How to Melt Ice in Gutters
If you do not take precautions, then the snow on your roof could melt and build up in your gutters. The end result will be ice melting and leaking into your house, causing damage. Ice dams in your gutters can be the result of poor insulation in your roof that allows heat to escape and melt the snow, improper ventilation on your overhangs that do not allow air to flow and keep the snow on the edge of your roof frozen, or a valley in your roof where snow collects and then melts. The easiest way to stop an ice dam is to melt the ice in your gutters. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Heating Coils to Melt Ice Dams
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Measure the length of your gutters and your downspouts, and then purchase six that amount in gutter heating coils. Since you will be putting the coils in more places than just the gutters, you will need extra coil length to get the job done. Check to see if the coils you are buying have installation clips with them. If they do not, then purchase installation clips.
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Start the coils at the power outlet you will be plugging them into. Heating coils do not have an on/off switch, so you will either need to plug them in when you need them and unplug then when you want them off, or you will need to plug them into an outlet you can control with a switch in the house.
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Run the coils in an up-and-down triangular pattern along the edge of the roof that meets the gutter. Go at least one foot up the roof with this pattern, and try to make it even. This will help to create the channels that the water from the roof will need to travel down to get to your gutters. Without these channels, the water will build up as ice on the roof and leak into your home.
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Run at least four runs of gutter heating coils along the base of the gutter, and then run them down the downspout as well.
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Make sure that the gutters are free of leaves or other debris prior to the winter starting. While the gutter heating coils will melt the ice in your gutter and allow it to travel down to the downspout, if there is debris blocking the downspout, then the water may get trapped and start flowing over the gutter and into the house.
Using Pantyhose and Rock Salt
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Cut pantyhose in half so that you have several legs that can act as sleeves for rock salt.
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Fill the pantyhose with rock salt, and then tie the pantyhose off with strong twine. Be sure that no salt can escape from the pantyhose after you have tied it off.
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Lay the rock-salt-filled pantyhose perpendicular to the gutters along the area where the roof meets the gutters. Place one pantyhose leg every 18 inches. These will create the channels the water will use to get into the gutters.
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Lay enough rock-salt-filled pantyhose along the gutters to line the length of the gutters.
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Tie together several rock-salt-filled pantyhose legs with the strong twine and then place that in your downspout.
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Tips & Warnings
Only turn the coils on when it is snowing and when there is ice in your gutter. If your gutters have no ice in them, then turn the coils off. They add to your electric bill, so the less you use them, the less money you wind up paying on your electric bill.
The pantyhose solution does work, but the heating coils offer a more efficient and reliable solution. The pantyhose may not be able to keep up with large amounts of snow, and the rock salt will eventually dissolve.
