Roofs being the most important part of your house as it help you to cover your house from extreme to extreme climatic conditions. With the roof you are safe from ice, rain, and heavy winds. Not just the cover on your head but roof also gives look to your house. There are many things which affect your roof. Snow is one of them which decreases the strength and durability of the roof of your house. Installing heat tape roof so now becomes an important thing for your roof in colder regions.
Heat tapes for roofs are installed so as to prevent ice dumps. During snow, many ice pieces get aggregated on the roof. Heat tape by using electricity heats the roof to a temperature which melts the aggregated ice and helps in maintaining a good roof.
Heat tape roof materials
Heat tape for metal roofs is very specific as there are many metals which are not fire resistant. Specific material is used to design heat tape for such metal roofs. In commercial buildings, heat tapes are very useful in gutters too. It is mostly installed in all the commercial buildings in colder region. Commercial buildings should have heat tape for gutters for avoiding accidents that can occur because of heavy snow fall. Gutter heater wire is used in commercial buildings where heat tapes are installed. Heater wire is hard wires installed in gutter that uses efficient voltage of 220. This system is attached with ground fault interrupt and is self regulating. With the self regulating, these wires automatically get heated when come in contact with ice.
The parts of a heat tape roof
Heat cable roofs are designed in a way that whenever it is needed, it can be started and whenever it is not in use, it can be shut down. Roof heating cables should be mostly used during day time. 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. is the right time for using if snow or ice is sitting on the roof. Roof heating cables are using roof heating coils to warm the atmosphere. Roof heating coils are electrically heated. There is no direct contact of ice and the coil. But with the warmth of coil, the ice gets melted and roof gets clear.
Pros and cons of heat tape roof
Heat tape for roofs takes six to nine watt of electricity per foot per hour. It is adding too many dollars in your electric bill but installing the same would also guarantee that no accident will occur due to aggregated ice on the roof. Basically there are 2 types of installation of heat tape for roof. One is automatic and second is manual. Manual heat tape roof are mostly preferred for residential houses. Commercially automatic heat tape roof is used, as in commercial building no one person can be allotted for 3-4 months just to switch on and off the heat tape. Manually heat tape roof can be operated only at residential level. Automatic heat tape roof works when the temperature is above 32 degree Celsius and also the sun is out. Engineers too suggests heat tape roof to switch on only when during day time.
Conclusion
Heat tape roof is an important accessory for your roof. In colder regions where accidents due to ice are common, installing heat tape roof is a must. Installing the same not only helps you from preventing accidents but it also maintains the strength and durability of your roof. Now heat tape roof comes with both automatic as well as manual for operating according to the need. Electricity is a major cause because of which many people don’t install the same. But with the positive points of it many people come ahead and have installed it.
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