Roof Ice Slides Vs Heat Tape

The term heat tape refers to another product an insulated electrical wire applied to water pipes to keep them from freezing and bursting.

Roof ice slides vs heat tape.

Unparalleled knowledge on ice dams. This is probably the most popular or most sold type of ice melting heat cable as practically every big box store sells it. Before developing our own line of heat tape we installed a lot of heat tape of different make from many manufacturers. On roof slopes between 4 12 and 6 12 rough textured roofing materials work best.

We ve literally installed miles of it. Roof slopes lower than 4 12 tend to perform well with metal roofs which are less prone to leakage and ice dam formation. The type of heat tape used on roofs and gutters to prevent ice buildup is properly called heat cable. At these slopes snow creeps rather than slides and is easy to manage.

Heating cable specifically in the application of pipe freeze protection and roof and gutter deicing is commonly referred to as heat tape with the assumption that they are two different types of systems. Heat cable heat tape heat wire they re different names that mean the same thing. They re hot wires that run up and down your roof to melt snow and prevent ice buildup on your overhangs and. Heat cables can be installed to minimize ice formation and retention on roofs with them you can prevent a lot of damage to your roof that can result from the buildup of ice dams.

Other names for heat cables for gutters include deicing cables heated gutters roof heat cables and heat tape. Heat tape for ice dam prevention it goes by many names including heat cable heat coil and roof deicing cable but the underlying principle of all ice dam prevention heat tape is the same. We ve come across just about every configuration of heat tape to prevent ice dams that you can imagine. While it may seem like the perfect solution to ice dam formation heat cables come with quite a few disadvantages as well.

However heat tape is simply a slang term that has gained wide usage in the industry but is actually just another term for heat cable.