sometime: Got up this morning, had some oatmeal and coffee, pulled out of a warm garage onto a wet driveway and came to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Sooooooo Jealous!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 It's nice. Nicer still that the builder did not know how to do it so he subcontracted back to me and I did it at cost of materials and some labor swaps with some neighbors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I used to work at a carwash that had that underneath to prevent it from freezing in the winter. Awesome. Definitely something I am doing to a future driveway when I move in a couple years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colt22man Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 SWEET. I had a 2000 ft. drive way when I lived in Kiowa. Driveway wasn't heated but it came with a 4WD John Deere, which I loved, but that's another topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Really not too much to these either. I know a guy who built a garage for various shop/car projects and put this floor in. It's a water heater with some aniti freeze mixture and a little pump, more or less right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Really not too much to these either. I know a guy who built a garage for various shop/car projects and put this floor in. It's a water heater with some aniti freeze mixture and a little pump, more or less right? Not for snow melt. A water heaters lower efficiency will kill you on gas costs. I have about 1200 feet of tubing, so no way a little pump will cut it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Really not too much to these either. I know a guy who built a garage for various shop/car projects and put this floor in. It's a water heater with some aniti freeze mixture and a little pump, more or less right? Nope. Most snow melt systems now days are electric radiant heating systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Electric is good for about 400 square feet and less, entries and such. The majority are still liquid radiant, especially in high snow load areas. The concrete lasts longer with the liquid than the radiant also. I've torn out numerous electric systems only to install liquid systems. I've been designing more time-zone liquid systems for bathrooms lately also. Especially with the new energy codes, a sidearm delivery off a commericial water heater that also supplies domestic is cheaper and easier to permit than a separate electric system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy kemlo Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 I too have a heated driveway. After years in wisconsin I moved to california where my driveway is always warm and almost always dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 My driveway heater is solar powered. Very green... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Electric is good for about 400 square feet and less, entries and such. The majority are still liquid radiant, especially in high snow load areas. The concrete lasts longer with the liquid than the radiant also. I've torn out numerous electric systems only to install liquid systems. I've been designing more time-zone liquid systems for bathrooms lately also. Especially with the new energy codes, a sidearm delivery off a commericial water heater that also supplies domestic is cheaper and easier to permit than a separate electric system. That's what he said. I know of a few around here that are both liquid systems. I also learned that all Mike's car washes in colder climates have heated concrete drives. That's a lot of concrete. I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyZip Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 So Mark, what exactly is running in the tubing, and how is it heated/pumped? VERY intrigued..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 So Mark, what exactly is running in the tubing, and how is it heated/pumped? VERY intrigued..... I run a 50/50 mix of distilled water and Glycol. I have a Triangle Tube boiler just inside the one car garage. That has three 3 speed cartridge circulator pumps. One pushes the heated fluid from the boiler into a manifold to which there are 6 lengths of tubing connected. One pulls fluid out of the return manifold and pushes back into the boiler. The third pump pushes fluid into a fan-coil unit to heat the car/shop. I have a throttling cross-over line between the push and pull pumps to avoid and pressure drops and cavitation and fine tune the heat delivery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck223 Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I work with building automation. I always wondered what the cost/payback would be to tie sidewalk heating in with the automation and heating plant. We spend a fortune on labour and ice melt salt to keep the sidewalks safe. It occurs to me that we could use heated sidewalks tied in to the automation to reduce our labour and liability costs. For a large public building in our area, we couldn't afford to heat the sidewalks for months at a time. However, our period of greatest risk outside is at a time when our boilers are at thier lowest demand. When the outside air temperature is close to freezing, we run the risk of snow turning to ice or rain turning to ice. Inside, the primary loop will be chugging along at 180F while the secondary loop will be running at a minimum setting. There's plenty of capacity to raise the sidewalk temperature to just above freezing. When the OAT is above freezing, or well below freezing, it's not a big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisMcCracken Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I swear that if I can ever come up with an excuse to redo my driveway, I'm getting the new one heated. I'd probably go with electric just for simplicity's sake. We just bought a home in the mountains of NC. While this winter has been mild, fully expect them to be nasty in years to come. This would be an incredible convenience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now