Snow Melting Mats

Snow Melting Mats

Powerblanket heated snow melting mats are the easiest and most economical method for quickly melting ice and snow from sidewalks, roof tops, driveways, entry ways, car ports, eves, overhangs, and on the job construction sites.  Simply roll it out, plug it in, and Powerblanket quickly delivers a barrier of warmth to melt away thick ice and snow.  We give Powerblankt our 5 Star rating for price, effectiveness, and ease of use.

Ice Melting Blanket

Snow Melting Tips

We have reviewed hundreds of Snow Melting Products and offer up our TOP 10 TIPS list for dealing with the nasty white stuff.  Everything from salts to liquid chemicals to electric blankets to huge snow melting equipment.  We list it all here: 

1. We highly recommend the Powerblanket© ground thawing and ice melting electric outdoor blankets. They heat up quickly and do an amazingly good job of thawing frozen ground and snow at work or around the house.   Powerblanket© patented heat spreading technology delivers a light weight, targeted heating solution for frozen ground, ice and snow, concrete, drums & barrels, frozen pipes, motors & equipment and hundreds of other cold weather applications. They keep construction projects on schedule all winter long and only cost pennies a day to operate. Ice, snow, and water resistant. Link

2.  LESCO has a unique selection of the fastest and best snow and ice melting products in the industry. The LESCO de-icing and snow melting products range from the basic salt based rock salt to the unique blends of LESCO-Melt and LESCO-Melt II for faster melting in lower temperatures. In addition, the LESCO-Melt de-icing products and safer because they utilize Magnesium Chloride which results in faster ice melting and reduced damage to cured concrete, sidewalks, driveways, roofs and gutters.  Link

3.  Interstate Products offer fast acting, non-toxic, liquid chemicals for ice melting. Easy to apply with immediate results. Their products use No Alcohol, No Salt – No Brine, No Chlorides and No Magnesium! Nothing hazardous. Long lasting action saves on labor and down time. Environmentally friendly ice and snow melt chemicals with special inhibitors designed to quickly melt ice or snow on contact. Easy and safe to apply. Less corrosive than water, safe for normal use on nearly all hard surfaces. Link

4.  Snow Removal Systems, Inc. (SRS), manufactures both portable snowmelters and mobile truck mounted melters. The company has designed and patented one of the single most environmentally friendly melting processes available to date for municipal, airport, and resort applications.  Their newly developed method, HTS (Heat Transfer System), combined with extreme melt tank water circulation, is a closed loop melting system. This eliminates the escape of any exhaust carbon or particulates into the byproduct melt water as it exits the melt tank.  Link

5.  The Bylin Pavement Snowmelt System automatically clears driveways and walkways as the snow falls using high-performance heating cable and custom designed control panels. The Bylin System has been shown to be significantly less expensive to operate year after year as compared to hydronic systems.  Link

6. Qik Joe by Milazzo Industries offer a wide selection of chemicals for snow & ice control.  Ranging from salts to liquid chemicals to pellets.  Qik Joe products are fast and effective on tough frozen ground and pavement.  Link

7.  Valtec’s GREEN FIRE granular snow & ice melter options are easy to apply and are an economical choice for those on a budget. The very high effectiveness of the Green Fire product makes it an outstanding value and customers who purchase this item often come back for more. These products are safe to handle, won’t irritate your skin, and won’t damage surfaces.  Link

8.  LSS distributes a wide range of melting chemicals and heated mats for almost every situation.   Everything from basic snow shovels to chemical spreaders to ice melting pellets. Reasonably priced and very effective products.  Link

9.  Michigan Melters manufacture large ice & snow melting machines available in several different sizes depending on your application.   These large machines can melt 70 ton of snow per hour without even blinking.  Link

10.  Desert Mountan specializes in High Performance Ice Melts including the Ice Slicer, Meltdown, Apex, and Apogee line of snow & ice melting products.  Visit them online for a detailed description of their full line of equipment. Link

Snow Melting Applications / Ice Dam Removal

When you live in COLD country, there are literally 100’s of application for melting ice, snow, and frozen ground.  The list is too exhaustive to mention here but we have compiled our TOP 10 list of most common applications for melting snow and offer it to you for your consideration.  We also provide links to manufactured solutions.  Feel free to leave a comment and tell us about your most common snow problem.  We’ll try to find a solution for your snow headache!

1.  Slipping on Icy Sidewalks – This is a BIG one. Everyone has taken a nose dive on an iced over sidewalk. It’s no fun… and can really hurt.  The most common solutions for this probelm are ice melting chemicals or thawing mats.  Both are very effective at eliminating ice and snow, but chemicals are a temporary solution where snow melting mats offer a longer term fix for those nasty trouble spots.  We recommend Powerblanket ice snow melting mats or Qik Joe melting chemicals. 

