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Looking for insights and recommendations for snow melting for a front entry and sidewalk for an ADA home being built in the mountains. Specifically innsights on sizing the boiler and snow sensors to open the valve. Thanks.
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For a small entry and sidewalk, the loads will be fairly small. Then again, square footage isn't the only factor. Climate, how fast you want the snow to melt, how far the load is from the heating source, etc, will the heating elements be encased in sand, concrete, etc...all these things factor in to the equation.
If only a few hundred square feet, the load can often be run off the house's main boiler, which will save the expense of having a dedicated heating system for your hydronic snow melting setup.
An electric setup will typically cost about half of what a hydronic setup would cost for parts and installation...yet electric can cost about twice as much as hydronic to run. Depends on local utility rates.
For sensors, you can set it up to be fully automatic, or to be manually activated with a simple ON/OFF switch.
Try reading through this link, it will likely answer many of your questions.
Regards,
Mongo
*Mongo: that's a helpful site and has enough info for rough sizing and operating cost estimates. I would add that in most areas, electric WILL be at least twice the operating cost of hydronic. For me, it would be 4 times the cost, versus natural gas at 80% efficiency.Ranger: Quick answer on boiler sizing - square feet times 150 BTU/sq ft gives boiler requirement. I run my sidewalk off the same hot water heater that heats my garage, so no added boiler was needed. Just another pump (on a manual switch). Think about run-off (it has to go somewhere) and use insulation under the sidewalk. I find that quick response isn't really important. New snow is not a huge problem, ice is. And radiant is a great way to get rid of the ice. I'm able-bodied enough to shovel the bulk of the snow and let the radiant finish it and dry it out. But for another $4 of natural gas per one foot of new snow, I could just flip the switch. -David
*I was wondering if insulation under the walk would be worth wile . what thickness/Rvalue did you use?
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Looking for insights and recommendations for snow melting for a front entry and sidewalk for an ADA home being built in the mountains. Specifically innsights on sizing the boiler and snow sensors to open the valve. Thanks.