Imagine a plug-in driveway. You flip a switch, and it melts the snow and ice right off the surface. No shoveling, no salt and no neighborhood kids hitting you up for 10 bucks.
In fact, the technology for a heated driveway has been around for years. Generally speaking, there have been two options: hot water or hot wires.
The hot water type, called hydronic heating systems, pushes heated water from a boiler through a loop of flexible, reinforced thermoplastic rubber hose that’s embedded in the concrete. Electrical systems utilize a mineral-insulated coil that’s placed in a pattern and covered with concrete. The electrical systems typically require about 40 to 50 watts per square foot in vehicle areas, slightly more in pedestrian areas, according to Jeff Dusinski, design engineer at Wauconda, Ill.-based Delta-Therm Corp. (http://www.Delta-Therm.com), which manufactures snow-melting equipment.
The hurdle to residential use: the cost of installing and operating a snow-melting system can sometimes be enough to put the neighborhood kid through a semester of college. That’s why it’s primarily used at “upper-end” homes and commercial buildings.
“(Homeowners) have a hard time justifying snow-melting systems,” acknowledges Duszinski. “For a lot of them, it’s either take the vacation cruise or put this system in the driveway. So it’s perceived as an upper-end product in the residential market.”
Electric systems run about $3 to $8 per square foot installed, while hydronic systems cost about $4 to $5 per square foot. The cost to operate an electric system on a 400-square-foot driveway in the Chicago area, for instance, would be about $15 per hour; operating a hydronics system would be two-thirds cheaper, according to Duszinski. Figure about three to four hours per snowfall, he says.
Now, from a researcher north of the border, comes a new method of snow-melting.
A new type of concrete may provide an alternative route for heated driveways, as well as for radiant basement floors and foundations. Researchers at the Ottawa-based National Research Council Canada have developed a new conductive concrete that heats up when an electric current is applied.
The conductive concrete uses a mixture of conventional cement paste, aggregate and nonmetallic fibers and particles that conduct electricity. The new concrete is lightweight, bonds well with normal con crete and can be used as a structural material because of its toughness and compressibility, claims its inventor, Dr. James Beaudoin, principal research officer and head of the materials lab at the NRC’s Institute for Research in Construction.
Beaudoin’s conductive concrete isn’t available yet, so there’s no telling what it might cost to install and operate. But one has to believe that the manufacturing costs of mixing concrete will be cheaper than making cable or thermoplastic hose. Beaudoin emphasizes the NRC is interested in partnering with the private sector to develop and further “proof-test” the technology.
In the meantime, keep the shovel handy or be prepared to break out the wallet and pay the neighbor kid at the next snowfall.
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WIRED MORTGAGES: The day may be approaching when you’ll be able to submit a mortgage application via the Internet. Yeah, we know, you’d never want to put all that sensitive financial information on the Web (frankly, neither would we). But improved server authentication and data encryption are enabling companies such as California-based Contour Software to develop more “secure” systems for transferring data.
“Mortgage companies have yet to allow consumers to submit full loan applications on the Internet due to some very real security issues,” says Contour President Scott Cooley, who claims Contour’s InfoMortgage Highway will answer those issues. It’s not there yet, but, like so much else on the Internet, the day may be coming.
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LOW-TECH HOMEOWNER: As painting season approaches, here’s a tip from the folks at HouseNet (http://www.housenet.com): Cover the lenses of your eyeglasses with Saran Wrap to avoid splatters.
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Don Hunt and Brian Edwards write about technology related to buying, renting and fixing homes. They can be reached via e–mail at hitekhome@aol.com, or hitekhome@iserv.net, or you can write to them: The High-Tech Home, Chicago Tribune, Your Place section, 435 N. Michigan Ave., 4th Floor, Chicago, Ill., 60611.
