Power Requirements - Electric

To melt snow efficiently, the cable should deliver about 36 to 50 watts of heating power per square foot of slab surface. Depending on the dimensions of the area to be heated, homeowners may need to upgrade their circuit panel or install a separate circuit to supply enough power.

"To heat a 1,000-square-foot driveway at 36 watts per square foot, 156 amps of electricity (36,000 watts divided by 230 volts) would be required," says Rodney Blackburn of Warm Floor Center, an installer of electric heating cables in exterior slabs on grade and interior floors, primarily for the residential market. "To reduce operating costs, some homeowners just install the cables in the tire tracks of a driveway," he adds.

Warm Floor typically spaces the cables 3 to 5 inches on center, which will melt 2 to 4 inches of snow per hour, says Blackburn. For uniform heating, the cables should be arranged in a serpentine pattern running across the shortest dimension of the slab. Though the electric cable is buried in the concrete, both ends of the cable terminate in an above-ground weatherproof junction box for easy access.

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