On Nov 13, 8:18*am, ransley wrote:
On Nov 13, 7:00*am, wrote:

On Nov 13, 5:04*am, wrote:

TJ wrote:
... The toubing installed in the driveway is in good shape and the
cannections are in the garage, I just dont know what to hook to them,

Groundwater.

Nick

Interesting idea. * With a well, you'd have water at about 50 deg,
right? * *Certainly not as much heat as water flowing from a boiler,
but with sufficient volume, I wonder if it would work? * *I'm sure you
could pump quite a bit of well water for less than the cost of the
fuel to run a boiler.

It depends on where he is, where I am frost level is about 3ft down
and - 22f at a max, 50f water might not make it before it froze.I
think hiring a kid with a shovel has to be cheaper.

Three things to consider. First off, glycol probably isn't the best
thing for in the lines. Get something that is okay for food service.
It's more expensive but safer if there's a spill/break.

Second, whatever your frost line is, it's deeper under a driveway. If
you get a cold spell and pipes break, it's no coincident that they
ALWAYS break under your driveway or sidewalk. Pavement has no
insulating value acts as a HUGE cold-sink to drive the cold farther
down. Sometimes it's as much as a foot deeper under pavement. Grass
with snow on it is a pretty good insulator and that's why you don't
get freezing underground pipes if there's snow on the ground.

Thirdly (and speaking of snow as an insulator), Someone mentioned
melting accumulations. If the snow builds up, turning on the heat
will melt the snow pretty efficiently because the snow cap will keep
any excess heat from being lost. 100% of the heat will be used to
heat the snow.

If the OP doesn't get much snow or much only into the 20s, salting or
brining might work just as well. You could put down a nice layer of
salt and wet it. That would work for temps in the high 20s -- other
chems will work at lower temps.

The biggest question is "where does the OP live and how much snow do
they get".

Where I live, you just learn to accept that there will be snow and
you'll never get your driveway clear in January or February. You
can't fight LES so you just have to accept it.