Ice Dam Heat Flat Roof

For an ice dam to form the warm parts of the roof generally need to be higher than 32 degrees f while the cold areas of the roof need to be below 32 degrees f this means that the outside temperatures must also be below 32 degrees f.

Ice dam heat flat roof.

Conduction is heat energy traveling through a solid. They form when snow melts in warmer areas of the roof sending water running down toward the edge. The heat tape was placed in a series of parallel loops on the roof surface concentrating the loops in the lowest point from which the roof should drain. Ice dams and icicles form when the snow melts runs down your roof and refreezes near the edge.

Heat from the house travels to the roof surface in three ways. Heated roof systems offers you our exclusive patented technology that provides a concealed snow melt mat placed under various roofing material to eliminate ice dams. Heat tape aka heat cables are designed to create channels through the ice dam to let that water escape. This scenario is often the result of a warm attic.

Massive ice dams on low slope shed dormer roof the main causes of ice dams are poor ventilation and or inadequate insulation in the attic. It is primarily heat flowing from the house that causes the nonuniform temperatures of the roof surface leading to ice dams. Our mats can be placed under asphalt shingles synthetic slate and shake and both standing seam and pro panel roofing giving you the continuous look to the roof edge. The intent was both to assure drainage through the present ice dam and to keep drainage passages open along the roof edge should there be more snowfall.

Conduction convection and radiation. Prevent future ice dam leaks. Ice dams can pose many problems. If snow and ice accumulate on your roof heating cables are an easy and effective to solution to eliminate melt the ice dams before they cause major damage.

When it reaches the eaves where the temperature of the roof is colder the water refreezes. As more and more water melts down the roof and refreezes at these locations ice builds up and forms a blockage or dam. Ice dams cause leaks when snow melts higher on the roof and that melt water hits a dam of ice. A good example of this is the heating of a cast iron frying pan.

This only occurs when part of your roof warms to above 32 degrees f warm enough to melt the snow while the roof edge remains below freezing.