Will heat cables solve my ice dam problem?
December 4, 2016 at 5:42 pm,
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Though icicles might look nice, they’re trouble for your roof and rain gutters. When ice is damming up in your rain gutters, the weight can bend your gutters and even cause them to pull free from your house. Ice dams also force snowmelt to seep between the shingles where it can refreeze and create gaps leading to roof leaks and costly damage. One of the ways homeowners tackle this problem is heat cables which are basically hot electrical wires that zig zag across the area just above the rain gutters. But do they really work?Sometimes they do but more often than not, they’re a waste of money. Here are a few reasons why.
They’re a temporary fix
Perhaps the biggest reason to avoid heat cables is that they don’t address the root cause of the problem and as such, they aren’t usually the most effective solution. Ice dams form when the snow on your roof is melting before the temperatures are high enough for it to do so naturally. If the snow is melting due to warm temperatures, it won’t refreeze in your gutters. But if warm air from your home is leaking into the attic space and causing the snow on your roof to melt, you’re going to get ice dams. Heat cables don’t fix this problem and in some cases, the snow can still reach your rain gutters and freeze there.
They’re expensive
While the upfront cost for having heat cables installed might not be too much, they’re a huge drain on your energy bills which are probably high enough if you’ve got warm air from your home leaking into your attic.
They’re ugly
Even if heat cables were cost effective and worked 100% of the time, they simply don’t look good on your roof.
If you have had problems with ice dams in the past, contact a Spokane roofing company to see about an inspection. Not only can a roofer spot damage from ice dams, the roofer can also inspect your entire roof system to make sure it’s up to the task of preventing ice dams in the future
Home improvement news brought to you by bartonroof.com
Source: builderonline.com/newsletter/do-heat-cables-really-prevent-ice-dams_c