Installation Tips for Outdoor Radiant Heat

And we're live. Yes, we are, we're live. Welcome to our webinar today. We're going to be talking about installation tips for outdoor radiant heating. But let's introduce who we are. Scotty, I'm Scott from WarmlyYours, and this is Julia Billen. I'm the owner, president, and chief bottle washer here at WarmlyYours. So thanks for joining us, everybody. Great. That was a lovely intro.

Let's talk about the main thing, which is this is all about you. We're live, and we're here to answer your questions. We really do have an expert here. He's seen it all and done it all, so this is the perfect time to ask your questions. You can ask a question right there. We're going to be discussing a lot of things today. It's kind of like our entire collection. It's the first time we do this, so I'm kind of excited about that. Are you excited? Yeah, I'm excited because it's cold out, at least if you're watching this live and we're in the Midwest.

So it's really cold here, and it's a perfect time to talk about what you run up against when it's cold. We're going to be discussing all of our outdoor solutions, including snow melt, de-icing, and even some pipe tracing. Did I get that right? Anything that's cold and can freeze, we don't want it to freeze, and we're going to talk about it.

Now let's talk about the fact that there are three options here. We have products that do snow melting, which are more cable products that are either rolled around a spool. How do you categorize that? The snow melting is for areas where you're going to be driving or walking. Good. It's a product that gets embedded into the surface, and we'll talk more about how to embed that. It actually comes in a couple of forms: it comes in cable around a spool and also on a mesh.

So we have those types of products, and then we have roof and gutter systems, which usually consist of a linear cable that heats up and also comes in a spool. That's for roof and gutter applications. Then there's pipe freeze protection, which is about keeping pipes in areas that may get really cold from freezing and bursting. Yes, because that's the issue. So we have three product lines and three different cable types. They do have a lot in common, and we're going to walk you guys through that.

Okay, perfect. I like it. So we'll start with snow melt, which is a perfect place to begin. This is the growing product line for us. There is a lot of buzz around snow melt and de-icing. I think part of it is related to the baby boomers. A lot of folks just don't want to or it's actually not safe to get out there, shovel snow, or be on slippery asphalt or concrete sidewalks. So this is very much a growing product line with lots of awareness and interest.

All it takes is a bad winter or reaching an age where you don't want to shovel anymore, or someone has fallen, to realize the value of this system. It's great to get this type of system embedded into these areas, and afterward, those areas will be dry, you won't have to shovel them, and they'll be much safer to traverse. Here's what I was trying to talk about: it's available in cable and mat formats, and we decide for you. You don't have to worry about that. That's part of doing business with Radiant Experts.

We've been doing this for 20 years for floor heating and 15 years for snow melt and de-icing, so we really can walk you through what's the best product for you. We do that in a variety of ways: we can do that over the phone, we can do that with plans, and we even have a technical consulting service where we can talk with your contractors and help put the plan in place.

All the electrical wiring that has to be done can be discussed in advance, which takes all the mystery out of it. All right, so that's the snow melting systems. Let's get down to the controls because I think this is the most interesting part. There are a lot of control options here, ranging from purely automatic to completely manual. There are also controls that let you operate different zones at a time. If you don't have enough power to do one big installation, you can split it into two.

So it comes on one, it goes off, and then it goes on to the other, and it goes off, just going back and forth like that until the whole area is melted. That's the power modulator. Then there are different price points that you can choose from, from complete and total automation down to manual. If you want to keep it simple, you can go with manual. The latest control that we've brought on is the Wi-Fi control that you see there in the lower left.

That's just because people really want that Wi-Fi capability. They want to be in their homes and have the ability to use their phones to turn the system on and off. This is a result of your feedback, and we love that. The good thing about it is you don't have to worry about what happens if you lose your Wi-Fi signal. Fortunately, you can just manually turn it on and off if you have to.

So what's great about that control is it gives you the ability to turn it on while you're on your way home. You can say, "I'm going to turn on my system now," and by the time you get home, hopefully, it'll be melted a little bit. If you don't have any Wi-Fi, you can just go downstairs, wherever this box is, and turn it off. There are a lot of people who integrate the Wi-Fi control with IFTTT, which stands for "if this, then that" type of software. Based on the weather data, it can be automatically programmed to turn on and off, showcasing some advancements in technology for these controls.

It's very exciting to see. Many of these controls use a sensor that tells it when it's snowing and when the temperature is below a certain threshold. We'll talk about that in just a little bit. Again, there are a lot of options here, but we can help you choose which is best for your application.

