Give Up Shoveling Snow with a Heated Driveway

One of the main benefits of a heated driveway is pretty obvious. You’ll no longer need to shovel snow off your driveway, even on the coldest of winter days. Before discussing the other benefits of a heated driveway, let us first look at how they work.

There are a number of ways to heat your driveway but the most popular options involves an electric radiant heating system similar to that found in indoor floor heating systems. As well as an electric radiant system, the benefits of a heated driveway can also be obtained by installing a hydronic system. Where electric systems use cables to generate heat, hydronic systems pump hot water through plastic tubes to provide you with the benefits of a heated driveway. In either system, the heating elements – that is the cables or pipes – are laid under the surface of the driveway that is then warmed by the radiant heat.

Most heating systems now have an automatic sensor that is triggered by cold weather. Another of the benefits of a heated driveway is that they tend to require far less maintenance, as they are not as prone to the cracking caused by rapid freezing and defrosting. This more than offsets the cost of installation and their running costs.

If you want the benefits of a heated driveway but don’t have a lot of money, you are probably best buying an electric system as they are a lot cheaper than an equivalent hydronic system and are easy to install as well.

As well as these benefits of a heated driveway, there are less obvious ones as well. You will no longer have to worry about your family, friends or neighbors slipping on a slippery frozen surface outside your house again. They can also add value to your home, including by preserving the condition of your driveway, and avoid you having to use potentially harmful salts and chemicals on it.

The simplest way to install a heated driveway is in concrete under brick paving stones. They are controlled by a wall-mounted box for electric systems or a small boiler and pump for hydronic ones.