On Monday, April 20, 2015 at 12:31:22 PM UTC-4, danny burstein wrote:
We're out here in flyover country where the snows
are deep and cold, and getting real, real, tired
of shoveling out the driveway and clearing the sidewalk.

Even with a contractor handling it, that often means
waiting a day or so because of their other work.

So... we'll be needing some concrete work on the
driveway in a few years, and I was looking into
tapping off our home heating boiler (baseboard,
hot water circulating) and running some loops
in the concrete.

It would add between five hundred and a thousand
to the basic concrete work, and cost, perhaps,
ten dollars for the extra natural gas each time
we'd use it.

It would also mean changing/adding an antifreeze mix
to the boiler loop, which might reduce efficiency
a notch (there's lots of argument...) and thus
cost us another hundred, maybe, ech winter. Maybe.

So it's economically plausable.

Anyone have experience, thoughts, cautions,
or even "you're absolutely crazy" warnings?

Thanks.


The $500 to $1000 additional cost sounds low to me.
Not only do you have the piping that has to go in
the concrete, but you have plumbing back to the boiler,
controller of some kind, etc.

The $10 cost for the energy to melt deep snow in a
cold place, also sounds low to me, even if it's nat gas.
Where did that number come from? I don't have experience
using such a system, but I would think it would typically
go on as snow begins to fall and it would have to keep
the driveway above freezing for the duration. That would
be a big concern, what it costs to run it when it's
needed.

Also, can the existing boiler handle the increased load?
Typically systems are sized to the house, with some
reserve, based on the coldest days. If you then add in
a whole new load, temps in the house may suffer, but
maybe that's OK. Like if the system runs at night mostly.

I guess it could work out and be worth it. But I just
use a $750 snow blower that's 20 years old. I do a 75 ft
driveway plus larger parking apron typically in 15 mins
for a snow of 5". If it's a big one, over a foot, probably
takes 30 mins or so. If I could clear that with hydronic
for $10 or $20, each time, it would be worth it on an
operating cost basis. But then I have a furnace.....