Exactly. Now let's talk about the most popular application: heated driveways. I actually have this in my very own home. We've discussed the safety issue, which saves you time and trouble with having to use salt. Salt is not great for animals or plants next to it, or even for the asphalt. We definitely recommend using snow melt and de-icing instead of salt or plowing.

I have had a plowing service, but after the plow was done and gone, there was still ice. Snow gets smashed down into the driveway, leaving a frozen surface. In Illinois, it would continue to snow and pile back up. We believe that snow melt and de-icing is the solution for that for a variety of reasons. These are embedded products, so you do need to be redoing your driveway or walkway. However, there is the ability to retrofit these systems.

Talk about that, Scott, because we just recently started doing that. Again, I did that in my own home; it's kind of our test area. If there's an area that you want to heat in your driveway and you've already put a new surface down, you can simply find the area you want to heat and put the cable in there a couple of different ways. You can embed it into a new surface or cut grooves into it and place it down in the grooves.

There are a couple of different ways of doing it, but it allows you to heat specific areas, whether it be tire tracks or an area right by the door or right in front. That's what we call retrofitting, and we recommend that for specific surfaces. I know that it works well with asphalt; I did it in my home with asphalt. But pavers? No, but concrete is good. You could do that, although there would be some difference in coloration between the two, and that's true for asphalt as well.

So you just have to take that into consideration. Heated driveways are very popular, with lots of interest. You can do it as you're putting in a new driveway or retrofit it. Is that a good summary?

Yes, the thing is that not everybody is an expert. We get people who say, "I'm interested in heating my driveway," and they give us the dimensions of the driveway and say they want to heat every square inch of it. In many cases, there's no need to heat every square inch. The most important thing is to get the car in and out of the driveway.

That leads us to a question we had from Angelo, who asked, "What's the best option for a long, steep driveway?" For a long, steep driveway, the main word is "long." The longer it is and the wider it is, the more amps it takes. So what you're looking for is to get the heat where the wheels are for long driveways.

That's what we call tire tracks. That way, it allows you to get in and out. If your driveway is incredibly long, you might want to get it down by the road for the last 40 feet before you get to the road to ensure you can stop before you get there, especially if you're going downhill. I didn't even think about that.

There are different areas where you can focus the heat. We have people who live at the top of a hill and want to make sure the last 40 or 50 feet of their driveway is heated right before it gets to the road so they don't slide out into traffic. Interesting. So I never thought about this, but you could actually even do the beginning, skip the middle, and heat the end.

Correct. Again, we can walk you through this, especially someone like Scott with his knowledge. We can guide you through those applications. The first thing we always want to know is what amp service you have available. How many breakers do you have left? If you don't have any breakers, you're not going to be putting this in. So that's always a good question to ask.

Now let's move on to our next slide. You're going to see this repeated with all of our products, whether it's indoor or outdoor. The first thing Scott always wants you to do is test your system. Why is that, Scott? Because the last thing you ever want to do is put something that got damaged under a layer of concrete or asphalt. It's expensive enough to get the asphalt or concrete there; the last thing you want to do is find the bad spot and then reinstall it again.

So test it now; don't test it on Christmas morning and then call the tech support line because Scott will just not be happy. I always get a call during Easter and Christmas dinner. So those are the things that let me get away from the table. So that's funny. Test your system in advance; we recommend testing before, during, and after installation.

With snow melt, you are going to need a Megaohm meter, but I would assume any electrician worth their salt would have something like that. A Megaohm meter tests the insulation between the electrical carrying parts and the ground. It checks the separation to ensure that they're good.

So that's what we're showing in this picture. That's a Megaohm meter. It's saying that the insulation layer between the red wire and the yellow is good, while the insulation between the red and the black is not good because that's your current carrying. You want a connection there, but you don't want a current connection between the red to yellow or the black to yellow. These are color-coded based on 120 versus 240 volts. There are plenty of instructions on how to do that, but please test the system all the time.

Now we get some very specific questions about snow melt. One of the concerns is when does it turn on, and when does it turn off? Will I still have an icy driveway? Why don't you talk us through the runtime? The system runtime is the amount of time it has a sensor out there. That sensor notices if it's getting snowed on and also what the temperature of the air is.

If it's below 38 degrees and it's getting wet on the top, it says, "Hey, we have a situation now that may turn to ice or snow." So it will turn the system on and run until it stops snowing or until the temperature goes above 38 degrees. At that point, it will turn off because there's no need for it to be on.

So that's how you can have a system that doesn't just pop on in the middle of summer. People ask, "Do I need to turn the breakers off?" No, you don't really need to do that because it's never going to go below 38 degrees. It needs to be wet and 38 degrees or less for it to kick on.

