So about ten years ago, I GC'd a house for my brother in Nevada. He is up in the hills and gets plenty of snow.
It was a big and technologically (for the day) very advanced (all SIP and beam) home.
The driveway was about 200' long all together and wide enough for 4 cars up by the garages. Scalloped edges and about an 8' wide walk with scalloped edges that was 50' long to the house.
We were getting ready to layout the driveway and he shows up with a truck full of PEX. He goes on to explain how he is going to heat the driveway with the extra zones available on his boiler (he has a hybrid geothermal/NG system).
Now I start calling him a bunch of names and telling him it is bad enough you are building this palace to begin with, now you want to heat the driveway? You stuffy prick!
He starts laughing, and says you can take me out of New Hampshire but you can't take the Yankee out of me! He said he did the math, it is by far the cheapest and best possible solution. He figured under 10 dollars to run it a full 24 hours.
At the time it was 400.00+ in parts + 2 guys, two days labor (added to the already expensive driveway).
We put a 24 hour dial timer in his garage for the zones (he now controls them electronically). At the start of a storm, he turns on the zone for as long as he thinks he will need (usually 2-4 hours). We did not put down any insulation and we went to 6" from the edges on the entire driveway and walkway.
10 years later...
Well he gets the last laugh. We talked about it quite a bit the other day. He says that he can't tell the difference in cost if there is a lot of snow or not. The driveway is not only clean, it is dry. By going so close to the edges the snow melts a good foot away from the edge. The same goes for the walkway. He figures he could not even have paid for a decent snow blower for what it has cost to this point. Oh, and zero labor or damage the last 10 years.
He also travels a lot so knowing the wife and kids are all set is another bonus.
If you ever have the opportunity, he would highly recommend it.
I told him, personally, I would still clear it with my tractor - lol.
It was a big and technologically (for the day) very advanced (all SIP and beam) home.
The driveway was about 200' long all together and wide enough for 4 cars up by the garages. Scalloped edges and about an 8' wide walk with scalloped edges that was 50' long to the house.
We were getting ready to layout the driveway and he shows up with a truck full of PEX. He goes on to explain how he is going to heat the driveway with the extra zones available on his boiler (he has a hybrid geothermal/NG system).
Now I start calling him a bunch of names and telling him it is bad enough you are building this palace to begin with, now you want to heat the driveway? You stuffy prick!
He starts laughing, and says you can take me out of New Hampshire but you can't take the Yankee out of me! He said he did the math, it is by far the cheapest and best possible solution. He figured under 10 dollars to run it a full 24 hours.
At the time it was 400.00+ in parts + 2 guys, two days labor (added to the already expensive driveway).
We put a 24 hour dial timer in his garage for the zones (he now controls them electronically). At the start of a storm, he turns on the zone for as long as he thinks he will need (usually 2-4 hours). We did not put down any insulation and we went to 6" from the edges on the entire driveway and walkway.
10 years later...
Well he gets the last laugh. We talked about it quite a bit the other day. He says that he can't tell the difference in cost if there is a lot of snow or not. The driveway is not only clean, it is dry. By going so close to the edges the snow melts a good foot away from the edge. The same goes for the walkway. He figures he could not even have paid for a decent snow blower for what it has cost to this point. Oh, and zero labor or damage the last 10 years.
He also travels a lot so knowing the wife and kids are all set is another bonus.
If you ever have the opportunity, he would highly recommend it.
I told him, personally, I would still clear it with my tractor - lol.
