Heat Tape Installation
Black Diamond Electric, Plumbing, Heating and Air installs heat cables (sometimes called de-icing cables, or heat trace cables) and heat tape for both residential and commercial pipe and roof protection.
Prevent Utah Ice Damns with the Heat Cable Installation Experts
Utah has the greatest snow on earth. This is good for the slopes but could be problematic for roofs and pipes. As the snow accumulates, it melts and refreezes on your roof creating ice dams.
Once an ice dam is formed, it can cause water damage to your roof, structural damage to the gutters, and dangerous icicles. An ice dam is formed when snow melts on warmer areas of your roof and then refreezes once it moves to a colder area. This melting and refreezing essentially causes a dam of ice that traps the melted snow in a pool on your roof. The pool of water can then set and seep under your shingles, damaging the underlying wood boards and leaking onto your ceiling.
Ice dams can cause:
- Large, heavy icicles to form, which are dangerous when they fall,
- Gutter systems not to work and even bend or break due to the weight of the frozen ice inside of them,
- Roof damage and leaks.
- Structural damage from rot,
- Thousands of dollars in repairs.
Heat Cables
The best way to prevent ice dams is to ensure that there are no uneven temperature areas on your roof. But that is difficult to accomplish and can be very expensive. For the rest of us, a common solution is to install heat cables (often mistakenly called heat tape). Heat cables are electric cables that can be placed along the edges of your roof, or in specific areas where needed to melt away ice and prevent ice dams from forming.
Our electricians can install self-regulating heat cables so that they only heat up when appropriate, thereby saving you as much energy costs as possible. To learn more about heat cables please view our blog post about ice dams and methods to prevent them.
Heat Tape
Cold temperatures are also a major problem for pipes. One method of preventing pipes from freezing is to use heat tape to wrap around the outside of exposed pipes. Heat tape is different than heat cables in that it’s more flexible, flat, designed for indoor use. To ensure that it is effective, it needs to be wrapped carefully and precisely around the pipe. For safety and reliability this is a job best left to a licensed electrician.
Providing Heat Cable and Heat Tape Installation in Salt Lake City & Surrounding Areas
Having a licensed electrician from Black Diamond Experts install your heat cables or heat tape will ensure that it is installed correctly, safely, and up to code.
NOTE: Heat tape and heat cable installation should be completed by licensed professionals. Most manufacturers will not warranty products that were not installed by licensed electricians.
