Do Heated Snow Melting Mats Make Shoveling Obolete?

Depending on your point of view, the frigid months of December through March usually elicit One of two reactions: either one of anticipation or dread! The people who enjoy a skiing, ice skating, snowmobiling, and a white Christmas look forward to the snow coming down; while the rest of the population – the ones who recoil at the idea of ​​having to shovel the snow or drive on it- feel otherwise.

To keep yourself and others dry and safe, it's necessary to not only shovel walkways and stairs, but also to sprinkle rock salt or other chemicals to prevent slippery, dangerous ice from forming. For people who own or manage a business or public facility, the problem increases in direct proportion to the number of visitors that pass through their doors, every day. Business owners not only want to make it convenient, inviting, and safe for customers to stop by, but there's also the issue of legal liability.

Heated Mats May Offer a Viable Alternative

A solution that many people are unaware of is the use of snow-melting traction mats. They're available in a variety of sizes and price ranges, and can reduce or eliminate the need to shovel snow or sprinkle rock salt on walkways over and over again. The price of operating heated mats is minimal – as little as 60 cents a day – and they can usually melt snow as fast as it falls, assuming it's not a blizzard! The HeatTrak snow melting mat for sidewalks can handle up to two inches of falling snow per hour, which would be considered a moderately heavy snowfall.

Snow melting system may range in price from about $ 328 to $ 2025. The low end of the price range will buy a heated outdoor mat from one manufacturer that's two feet wide by five feet long. That's not going to make your life all that much easier, since it would only cover the outside entrance area of ​​a building. If your objective is to drastically reduce or eliminate the need to shovel walkways, it may be necessary to opt for the longer, more expensive versions of the product. With mat sizes as large as three feet by 20 feet, it's possible to cover the entire front walkway of some commercial and residential buildings. For some public buildings and facilities, multiple snow melting mats may need to be purchased.

Another snow melting product that's especially geared for public buildings and businesses is heated aluminum stair treads. In addition to melting the snow and ice, they also have traction features. There's also the economic rubber stair treads for industrial use that generate enough heat to melt snow at a rate of two inches per hour.

You can roughly estimated the savings heated showers would provide, in terms of lower snow removal costs, rock salt expenses, snow blower gasoline, and even even insurance liability premiums; but what you can not put a price tag on is the feeling of looking out the window and seeing a clear sidewalk that does not need to be shoveled or salted, in spite of snow or sleet falling from the sky.