small snow melt, ideas?

heatpro02920

I am pricing a job, its a tiny snow melt 150 sq ft, total, probably going to be around 300ft of 5/8" tubing with a 3 circuit manifold on a 10 plate 5x12 plate exchanger...



Normally I will use a snow melt control, but the budget in this job is not going to allow that, I have a system out there where I used a 35/45 thermostat <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026S6WGK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1JX5VIUKL6HSF">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026S6WGK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1JX5VIUKL6HSF</a> in a weather tight box tucked into the unheated soil near the snow melt with a switching relay and it works, the customer never complains, and it cost me under $100 in materials{for the control and stat}...





My question is what else is out there that is affordable and will control a snow melt system well????



Thanks

NYplumber

Timer

I install many 12 hour timers that have a "hold" feature. Wire it to keep a light bulb on in an obvious so that if they leave it in the "hold position" all summer by mistake, they will notice before the utility company sends them a large bill.

Babin

ETI LCD-1H or 3H

ETI makes a snow switch in two models one a one hour delay LCD-1H and one in a three hour delay LCD-3H. they detect snow and while snowing will close a control switch at the end of the snowfall the device will continue to run for one hour in the example of the LCD 1 and three hours in the LCD 3. the cost of the device is very low and comparied to the energy savings of a on off manual control we can see the savings. Good Luck. These are available at most Hydronic Wholesalers with some snowmelt experiance.

heatpro02920

I have used them

but they are still a little over budget...

hot_rod

spring wound

12 hour timer, add a temperature sensor, maybe a setpoint control like a Ranco or Johnson Controls. Should be under 100 bucks for the setup.



Add an alarm so they are alerted if something malfunctions.



Amazing how much energy can be consumed by a snowmelt "stuck on" It would make a top quality snowmelt control look very cheap.

M Lane

Give them a switch.

To operate the pump. Tell them snowing: on, not snowing: off. Then price out the various upgrades from there.

Tinman

On/off

That's what I did on a 160 sf concrete deck off of a 2nd floor master bedroom 7 years ago. Still my customer. Still happy with the set up.