Easy Heat ADKS-1000 200-Foot Roof Snow De-Icing Kit

I put up a 160 foot run of this cabling last fall after dealing with a series of brutal heavy snow winters in New England which had caused me significant problems with ice dams and frozen gutters. Not knowing how effective they would be - I thought a test on my "nightmare" section of roof over my deck (which hardly ever gets sunshine in winter) would be worth trying. The installation was a breeze (and I am not a particularly handy guy) though I was careful to follow the instructions carefully. Key things to note are:* Measure twice - buy cable length once. They give great instructions on how to measure your roof - it's not just the length, but requires extra cabling for the ups and downs, as well as downspouts and gutters themselves. So take the 10 minutes to measure before buying.* Plan for where you are going to plug it in - Lay it out mentally ahead of time, because after clipping it all into place, wouldn't you feel dumb if you find yourself with the plug on the far side of the house from where you wanted it?* Put the clips in first - I did this, and then looping the cables into them was SUPER easy. Trying to put the clips in at the same time as putting the cable into them is a bit clunky and just inviting bundles of tangled cord.* Avoid an extension cord - They tell you this in the instructions - but if you have to use one, don't use your typical orange extension cord from Home Depot. Get a super heavy 10 gauge one to avoid overheating and minimal resistance.I installed mine on a nice warm fall day, and it went up in about 1.5 hour (which is about 30 minutes longer than it should have taken - I was being very very slow and careful). Our following winter was a doozy - at one point I had easily 3 feet of snow and ice on my roof - everywhere EXCEPT where the melt cable was. At the beginning of each snow fall, I turned it on, and left it on for 24 hours after the snow. It worked like a charm, with my gutters clear, no ice dams, and a happy me. While my electricity bill went up, it wasn't horrible and WELL worth the problem-free experience.I just installed another 160' run on another section of my roof that had problems and am looking forward to an even better winter this year.UPDATE January 2021 - Cables still work like a champ after living thru multiple winters and hot summers.

There is one area on our roof that because of the tree-shade, angle of the roof, and direction of the roof we always get an ice dam. We're talking 18" of ice that just builds upon itself all winter long until the melt. And that's when the problems start. There are many issues caused by ice dams, however, it's the back up of water that goes under the shingles and can cause inside leaks that is the most problematic. Shingles are meant for water to travel down the roof, not up (as is the case with an ice dam). So, if you don't want to climb-up on a slippery, pitched roof during the ice melt, then install this product and you won't worry next winter.We purchased 2, 120' heat-wire strips for about 15' of roof coverage. One strip was for the roof and the second strand was for the gutter, downspout, and drain pipe. It was a little overkill on length, but we made our herringbone pattern pretty tight. You can make the pattern wider for better coverage. We also doubled up on the gutter (not because we had to, but because of the excess wire).I certainly recommend running these wires through the gutter, downspout and out the drainpipe. At least, that's what I did and it worked perfectly this past winter.FYI, to run a wire through a drain pipe, I used a crumpled up thin plastic grocery bag attached to a string and used a shop-vac to pull it through. Then attach the string to the wire and pull it through. Same thing for downspouts, however, I found it better to attach the string to 2-3 heavy bolts and let gravity pull the string down the pipe (as long as the downspout doesn't have any areas where it could get hung up and you have access to it at the ground).I usually don't leave them on the entire winter here in Colorado. I plugged it into a remote controlled outlet (like you might use for your outside Christmas lights) and turn them on the evening before a snowstorm.I would call this a two hammer job. Make sure you plan out where you are going to plug in. Likely you will need an outdoor extension cord and some cable-management (tie-downs, clamps, stuff like that). Depending on the pitch of your roof, it could be dicy. Go slow and be safe.Incidentally, I had a spare run of the heat wire and decided to run it on a flat roof that seems to create a swimming pool because of the ice dam on the edges. It's not my best work, but in a pinch, it worked. Flat roofs don't have places to easily attach anything. And if an ice dam forms on the edge, it won't drain... Enter, heat-wire and a make-shift solution. Hey, it works!Also, I've decided to leave them up for the summer. Probably going to wear them out faster, but they were a bit of a pain to put up, so I'm not going through that mess each spring and fall, thank you very much.That's about all I can say about this product. Definitely worth it! Oh, one more thing, read and follow the directions. I found them to be helpful and thorough.