It isn’t very often I really go out of my way to say nice things about products I have never tried, but this is going to be an exception.

I have a steel roof on my house (surprise, I know). It is a gabled roof with a “T” off one side, and two full hipped dormers on the other. It is in a beautiful mountain lake setting outside of Spokane, WA.

Where it snows….

A lot….

A few winters ago, it snowed so much it took a front end loader to get through the six feet of snow in our driveway!!

But, I diverse….in order to keep icicles from forming along the edge of the house’s overhangs, I’ve tried zig-zag style heat cables. I truthfully cannot say I was impressed with their performance, before they quit working entirely. And they were none too pretty.

I was researching for another article, when I came across HotEdge.

HotEdge is the first and only UL (Underwriters Laboratories) Listed roof edge ice prevention system which answers the market need for a low cost, simple, and energy efficient alternative to traditional zigzag heat tape, extruded aluminum metal, and heat mat concepts.

All other roof edge ice melt systems only use UL Listed ice melt cable and accessories. The distinction is an important one since without it, potential owners have little assurance all of the components will function together in a safe and effective manner. The ‘UL in a circle’ logo gives installers, product specifiers, and building owners the peace of mind, as they know the components have been tested as an entire system. Inspectors see the UL Listed label and know they can rely upon UL’s intensive testing regimen to confirm the roof edge ice melt system’s safe operation.

The product’s history came from the owner of HotEdge, Inc., either installing or considering everything from traditional zigzag heat tape to other cost prohibitive systems to prevent property and safety risks caused by icicles and ice dams on his own roof, high in the Colorado Rockies.

Unlike my just being frustrated with the lack of a practical or affordable solution, the owner of HotEdge invested the resources to develop, manufacture and market what appears to be a practical solution.