Bringing to Market the Most Reliable Ice Dam Prevention Products
When Edge Melt Systems Roof Ice Prevention was established in 2009, the company had been installing many different brands of self regulating and constant wattage heat cables for roof and gutter de-icing. During that time, the company saw an opportunity to improve their current ice dam prevention products by integrating them with their patented heated gutter guard improving overall reliability of their systems.
Ice build-up on roofs and in drains can result in hazards for personnel and equipment during winter months. Processes that generate heat during winter conditions can often result in significant ice build-up over doorways and on roof lines that can cause structural damage. Edge Melt Systems Roof Ice Prevention have been designed for maintaining gutters, downspouts and roofs so they are free of snow and ice buildup on buildings and other structures.
The success of this innovative de-icing system relies on cables that self-regulate their heat output by tailoring their current flow to ambient weather conditions. In order to improve their current ice dam prevention products, a search was conducted by Greg Bublitz, owner of Edge Melt Systems Roof Ice Prevention, to find the best performing trace heating cables available.
Using Heat Tracing Cables That Are Familiar Aren’t Always the Best Choice
It turns out that finding a solid performing heat tracing cable proved to be a frustrating process for the team at Edge Melt Systems Roof Ice Prevention. In many cases, heat cables were poorly designed and did not offer up the level of performance that Edge Melt Systems wanted to deliver to their customers.
“We were concerned that the heat cable we were offering was one that would not come back to haunt us as we were going to have hundreds of thousands of feet of cable installed in our roof and gutter de-icing systems,” says Greg Bublitz. “For us, price was not the first factor as there are plenty of cheap cables on the market. Reliability and performance were the most important considerations in making our selection.”
Edge Melt Systems Roof Ice Prevention is currently the only company that produces a complete line of ice dam prevention products in the U.S., including heated gutter guards, heated eave and valley panels as well as automatic control systems. Their products have been installed on homes, businesses and industries from Maine to Washington and many of the best and most established ice dam prevention system installers choose their products. The company’s reputation in the market is critical to their ongoing success.
In 2013, Edge Melt Systems Roof Ice Prevention came out with their own comprehensive line of ice melt systems based on the heat panel and heated gutter guard concept. It was also at that time that they began to notice some issues with past installations involving consistent heat output and outer jacket permeability of installed heat trace cables.
“Since we needed to offer a heat cable with our system, it was important to choose the right one, not just one we were familiar with,” says Bublitz. “We subsequently undertook a comprehensive testing of many of the major heat cables on the market. Because we had the Drexan cable in our test system, which had been disassembled and reassembled several times, we made sure to include that heat cable in our testing. After rigorous testing, we chose the Drexan cable.”
“I would not stake the reputation of my company or product on cheaply manufactured cable – that is why we chose Drexan and exclusively use their heat tracing cable.”
-Greg Bublitz, Owner, Edge Melt Systems Roof Ice Prevention
Since then, Edge Melt Systems Roof Ice Prevention has been offering Drexan cable exclusively. “We have been very happy with the product. It has been more than consistent both in heat output and the tolerance of the size of the heat cable which is very important as these are embedded in an aluminum extrusion and sizing is critical.” The company installs Drexan HeatTracer MultiTrace cables which are ideal for maintaining gutters, downspouts and roofs free of snow and ice buildup on buildings and other structures.
Drexan’s MultiTrace Heat Tracing Cable Outperforms the Rest
MultiTrace cable is designed to self-regulate its heat output by tailoring its current flow to ambient conditions in the most extreme climatic temperatures. This cable can be cut-to-length in the field allowing for quick and easy installation. Drexan’s MultiTrace heat cable is ideally suited for applications in commercial construction and is certified for maintaining temperatures up to 150 °F (°C) and can withstand temperatures up to 185 °F (85 °C). This cable offers technologically advanced trace heating with up to 20-40% longer life.
“There are always concerns with the quality of the heat cable,” said Bublitz. “I would not stake the reputation of my company or product line on cheaply manufactured cable. Drexan has always been forth coming with product data and responsive even through our extensive testing.”
Today, Drexan provides recommendations for designing pipe freeze protection systems or roof and gutter de-icing and snow melting using MultiTrace self-regulating heat cables. They have created a design guide that provides:
- System design and performance data
- Information on trace heating monitoring and control and electrical sizing information
- Various configuration recommendations.
Drexan’s instructions provide a step-by-step procedure for determining the best solution for roof and gutter de-icing and snow melting. Guidelines and installation instructions are included with the connection kits, controllers and accessories.
“We are committed to providing the highest quality OEM roof and gutter ice melting systems using Drexan cables,” says Steve Makar, VP Drexan Energy Systems. “Drexan’s long term focus allows our company to work with its customers to source and adapt the world's best products for use in their operations, across multiple projects, resulting in lower total installed costs and total operating costs over the life of a project and across the firm.”
Discover why so many companies choose Drexan's self-regulating trace heating cables due to their reliability and cost:
Read and download – specific details about Drexan’s roof and gutter de-icing cables and download Drexan’s FREE Gutter and Roof Ice/Snow Melting Design guide.
Watch the video from Edge Melt Systems Ice Prevention that shows their roof ice dam prevention system in action using Drexan’s MultiTrace cable.
Need help? – The Drexan Energy Systems team is here to answer your questions. Simply fill out our contact form and we will respond to your request or call us on the Drexan HeatTracer TechLine at 1-800-663-6873.