How to Melt Ice on a Driveway with an Outdoor Furnace

The winter months can be brutal on your walk and driveways, not to mention your back. Most of us break out the shovel or snow blower and salt to keep sidewalks and walkways snow and ice-free – a constant process that can be time-consuming and hazardous. But did you know you can keep walkways clear with a simple solution? An outdoor furnace.

 

What is an Outdoor Furnace?

heatmaterss outdoor wood furnace outside during the winter

An outdoor furnace is a long-term investment in your freedom and peace of mind. With limitless hot water and consistent, even heat throughout your home, outdoor furnaces work cleanly and efficiently while saving you money. For those who don’t know, an outdoor furnace is a type of heating system that uses biomass like wood to heat practically anything you can think of—your home, garage, pool, and even in-floor and outdoor radiant heating systems. And a gasifying furnace uses a process called gasification to supercharge efficiency to get even more heat from wood. Either way, outdoor wood boilers are an energy-efficient approach for all your heating needs.

What are Heated Driveways?

Electric driveway and walkway heating systems can be installed in the form of heated mats or cables that are embedded directly into concrete, asphalt, or masonry under pavers. The downside of these systems is that they use electricity that can become expensive to run throughout a snow season. A clean-burning outdoor furnace with hot water heating lines provides an alternative that is both environmentally friendly and saves you money.

How Outdoor Furnaces Heat

An outdoor furnace uses biomass fuel– such as wood – and oxygen to create high heat. That heat is transferred and stored via the water in the water jacket. That water is then pumped through insulated underground lines to deliver the heat where it is needed – your home, garage, barn, pool, or driveway. When the right combination of fuel and oxygen is created, outdoor furnaces are an efficient, carbon-neutral process, providing unlimited heat for homes and businesses at a low cost.

How to Melt Ice on a Driveway with Outdoor Furnace

heatmasterss outdoor furnace next to some cut logs

Don’t rack up electricity bills and waste electricity on melting ice and snow with an electric heated driveway. With an outdoor furnace, you can melt snow on your driveway and sidewalks with no shoveling, no chemicals and best of all – no electric bills to pay.

The outdoor furnace heats water that is then pumped through a closed loop of bare pipe installed in concrete, asphalt, or any other medium. This system melts snow and is perfect for both residential and business applications, and can be used on any size driveway or walkway.

Designing Your Snow Melting System

Rhinoflex pipe by HeatMasterSS is your best value for long-lasting underground pipe with the most efficient insulation and minimal heat loss between your furnace and building. However, when creating snow melt lines you will want to use bare pipe just like in indoor radiant floor systems, pumping a mixture of hot water and glycol through the tubing.

As you are planning, consider all the places you would want to run your pipe. Driveways are a good start but any other walkways and dog runs are other places to consider a snowmelt system with your outdoor furnace. Also, make a plan for snow runoff with a drainage system.

 

Benefits of a Outdoor Furnace Snow Melting System

 

When temperatures drop and snow starts falling, an outdoor furnace snow melting system will prevent slips and falls, giving you the confidence to navigate through potential trouble spots to your home. Here are some other benefits to an outdoor furnace snowmelt system:

 

Heat Your Home With HeatMasterss Today

HeatMasterss furnaces are made with titanium stainless steel that resist corrosion, can withstand higher continuous temperature, and transfer more heat to save you fuel. By combining the best materials with expert engineering, HeatMasterss has created the most rugged and longest-lasting furnaces available.

We are committed to creating products that offer our customers long-term energy independence with a rapid return on investment. All of our outdoor furnaces come with automated features that keep every step of the process efficient, safe, and easy. Talk with our team about finding the right size for your home or applications — find a local HeatMasterss dealer near you today.