Frost KingRC 120V x 800W x 160Ft Electric Roof Cable Kits, Black

I plugged the wire in to make sure it wasn't DOA before I installed it. I left half of it unwound and it melted into a giant glob within about 15 minutes.

Most everyone (where it snows) needs roof deicing cables as it will protect your roof, home, and people.I've used many brands and they all work but some feel a little heavier duty than others and this brand works fine.Potential Icing Problems (without cables):I've seen many instances where people without deicing cables have had major problems: icy sidewalks and porches, icicles falling on people or breaking a basement window, damaged rain gutters, ice dams causing water to back up under shingles causing roof leaks or rot, water pouring out of a soffit under the eaves and I've even seen it go into an interior wall and come pouring out a circuit breaker panel in a garage.Proper Installation:I install these for customers and proper installation will include the thermostat controller in addition to cables. The thermostat controller will increase the life of the cables and lower your electrical bill, in the long run saving you more money than the controller but most people are too cheap to buy them which never makes any sense. I'll show you why below. They can also be run by a smart light switch. Proper installation is supposed to include a dedicated switch with a red pilot light so it's obvious when its on or off.You may want to run Christmas lights and need to take into consideration if they will be on the same circuit and how much power they will draw.Leaving cables on in warm weather, over 45-50 degrees, or having too many cables next to each other and/or crossing each other, can cause excessive heat and premature failure of the cables.Cables use 5 watts per foot so a 100 foot cable will use 500 watts and people generally have them plugged in and forget about them leaving them on. At 500 watts (or more for more cables or longer cables) for 24 hours a day in the winter time is like leaving on twenty five 20W fluorescent light bulbs 24 hours a day or running a 1500W electric space heater 8 hours a day.Length:For proper installation you really need to read the instructions that come with them or see the manufacturer's website. There really isn't a simple answer as to how many feet it takes for your home as every application is different.Length depends on your roof overhang and even the pitch (slope) of your roof. The steeper the roof the less problems you have with ice. If your roof is not very steep and typically doesn't have any snow on it then you have poor insulation in your attic which will actually increase your icing problems by causing melted water to pool up at the edge, not to mention the extra amount of money you're paying losing heat through your roof. So, if you need attic insulation and are having ice dams start with the deicing cable (cheaper) then get more insulation blown into your attic.The cables need to be run from just beyond the exterior wall to the edge of the roof and down into the rain gutter so, if you have a larger overhang than it takes more cable per foot. Porches and valleys on the roof will use three or four times as much cable as other areas of your roof. Generally you only need deicing cables on the north side of your house or in shaded areas where you have ice problems, or around walkways.For rain gutters you can make one pass on the bottom but you have to run it down the downspouts or they will freeze and then the water can not exit the gutter defeating the purpose. If your down spout is at the beginning or middle of your gutter run then the cable must be doubled up and run down the downspout and back up so it will continue running down the gutter to another downspout or end of gutter. Downspouts sometimes need to be dismantled to get the cables to run all the way through them.Metal and Wood Shake roofs:All of the instructions indicate not to use them on metal roofs or wood shake roofs, obviously for fear that wood roofs could catch fire and metal roofs have sharp edges that can damage the cables and metal roofs typically don't have ice dam problems anyway. Metal roofs have snow and ice which slides off in sheets so they need staggered snow/ice tabs. Cables can be installed on some flat metal roofs as they can have pooling and leaks through seems but cables must not cross sharp edges.

SHORT VERSION:If you have water dripping from ceiling due to ice dam on your roof, I highly recommend this product as one of solutions. This is the cheapest and quickest way to fix the ice dam problem. A picture is worth a thousand words so take a look at the pictures to see how it worked on my roof.LONG VERSION:There's nothing worse than hearing/seeing water drips from your ceiling in kitchen, living room, or bed room. You can find more information on ice dam but it basically forms due to a improper insulation between your ceiling and roof.I don't have the budget to fix the insulation problem in my attic so I tried number of different solutions but this electric roof cable worked the best and solved my ice dam problem.The instruction that comes with this cable is very clear on the best way to install this on your roof so take time to read the included instruction and follow it to make sure the cables are not touching each other by using the clips it comes with, and also make sure to have the cable run inside your gutter so that there's no ice dam forming in your gutter as that can sag your gutter and cause other water draining problems.If you have a switch inside your house that can control the outlet outside, I would recommend that you get a pilot switch so that you don't forget to turn off the electric roof cable.** TIP **I don't always turn on the electric roof cable whenever it snows. Instead, I check the weather forecast to see what the temperature will be for next couple of days after the snow fall. If the temperature is warm and sunny then I choose not to turn on the electric cable since ice dam can't be formed if it's not below freezing temperature.THE BOTTOM LINE:5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommend this electric roof cable if you have ice dam problem on your roof.I hope this will solve your problem as it did for me. Good luck and please click on the helpful button below if you found this useful. Thanks!

We just installed these at the beginning of December on both the front and back of our 1.5 story home and you can see they are melting snow. The real test will be in February or March but we combined with a thermostat and so far they are working as described! We used an online calculator to determine how much cable we required.

Heats fast and works well. Was a bit hard to lay flat in colder temps since it's all coiled up tight like a spring when packaged.. Once heated tho, it settled down and flattened out. Probably have to flatten it out more after a few heat cycles and it relaxes a bit.. Works fast and melts ice quick in temps up to - 8C

Product was of good quality but the shingle clips are very flimsy and are difficult to install on the roof. I ended up using players to install them but it does the job in leu of revenging the attic

Bought this to prevent my underground gutter lines to freeze like each year so no more ice and water flowing

Works well as advertised and put an end to Ice dams as the pictures show