Roof De-Icing Cable

Product Description

Prevent winter-time damage to your roof and gutters using this roof de-icing cable. This easy to install cable requires absolutely no maintenance provides 5 watts per foot and is available in sizes ranging from 30 to 200 feet in length. [Read more]

Top Reviews

Excellent solution to ice dams
by Tom M (5 out of 5 stars)
August 14, 2017

The wire comes with plenty of mounting pieces that compress into roof shingles and with connectors. I installed most of my wiring in gutters and downspouts. There is about 15 feet on the roof. I live on Long Island where north-facing roofs are vulnerable to snow melt from the upper roof that re-forms into ice on the lower roof where it is not warmed by the sun. The gutters freeze up as well. I had a big problem with ice dams forming and directing water into the house. This wire eliminated that problem. I have to plug it in when needed. I do not want the current draw when ice is not building up. I could remove that issue by wiring it into a thermostat. I leave it in the gutter in the warmer weather, instead of removing it entirely and re-installing in the winter. I have used it for three seasons now and it has eliminated the problem! Very happy with the purchase.
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Working great!
by Frog (5 out of 5 stars)
January 13, 2017

Great product came in the same box as my other one I bought from Lowes but a much better price. I have installed both one on each valley of a north facing jut out from the main house. They both have perform as expected in an exceptionally hard winter (ideal conditions for Ice dams.) As far as I can tell they are identical products. I was a little concerned because of all the talk of generic boxes and problems but I had none. They are easy to install but do it when the weather is warm or you will have trouble getting the clips under the shingles. I used a piece of chalk to mark the 15" between each row along the roof and at the ridge so I could just slip in the clips and run the cable without measuring all the time.
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It works for my needs but I didn't use it ...
by C Crost (5 out of 5 stars)
February 6, 2017

It works for my needs but I didn't use it as directed. It was completely inserted into a 30 foot downspout that freezes solid every winter. My roof is flat, slightly graded so I can't address that aspect.

Since I don't have an outlet on the roof I bought the 100 foot, wrapped it around the outside with the plug end 8 feet form my back yard power outlet and the rest went into the downspout.

No more poring pans of boiling water on the downspout!
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Takes care of the ice dams
by DD (5 out of 5 stars)
January 10, 2014

The cable came with Amazon's usual speed of light delivery. The instruction booklet told me exactly how to install the cable to the shingles using the clips provided. Don't worry, you will likely have far more clips than you need for your installation. My only concern is that I am still a little unsure about the best time to turn it on and turn it off. You don't want to be melting snow when subfreezing temperatures will immediately turn the resulting water into ice. I guess it's a matter of experimentation, although the instructions do give some guidelines. In any case, I am not having the huge problem of ice dams and resulting icecycles dripping water onto my front porch and creating the ice skating rink that I had last year. The de-icing cable does the job nicely. A suggestion: I don't have a dedicated switch inside the house to turn the cable on and off. It's just plugged into the outdoor 120VAC receptacle on the front porch. However, I did buy a switch that plugs directly into the 120VAC outlet, into which I can plug the de-icing cable. Flipping the switch is easier than plugging and unplugging the cable each time I want to use the de-icing system.
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Works as advertised. I ordered in the winter so ...
by Jude Jade (5 out of 5 stars)
February 9, 2017

Works as advertised. I ordered in the winter so I was unable to install it the way it should be installed. I laid the cable in the gutter and it prevented water in the gutter from freezing, which is what I wanted.
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Works when used NOT as intended.
by J. Caldwell (5 out of 5 stars)
April 2, 2015

We had HUGE ice dams in our gutters. I bought this on a whim knowing that I was not going to be able to properly put it up, but needed to try something. I laid this across the top of the ice dams and turned it on. With in a couple of days the wire melted straight down into the ice dams. I was then able to take a hammer and lightly tap the dam and pulled away HUGE chucks of ice and managed to get rid of all the dams before the warm weather melted them and caused leak issues. Will be buying another one to put up this fall.
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Would recommend!
by Leah W (5 out of 5 stars)
May 9, 2016

We bought our house 3 1/2yrs ago (Pennsylvania residents) and have always had trouble with ice on one certain spot of our roof. The previous owners had already put some de-icing cable in place but didn't seem to do much at all. This past winter we noticed a huge difference and didn't have nearly as much trouble with the ice. This winter was also a little more mild but could tell this heated cable was doing a much better job of keeping the ice from forming. Would definitely recommend!
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Pretty Darn Good
by Karen Pitts (5 out of 5 stars)
January 10, 2012

We avoided getting defrosting cables for our roof (in Colorado) since we figured it would cost a couple grand to have them installed. But after getting horrible ice dams early this winter, we decided we had to have them and we'd just have to install them ourselves.

During a nice break in the weather my hubby installed them over the worst section of roof, and they work fine (but only for a single storm, so far). They are pretty easy to install, and a lot cheaper than paying someone to do it. We'll end up spending about $200 to do all the critical areas of our roof. Not bad. The Amazon price is a little to a lot cheaper (depending on the length) than I saw them for anywhere else.

Some words of warning: including a double run in your gutter, you'll need about 6' of cable for each foot of roof (if you have 24" eaves), and more to run up valleys. And don't forget your downspouts. You cannot connect cables together, so each cable must plug in to an outlet/extension cord. One of the biggest challenges is simply figuring out how to lay it out so you can cover the necessary territory without excess, and be able to plug one end in.
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Installed relatively easy and works as expected
by Daniel J. Salle (5 out of 5 stars)
February 10, 2016

Installed relatively easy and works as expected. I only plug it in as needed because an electrician friend told me it uses about 5 watts per foot so 100 ft equals 500 watts. Not bad but don't want to keep it plugged in and forget about it until the electric bill comes.
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Works better than expected
by RandO (4 out of 5 stars)
March 31, 2016

Works better than expected. We didn't have as much snow or ice here in the Northeast this year, but it did keep the gutters from icing up, and no resulting icicles hanging from them. It seems to do exactly what I expected.

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