A Better Driveway Snow Melt Control

 

A Better Driveway Snow Melt Control

All indications are that we’re in for a snowy winter here in the Northeast. For those of us who want to preserve our aging backs and do something else with our precious time, driveway snow melt systems are the way to go. No need for shovelling or salt which discolors your walkway and gets tracked into the house, no waiting for the snow plow to arrive, just a beautiful, clear blacktop driveway. 

For property managers, you can add liability concerns to the list of reasons to get the walkways and parking lots cleared quickly. Even when it is not snowing, a property manager has to worry about those black ice patches in places where water accumulates. These ice patches can catch residents and customers unaware, and are a major source of slip and fall injuries.

Snowmelt Systems – An EZ Button for Snow Removal

Building managers who are tired of the snow have two technology choices for snow melting systems, electric resistance heating and hydronic heating.

Electric resistance heating is often selected for small installations, but it is limited by both the sheer amount of power needed from the building’s electrical system, and by the cost of electric heating.  It is expensive to heat a driveway electrically.  That is why many commercial installations with large outdoor areas to keep clear, choose boiler fed hydronic pavement heating.  A hydronic system can scale to almost any size, and can be heated either with a dedicated boiler, or from the main building boiler or boilers.

Snow Melting Uses less Energy with a Heat-Timer® Snow Melt Controller (SMC)

Heat-Timer®, the most experienced manufacturer of boiler control solutions, applies that same energy saving experience to hydronic snow melt systems.  The Heat-Timer Snow Melt controller (SMC) is designed specifically to control driveway heating with the same sophistication that Heat-Timer® applies to boiler heating controls.

The SMC (Snow Melt Controller) uses multiple sensors to keep the pavement snow and ice free with the minimum amount of energy.   The most important of these sensors is the embedded slab sensor. This robust sensor is embedded directly into the pavement and is tough enough for vehicle traffic. The sensor measures the pavement temperature to within 1° F and can detect the slightest precipitation or water on the slab. 

For retrofit installations the system is capable of functioning without the slab sensor, instead using an outdoor temperature sensor.  The Heat-Timer® SMC uses proven software designed to keep your walkways clear using the absolute minimum amount of energy.  Even if your snow melt system came with a controller, the Heat-Timer® SMC will pay for itself over time given how much additional money it saves.

Heat-Timer protects your investment too

The SMC not only protects your residents from falls from ice and snow, it also protects both the pavement and the boiler, by monitoring inlet and outlet temperatures of the heating loop to ensure that neither the slab or the boiler experience damaging thermal shock.

Like all Heat-Timer controllers, the SMC comes with basic alarms, and with the BACnet option, the SMC can be interfaced to a Building Management System, so that the property manager can monitor the status of snow clearing systems through a 3rd party building management system.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. With the Heat-Timer® Snow Melt Control, you can finally enjoy it. Call us today for more information.

Or visit: https://www.heat-timer.com/ht_products/smc-snow-melt/

This blog was originally published at https://www.heat-timer.com/a-better-driveway-snow-melt-control/

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