2.  Black Ice & Frozen Roads –  I still remember the first time I drove during a snow storm.  I grew up in Phoenix and was visiting Salt Lake.  The weather conditions turned nasty and I found myself sliding all over the road.  Lucky I didn’t get killed.  Salt products and liquid chemicals are often used to clear roads and bridges of troublesome snow and ice, but many areas of the country are moving away from salt based products.  Snow plows still move the big stuff followed up with some type of chemical or salt /sand combination. 

3.  The Slippery Staircase – So just how do you melt away nasty ice and snow from staircases and elevated platforms?  We still suggest a thawing mat or blanket designed for cold winter weather.  The blankets we reviewed are all water resistant and carry a full 1-year warranty. Check out Powerblanket & allMATS for best selection.

4.  Roof Snow & Icycles – Snow and ice buildup on roofs can be a winter nightmare.  Clogged rain gutters, dangerous pile-ups, damage to roofs and drains, and the list goes on and on.  In our experience there are 2 main trouble area relating to roof snow: 1. On the roof and eves 2. On the ground directly below the roofline.  Roof melting systems and ground thawing blankets are becoming popular due in part to advances in heat technology. 

5.  Snow Covered Driveways – Heavy snowfall used to mean getting out the snow shovel, plow, or blower.  But with advances in technology, several new methods for carport snow removal are becoming fast and affordable.  First, we mention the heated driveway.  If you’re building a new home and have it in your budget, a heated driveway system is a very popular option for melting away driveway ice and snow.  For those of us who can’t afford a preheated solution, may we recommend an affordable heated outdoor melting mat designed to thaw snow and ice fast. 

6.  Parking Lot Snow Piles – Snow plows are notorious for piling up huge snowbanks in parking lots and sidewalks making it vertually impossible to pass.  Sidewalks become huge snow dams and parking lots house mountains of the fluffy white stuff.  So what’s a person to do?  For commercial applications we recommend machines that melts 70 ton of snow per hour. For smaller jobs salts and heated blankets work well.

7.  Ice Dam Removal - Ice dams on the roof and eves are a real pain in the backside.  Removing them can be even trickier.  Powerblanket makes a portable thawing blanket that works perfectly for melting stubborn ice and snow.  We highly recommend the Powerblanket for such projects.  Plug it in and walk away.  Within hours, the ice dam is melted and you’re back in business.

New Products

We have scoured the web (and the world) searching for new and innovative snow melting products and news.  Our TOP 5 PICKS are listed below which will be updated monthly as new products & articles hit the airwaves.  Drop us a line and tell us your favorite product for thawing and melting snow.

Online Melting Mats

1. Global Industrial offer several brands and types of snow melting mats from small to large.  These new products are made of rugged rubber and/or vinyl and hold up very well even in the coldest climates.  Depending on your cold weather application you may want to deal directly with the manufacturer by calling or visiting their websites at www.powerblanket.com (888-644-0037) or www.heattrak.com (866-766-9628). Both are very effective at melting snow, but the Powerblanket works best for thawing frozen ground escpecially in construction applications.

2.   If it’s salt or chemicals you need you’ve got a decision to make: “Do I go green or stay with the less expensive chemicals that are very effective but possibly farmful to the environment?”  A coupe of websites that offer up both options are listed below.  Scotwood CleanMelt 50LB Bags are a great buy and can be purchased from a number of retailers including The Great Hardware Store.  If your not green friendly and looking to save a buck, there’s always the old calcium chloride melting salts and pellets.  These can be found at any corner store. 

3.  Peters Chemical Company has some very good information on ice melting chemicals. They cut through all the static noise and get right to the issue.  I would suggest visiting their website for detailed info on what’s going on in the world of snow melting chemicals.  … “whenever a product category gains such widespread acceptance, the market attracts a host of suppliers looking to capture a share. As a result, there are more than 100 brands of ice melters available today. Unfortunately, many of these products are packaged with no mention of their chemical composition. Others carry labeling which specifies contents but make erroneous or misleading claims about the products’ abilities. The result is considerable confusion about the benefits and limitations of such products.” Link

Powerblanket

Honorable Mention:

Although there are many dozen brands of ice melter, the list of materials in common use is much shorter. It includes the following compounds:

• Sodium Chloride (rock salt)
• Calcium Chloride
• Potassium Chloride
• Urea
• Magnesium Chloride
• Sodium Acetate
• Calcium Magnesium Acetate
• Ammonium Nitrate
• Ammonium Sulfate
• Various blends of the above, with and without abrasives (such as sand, etc.)

Of the materials listed, rock salt and calcium chloride are most extensively used in applications around commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities. Rock salt, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, and magnesium chloride are naturally occurring salts. Urea, ammonium nitrate, and ammonium sulfate are synthetic materials which find their most common applications as fertilizers.