In the fall of 2017, I installed a unique, Canadian-made roof de-icing system on a cottage-country home with severe ice damming, and it’s worked perfectly ever since. The system is called Edge Cutter, and it’s made by the Muskoka firm Heat-Line. Each installation is custom-designed with costs ranging from $15 to $30 per foot. I like it better than conventional roof heating cables for three reasons.
1) I don’t see ugly wires
There are no zig-zag cables on the roof. The system uses aluminum plates with a channel along one edge to house a self-regulating heating cable. Slip a row of the plates under your roofing, and heat gets conducted up and under the roofing to melt any snow or ice. The entire system is protected by a built-in GFCI.
Do I need to worry about snow load on my cabin roof?
2) I don’t have to reattach cables after every windstorm
With no exposed cables, there’s nothing for branches or sliding ice to tear off, and nothing to hold fallen leaves and needles—especially important in cottage country.
3) I’m not heating the neighbourhood
The self-regulating cable delivers more or less heat depending on the temperature in any given location. I do unplug the Edge Cutter when ice dam season is over, but the cable uses the least amount of energy possible when operating.
This article was originally published in the September/October 2023 issue of Cottage Life.
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