You want it to do good. The thing about our other controls is that you don't want it to go below freezing if you want it to start at 36 degrees because you don't want it to start freezing first and then have to catch up with whatever else is coming. If you have a manual control, the best thing is to check your weather app. If it says snow is coming in 10 minutes and it looks like it's going to be significant, just go ahead and turn it on in advance.

That allows it to start heating up before the snow falls. The sensors are a good point to make. There are different types of sensors. The most important takeaway about this sensor is that it's always communicating with the control. It will say, "Okay, control, nothing's happening now; don't do anything." But if it's wet, snowing, or raining, and it's below 38 degrees, it needs to turn on because we need to start heating this up.

If you live in a house where one person is at home all the time, like if you're retired, then there's really no need for that automatic feature. You can just buy a timer, which is a lot less expensive. You can simply turn a timer on, and if it's not melted all the way, you can turn it on for a little bit longer. If you're always going to be home, that's a real inexpensive way to get into snow melting.

However, if you're going to be away, if everyone in your family works, it's a good thing to have an automatic control. That way, you can come home to a clear driveway.

So that's the runtime, which is the amount of time that it's actually getting wet on the top and below 38 degrees. The reason I talk about that is because the system has a runtime and an after runtime. I was going to ask about that because people say, "Okay, well it melts it, but then I'm going to have a pool of water, which will turn to ice, and I'm going to slip anyway."

That's where the after run comes in. As soon as one of those conditions is missing, the system will continue to heat for the number of hours that you set it to. Most of them are set for six to eight hours. Once it stops seeing snow or ice, it will then run for that time to ensure that all the melting water evaporates, leaving you with a nice, dry driveway.

If I don't have the sensor, let's say I have a manual timer, could I just set it for six to eight hours each time to ensure I get that window? I suggest that if you want to make sure, you set it to the maximum. Once it gets melted and dried, you can just turn it off. That way, if it really needs eight hours and you set it to five, and you walk away, you're really not done.

Set it to maximum, and once it's done, you just turn it off. It's like one of those Jacuzzi timers; you can just physically turn it to zero, and it'll turn everything off. I like the ding.

So let's move on. We were just talking about ice buildup. Is there anything else you want to add? We talked about the hold-on feature and the after-run feature; those are essentially the same thing. They keep running until they eliminate that black ice and the compacted snow.

Okay, anything else you want to add? I think we went through this one fairly well. So let's talk about the actual installation. Are we going to cover asphalt installation here? We'll go over concrete and pavers as well? Yes.

Okay, so introduce this one for me. This is a driveway that happens to be at my house. We went out there and put this in as a brand new installation. This is gravel on up. I extended my driveway. There were trees and everything here, so the trees have been removed. We went out there, and we got the people to put the base in.

I think we have a drawing of that, so I don't want to get into the nitty-gritty of it now. But really, there is gravel, a layer of asphalt that was laid down, and we're doing tire tracks here. The mats are put over the base coat, and as we roll them out, we cover them manually by hand, with a wheelbarrow, or by dump truck.

The reason for that is because that's an electrical cable, so we have to be careful about not having heavy machinery running over that electric cable. Once it's completely covered, you can run a roller or steam roller over the top of that to compact it. You don't want one of those great big paving machines going around.

I've seen those; that's what put this section down. You can use that machine with the base layer. Then you lay these mats out, and you can do the top part by hand.

The great thing about this is we actually do the plan for you. You can send us a drawing of your driveway or the area. You can do a hand sketch, or sometimes people will send us an overhead shot from Google Earth or Maps. That always helps to see the layout of the land.

What we've done here is shown the area on the master area plan. This is what the driveway looked like, and now this is the proposed new area and how it fits in. We got the measurements of this length and designed it to fit in this particular space.

If you look, you have 1-2-3-4; those are two of the same roll, a different size roll, and these are called out right here on the plan. It tells you which one goes where, how many amps it is, what the ohm reading should be, and how long the cold lead is.

If you notice, we started these with a triangle in each of these start points, and that's the start point. Over here at the ends, we have squares, which indicate the ends. We've put all the start points in one place because that's where the cold leads are going to run over to a junction box.

At the end of the cable or the roll, there is a return power lead. There's a junction from the heated area to a cold lead, which doesn't heat up. Those leads go over to a junction box, which gets wired to the control. The cool thing is we will do this plan for you; we just need some dimensions and a general idea of your coverage area.

We do the plan for you. The other thing