Ice issues in downspout (early, but winter comes fast)

[Homerboy]

On the south facing side of our house covered in shadows all day long, there is a rain gutter downspout that religiously gets frozen solid every year causing melting ice from the roof to spill over and run down the face of the house and, in turn, puddle up against the house on the driveway eventually freezing up. This often ends up with pretty much a glacier of ice on my driveway -- often 3-4" thick if I don't keep up with it.

I'm trying to think of ways to prevent the downspout from freezing up, and was thinking about running a snow de-icing cable up through the downspout itself to allow water to pass through.

Can I do something like that? Is it safe? Will it work? And can I run it from the bottom up (instead of the top down) so that I can run the plug into our basement at ground level?

http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Heat-ADK...1441294721&sr=8-4&keywords=ice+dam+heat+cable

 

[edro]

That's almost exactly what they are doing on the pic on the box... so why not?

 

[cabri]

It should not matter what end the plug is located at.

 

[mizzou]

That should work. I hear they use a lot of $$$ in energy

 

[boomerang]

It may be a fix but I don't think it gets to the root of the problem. Is there an extension on the downspout? Is the gutter clogged up, the downspout clogged up? The extension clogged up or collapsed? Regardless, why is snow melting on your roof to this extent? That would be the thing to address if you're interested in truly fixing the problem.

If you go with the de-icing cable, put it on a timer to save some bucks.

 

[Homerboy]

It may be a fix but I don't think it gets to the root of the problem. Is there an extension on the downspout? Is the gutter clogged up, the downspout clogged up? The extension clogged up or collapsed? Regardless, why is snow melting on your roof to this extent? That would be the thing to address if you're interested in truly fixing the problem.

If you go with the de-icing cable, put it on a timer to save some bucks.

Large roof facing south in winter in WI.

Downspout from that roof goes to VERY small "side" gutter (~1ft) which then goes to another downspout (I'd provide a picture, but at work) Those downspouts are ENTIRELY in the shade 24 hours a day. Roof is in the sun.

We get 6" of snow that accumulates on roof. Next day, sun comes out and melts snow. Water trickles down downspouts. Hits shaded area/concrete and freezes. Slowly but surely entire damn thing freezes up and small ice dam builds up on 1ft gutter section.

Repeat for 5 month long WI winter.

 

[Homerboy]

That's almost exactly what they are doing on the pic on the box... so why not?

Right -- I want ti run it UP the downspout though --- not necessarily put it on roof and/or in the gutter.

 

[boomerang]

Large roof facing south in winter in WI.

Downspout from that roof goes to VERY small "side" gutter (~1ft) which then goes to another downspout (I'd provide a picture, but at work) Those downspouts are ENTIRELY in the shade 24 hours a day. Roof is in the sun.

We get 6" of snow that accumulates on roof. Next day, sun comes out and melts snow. Water trickles down downspouts. Hits shaded area/concrete and freezes. Slowly but surely entire damn thing freezes up and small ice dam builds up on 1ft gutter section.

Repeat for 5 month long WI winter.

Good description, I follow it exactly. :thumbsup: Too much roof for too little gutter and all the other factors.

Heat cable with a timer would be your best option. You'll probably have to play with the timer a bit to find what's optimal and of course that will change over the season. Of course you could just run it 24/7 for a billing cycle to see how much it actually increases your bill.

You should have the results you desire running it up the downspout. Might need to run it for a short distance into the gutter though. You'll have to give it your best shot and try to monitor it as best you can early in the season.

 

[Homerboy]

Good description, I follow it exactly. :thumbsup: Too much roof for too little gutter and all the other factors.

bringo!

I did some more reading through the day, and I might actually run it all the way up through the 2nd story downspout as well AND back down to make the "heat zone" wider and keep everything more open from top to bottom. This "double run" seems to be the way people do it in gutters for extra problematic areas.

I will just run the plug end into my basement and plug it in there into a timer and mess with the frequency there. I'm guess the icing occurs mainly during the day when the roof snow is melting and then hitting the colder shaded area.

I'll still end up with a frozen lake on the driveway likely, but that is manageable versus a freaking glacial wall against my house.