I have heard of home heating schemes which gather a bit of "free" heat
using a long length of pipe run back & forth through the ground below
frost level to raise water pumped through it to 50 some degrees. I
wonder if this might then be circulated through the driveway, perhaps
with a bit of supplemental heating. Seems like if you ran it prior to a
possible snow, you could warm the drive enough to prevent frozen
accumulation, easier than melting it once it's there.

Dan



twfsa wrote:

What method do you use to heat your home?

Are you going to replace the entire driveway or retro fit the old slab for
heat. It would be more cost effective to replace the drive if its short,
and pour the concrete to at least 6" thick.

If you are using a boiler to heat your home, and are going to replace the
driveway a manifold type control to limit the amount of warm water that
would be circulated thru the driveway seems the way to go, it does not have
to be heated to 70degs, once warmed the concrete should hold the heat.I
would think 35 degs would be sufficient.

I think you could shut the manifold valve off when the weather is not
calling for snow and not heat the slab.

Electric heat would be too expensive, what about just hiring some one to
shovel for you?

Tom


"Suzanne Couturiaux" wrote in message
...

My husband and I are thinking about having a heated driveway installed,
but before we start calling contractors, we're trying to gather as much
information as possible about the different types of systems, the cost (of
installing and operating), and general information about heated driveways.
We live in Pittsburgh, Pa. (where it's hilly and snowy) and have a short,
steep, concrete driveway that my husband is tired of shoveling every
winter. (We're especially interested in systems that can be installed in
an existing driveway). I was hoping someone here might be able to provide
some information about heated driveways or point me to other sites, and
share their experiences with heated driveways (good or bad).

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

Suzanne