Roof De-Icer Control

We had several unusually heavy snowfalls in Western Pennsylvania this past winter ('09 to '10) and my home had quite a bit of interior water damage due to ice dams forming on our roof. We had old heat cables in place but some failed and the others did not provide adequate heat or were not in the proper places (we have sky lights that were not properly protected). I researched new heat cables on the internet, at Lowes and Home Depot, and at some local electrical supply stores. The Easy Heat products seemed to be very cost effective, but what really helped to sell me was the fact that their installation manuals for all of their products were on line and seemed to be very thorough yet easy to use. I decided to use their manuals for planning my project regardless of what product I was going with.I ultimately decided to go with the Easy Heat cables, but was unsure how I wanted to control them. We travel quite a bit during the winter, and I wanted a controller that would protect our house but that would not waste energy on the cables when they are not needed. There were a variety of thermal only controllers out there, but the Easy Heat RS-2 requires both the proper temperature AND the presence of moisture before it will energize the cables. If it worked, it seemed to me that I could turn it on and forget it for much of the winter and feel confident that the house would be protected.I decided to try an all-Easy Heat solution. I redesigned my cable runs to reduce the number down to just two cables to save money. This is because each RS-2 can handle up to 1200 watts, but they only want one cable plugged into each RS-2. I ordered the cables and two RS-2's through Amazon and everything arrived well ahead of promise. I tested the cables before installation and was pleased at the amount of heat they gave off in a very short period of time. I tested both RS-2's in buckets of ice water and they worked as advertised.My old installation had been done about 25 years ago by the previous homeowner and there was no documentation. It was strung through my attic and used old thin two wire "zip cord" instead of adequate wiring and wires went off in all directions. (We were lucky we never had a fire as I found that one of the roof cables had shorted out against the gutter drain pipe). The cables were "hard wired" to the (ungrounded) circuit whereas the Easy Heat Products are set up to use standard 110V grounded plugs. I decided to be safe and ordered a GFI circuit breaker from Grady's through Amazon so that the entire circuit would be protected regardless of how it had been wired. The toughest part of my installation was when I fished new romex (with ground wire) through the old holes in the attic walls and then mounted new water resistant plug receptacles under the eaves outside of the house. I also mounted the two RS-2 control boxes beside the new receptacles in a place where I could see the indicator lights (to determine both if the controller had power and if it was powering the cables) without crawling out on the roof. I also removed all of the old zip cord that I could find and installed a switch for the cables inside the house (not in the attic).Once I had the new 110V plugs in place, installing the Easy-Heat cables was, well, very easy. The clips that came with the cables worked far better than the originals from my old installation and damaged the shingles far less. I had plenty of extra clips once I was finished. The only problem I had was fishing some of the cable down my drain pipes as I could not get the rusty screws from the pipes off to pull the cables in from beneath. (I should have just drilled out the screws in the first place). My cables were just barely long enough even though I used the planning guide and then added a 10% safety factor on top of that. I think it was in part because of how in my particular situation, I wired the required cable sections near the RS-2 controller and used more cable than I planned. I would suggest that when you order your cables, if your circuit can stand the extra wattage, you consider ordering the next cable size up to allow a bit more comfort in the installation.Now that I have power out to the roof and controllers and cables that plug in as easily as an extension cord, I can easily upgrade or change the installation. I plan on re-shingling the roof in two or three years, and this cable installation will remove quickly and can be put back into place quickly during that job. The total cost for everything including what I bought at Lowes (Romex, outdoor boxes, receptacles, wood screws, etc) was just over $400 which is much less that what I had been quoted to have a professional do it. I spent about 16 hours researching and planning (ok, I AM an engineer), about 3 hours in the attic undoing and redoing wiring, and about 5 hours on the roof (again undoing and then redoing). So far I am very happy with the product and installation and I am looking forward to seeing how well they work this coming winter.

This product is a perfect compliment to the heat tape and I would highly recommend buying them as a pair. Installation was simple, even after my heat tape had already been installed. This product has eliminated the need for me to remember when to plug in my heat tape and has given me peace of mind that I won’t be running into issues from overheating the primary heating cables. This also reduces the amount of hours that I would be running my heat tape, so I expect it to pay for itself very quickly.

I had purchased these cables and controller last year after ice damming issues caused water to be directed inside the house. I bought the cables with the automatic sensor and had these installed by a professional roofer and electrician. The electrical box was placed under the eaves and the cables placed on the roof according to directions. My roof faces north so there is never any sun during the winter months and therefore very little melting occurs.I noticed during the last snowfall that the cables were not turning on as there was no melting occurring on the roof. I became concerned. I knew I had turned on the power switch mounted inside the house yet the controller was not turning on the cables. Before this weekend's storm, I decided to get up on a ladder and check out the outdoor electrical box installed under the eaves. I pulled the plug of the automatic controller out of the socket and placed the de-icing cable plug directly into the outlet. Voila! The cables turned on and as the snow fell, I could notice the outline of the cables melting the snow. That lasted for maybe a half inch of snow when the cables disappeared under the snow. The coils do not get warm enough to keep up with the amounts of snow we received. I can barely see the outline of the wires so I know they are working however, they are just not hot enough to melt the snow and prevent ice from forming on my gutters. Yes, I placed the wires inside my gutter and down the downspout as well. Now that the storm has ended, I can still see the wires melting through the snow however they are just not strong enough to prevent the ice damming from forming. I hope I don't have a repeat of water entering the house again. Waste of money.

The last thing I needed was more sheets of ice forming on my driveway in front of my garage. I have a steep roof over the garage and frequently ice would form in the gutters and slowly drip, on "slightly warm" days, and freeze overnight. I would go through a massive amount of salt to pour on my driveway every evening or morning. Not from the new snow, but from what was melting from my the roof. So, I bought the Easy Heat ADKS-500 100-Foot Roof De-Icing Cable. At the same time, I bought the RS-2 Automatic De-Icing cable control. I installed the unit just under the eave of the roof, so I can see if the pilot light is on (meaning it's powering the heating cable) or not, and to keep it away from the harm of precipitation.The advantage is that you're not constantly powering the cable (and heating the roof), 24 hours a day. Sure, you could set up a timer, but who wants it to turn on when there's no worry of an ice dam or snow on the roof on a warm (or very cold) day?It's been in use for one full winter and I can confirm that it works great. It turns on when an ice dam would have the potential of forming. It detects if they're moisture *AND* if the outside temp is just above freezing, where the snow would melt a little on its own, but not enough.Since having this unit, it only kicks on when it's needed and shuts off when it's either too cold, too warm, or no snow (thus no moisture) on the roof. Saves me money from not constantly powering the De-Icing cable.People on here complain about the price for something as simple as its inside components. In the long run, this saves you money from your power bill.

Installé depuis 2 hivers et il fonctionne à merveille. L'ai branché dans une prise extérieure, reliée à un interrupteur intérieur. J'allume ce dernier durant la saison hivernale et l'éteint à la fonte des neiges.

Great switch, works really well and it will save you $ on heating bill because it works on a temperature sensor, and stays off when not needed

I made the installation as specified and it dosent work. Sensor problem ? 2x by the way

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Satisfied with this product. It's been operating properly and as expected so far this winter. I just wish there was a status light that would go on and off to indicate when it starts to send power and stops sending power.