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.
Toll Free (866) 805-HEAT
The Ground & Pipe Thaw SuperStore
For best selection and fastest shipping options we recommend Heat Authority for all your thawing and snow melting needs. Heat Authority carries large inventories so your certain to get everything you need from one supplier. Keep your crews working all winter long and avoid costly weather delays. CALL Heat Authority @ (866) 805-HEAT today!
1. Heat Authority offers 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 supplier by calling or visiting their website at www.HeatAuthority.com (866-805-HEAT). ALL product lines are very effective at melting snow, but the Powerblanket and/or RapidTHAW lines work best for thawing frozen ground especially 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
4. We mentioned Poweblanket earlier in this post but wanted to go into a little more detail regarding several of their newer snow melting and ground thawing products. Powerblanket is the patent holder and manufacturer of a revolutionary new heat spreading technology called GreenHeat Technology. Blankets range in size from 2’x2′ up to their large 10’x20′ with many products now UL/CSA classified. Their entire product line can be seen at www.HeatAuthority.com Frozen Ground Thawing – A Contractor’s Best Friend.China’s ‘Ice City’ to Build Snow-Melting Device. Get a load of this… Scientists in Harbin, known as the “city of ice”, in China’s northernmost Heilongjiang Province, will build the city’s first environmentally-friendly snow-melting device to get rid of snow piled up in the streets. The device, called the “snow-melting room”, covers 150 square meters. It is equipped with a steam boiler and two melting pools connected to the urban drainage works. When snow is dumped into the two pools which have an iron plate bottom, the iron plate heated by the boiler melts the snow quickly.”The device is able to melt a truckload of snow in 15 minutes. Calculated on this basis, it will swallow 180 cubic meters of snow a day,” said Jiang Yuanlu, in charge of building the device. Harbin is frequently snow covered. Usually it doesn’t melt until the spring of the following year as a result of the freezing ground temperature. To avoid harming the environment, the local government banned dumping of snow on farmland and in rivers. Consequently, street clearers have to send the snow to construction sites where winter has halted work or to rubbish tips far from the city. When spring comes, the places where the snow was dumped become a terrible mess. Once the technology has been officially assessed, the device will be built at Xiangfang District on a trial basis.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.
Toll Free (866) 805-HEAT
Tank, Ground & Pipe Thaw SuperStore