If you have heat cables on your roof to prevent ice dams, Powder Watts is one of the best investments you can make to save money… and the planet.

Ice dams on your roof = major problems

As winter settles in and the temperature drops, homeowners in cities and towns with colder climates become susceptible to the dreaded buildup of snow that can lead to dangerous and costly ice dams.

Ice dams are caused when snow on rooftops melts and then refreezes at the edge near the gutter, creating an icy ridge. These ridges trap additional melting snow behind them which can lead to pooling water and further buildup of ice on the roof’s surface. This puts immense pressure on the underlying structure, leading to serious damage and can cause the pooled water to leak through the roof and drip down into the interior walls and ceilings, resulting in mold growth, sagging soffits, warped fascia boards, destroyed roof shingles, damaged gutters, rotted wood support structures, and even the complete collapse of the roof.

Aside from being extremely costly to repair, ice dams post significant safety risks as well. Ice dams can cause serious injuries if they fall on someone. The weight of the ice, combined with its jagged edges, makes it particularly dangerous to a person or vehicle that is struck by one.

According to the National Weather Service, hundreds of people in North America alone suffer injuries due to falling ice dams each year. In some cases, these accidents can even be fatal; with an estimated 1-in-30 reported incidents resulting in death.

To combat the risk of ice dams, many property owners turn to rooftop heat cables.

Heat Cables: Do they work?

Heat cables, also known as heat tape or heat tracing systems, are an essential tool to protect your home from ice dams and the associated damage that they cause. Heat cables provide a reliable source of warmth along the edge of your roofline and in gutters, keeping roofs safe and buildings livable during the long winter months.

However, heat cables are astonishingly energy intensive to operate. An average heat cable system consumes enough electricity to drive a Tesla Model 3 completely around the Earth 2.5 times each winter!

Beyond the negative environmental impact of heat cables, heat cable is incredibly expensive to run. Many homeowners simply leave their cables running 24/7 for the entire winter. While this may provide peace of mind that your home is protected from dangerous ice dams, that comfort comes at a steep price to the environment and can result in astronomical energy bills. In fact, the average homeowner with heat cables will often see a 300-400% increase in their utility bill during winter months.

To combat the energy waste and cost concerns of constantly running heat cables, some homeowners attempt to manually control the cables, flipping them on and off as the perceived need arises. However, this is mere guesswork. Human nature dictates that eventually we all make a mistake, and it only takes one misstep to expose your roof to a dangerous and costly ice dam. Many homeowners we work with admit to forgetting to turn the cables off, only to realize months later that they have been unnecessarily running into the summer months.

Thermostats and other existing technologies to control heat cables are highly ineffective and demonstrate a profound lack of understanding of the complex set of factors that cause ice dams to form.

The reality is that unless you are sitting on your roof, it is virtually impossible to know whether the heat cables should be on or off. Unfortunately, smart technology to control heat cables and maximize their efficiency has not existed… until now.

That’s why we created Powder Watts! Powder Watts is a revolutionary, patented IoT smart camera system designed to maximize the efficiency of heat cable systems.

How does Powder Watts work?

Our team will install the Powder Watts smart camera directly above your heat cable circuit, within the melt zone. Every hour, the camera sends a picture to the Powder Watts Cloud, where we use computer vision and machine learning to interpret the roof conditions and make decisions about when to safely turn the heat cables on and off.

Throughout our four years in business, Powder Watts has managed to provide 100% protection from ice dams while keeping heat cables off an average of 92% of the time. And the best part – all of this happens automatically. Once you decide to work with Powder Watts, you’ll never need to think about your heat cables again.