It is about that time…Homeowners are calling about having heating cables installed to avoid the ice damming. Here is the 411.

Heat Cable, or De-Icing Cable, is a pair of electrical wires encased in a UV coating and is installed onto your roof at the edge and in the eaves trough and down spout to  keep snow melted and water flowing off the roof.

For the heating cables to properly function the roof and eaves trough need to be free of debris.  Any debris can block the heat cable which can stop the water from flowing properly away from the roof.  If the heat cable is covered with debris, ice may form over the debris. We recommend installing gutter filter prior to installing heating cable to keep the eaves trough debris free.

A last significant point, you must leave the heating cable on.   It’s tempting to turn it off during the day or at night, but once you are behind with ice forming, it may be days until you can get fully thawed out again.  We suggest at least a timer or thermostatically controlled timer so you do not forget to turn the heat cable on when required.