How To Use Gutter Heaters

Wrap heat tape around key areas in your gutters to guarantee it stays in one place but do not wrap the tape over itself.

How to use gutter heaters.

The self regulating cable delivers heat when you need it and shuts off when you don t adjusting to ambient temperatures for maximum energy efficiency. An inexpensive heat cable that doesn t offer water protection is not safe to use. Additionally they may even exacerbate your ice dam issues with the constant melting and refreezing of snow in your gutters. Run zigzags to create 15 wide triangles running the cable from the overhang to the warm area of your roof.

It is best to avoid heated gutter guards to avoid these issues. If leaves and other dry debris build up on top of the heat tape for gutters the eavestrough heating cable can also be a fire hazard for your home. Installing gutter heat tape is meant for the prevention of the ice dams not for getting rid of them once already formed. Heat trace cable is safe for metal plastic or wooden downspouts and gutters and it will not overheat even if overlapped.

Heated cables will simply not be able to handle massive amounts of snow. Gutter heaters mean you can flick a switch and forget about the snow fall. The cable should form a loop that extends partway into the gutter. Run the cable back up the roof in a zig zag pattern creating a triangular shape that is about 15 inches wide.

This can cause an electrical hazard. Run the cable back down to the gutter at an angle and form it into a loop. Which system do you chose. Secure the roof cable with brackets affixed to each shingle where the roof cable bends.

Ice dams will form above and below the melted areas. Gutter heaters will only be able to create a small melted tunnel around an immediate area. Additionally all heat cables should be waterproof. If heated gutters aren t the solution then what is.

The gutter heat tape or cable is run in special patterns across roofs in gutters and along downspouts where ice usually forms collects and eventually creates what are known as ice dams. Using one of the provided eave clips attach it to the bottom edge of the last shingle. How to choose a heated gutter system. Run tape inside the gutter place the electrical plug close to the breaker box then work backward through your gutters until your entire system is covered.

Take one end of the cable and begin at the corner of your roof. The least expensive way to go is a very simple system where a heat cable is applied to your gutters and then is run down the downspouts of your home preferably near an outlet.