Project Details
- Location: Skokie, IL (Commercial Property))
- Heated Space Type: Outdoor Paver Walkway / Sidewalk
- Heated Square Footage: approx 911sq. ft.
- Watts: 43,060 W
- Volts: 208 V
- Amps: 208 A
- Operating Cost (Approx. - Based on {14.44¢/kWh} in Skokie, IL):
- Per Hour (Full Operation): $6.21
- Per Day (3 hrs. Avg. Run Time): 18.63
- Per Month (15 Days/Month Avg.): $279.45
- Products Used: WarmlyYours Snow Melt Cable, Advanced Snow and Ice Melt Control
Managing Commercial Liability with Automated Radiant Floor Heating
For commercial properties, clear walkways are not a luxury but a critical requirement for safety and liability mitigation. The management team for this Skokie facility sought a solution to eliminate the costly, unreliable, and high-labor chore of manual snow and ice removal from their 911 sq. ft. paver walkway.
The WarmlyYours engineering team designed a custom, high-power electric floor heating layout using the durable Snow Melt Cable at a dense 3.0-inch spacing. This configuration achieves the high wattage per square foot necessary for effective, rapid snow melting in commercial environments. Due to the high 208 A requirement, the system was configured with dual Large Relay Panels to safely distribute and control the power load. The entire in-floor heating operation is managed by the automated SCA-DUAL control and Aerial Sensor, providing a truly hands-off system. This automation ensures the walkway is cleared immediately upon detection of snow or ice, delivering maximum safety and demonstrating superior energy-efficient heating performance compared to less regulated methods.
Featured Products
- WarmlyYours Snow Melt Cable (WHCA-208 Series): A robust, high-performance cable solution designed for embedding in concrete, asphalt, or under pavers. It provides consistent and powerful heat to melt snow and ice rapidly and efficiently. This system utilized several different cable lengths to achieve the required full coverage across the large walkway area.
- Advanced Snow and Ice Melt Control (SCA-DUAL): The intelligent brain of the system. This control uses moisture and temperature sensors to activate the snow melt system automatically, ensuring an energy efficient heating operation by running only when necessary to melt snow or ice.
- Large Relay Panel (RLY-12PL): Essential for high-wattage, large-scale systems like this $43,060$ W snow melt project. The relay panel safely manages the significant electrical load required by the multiple heating cables. This component acts as a switch to activate or deactivate the cables based on the commands from the control unit, ensuring the entire system runs safely and reliably.
- Snow Melt Plaque (SMP): A mandatory accessory (per NEC requirement) that is installed in a visible location near the controller or service panel. This plaque clearly identifies the presence of an electric snow and ice melting system, which is crucial for safety and for future service or maintenance work.
