Roof, gutters and downpipes

Gutters and downpipes
Heating cables prevent the formation of snow and ice lumps which can be very dangerous if they were to hit a person when falling from the roofs or roof gutters.

Frost protection of roof gutters and downpipes is therefore a question of the safety of people on the ground below. In addition, damaged roofs, gutters and downpipes after frost are avoided.

Roof projection/eaves
Flat, or nearly flat, roofs have become more and more common in private homes and cottages, and although they are dimensioned to withstand snow loads, it can be both comfortable and clever to remove snow using heating cables. This is particularly true for roofs that are covered with roofing membrane, normally not intended for manual snow cleaning (due to the risk of damaging the membrane with snow shovels).

In cases of "warm" roofs, it may be necessary to install a heating cable on the roof surface, in the area above the eaves, so as to prevent water for the melting snow to freezes again on its way to the gutter.

Thermal management
With a roof gutter thermostat for control and management of the heating cables, the energy efficiency of installed system is enhanced. Roof gutter thermostats ensure that the heating cables are only energized when moisture is detected and the current temperature may cause ice to form. This prevents unnecessary use of energy.

Products that are ideal for frost protection of roof, gutters and downpipes

TXLP SINGLE CONDUCTOR HEATING CABLE
Single conductor heating cable (also called drum cable) is quite suitable for snow melting installations in roof gutters. Normally two strands of cable is installed in a gutter (one “loop”), which means that the "end" of the cable should come back to the starting point of the installation. This requires some calculations and planning of the installation. Single conductor heating cable systems should be calculated by a person possessing experience with such systems.

TXLP VARMEKABELELEMENTERTXLP heating cable elements (17W/m) is well suited for this application. Such a cable laid back-and-forth yields a linear power of 34W/m in the gutter, which is approved for both metal gutters and PVC gutters.

DEFROST PIPE SELF-REGULATING HEATING CABLE
DEFROST PIPE is a series of self regulating heating cables, where the DEFROST PIPE 20/GUTTER is particularly suitable for frost protection of roof gutters and downpipes. All variants of DEFROST PIPE can be cut length within the limitations set by Nexans and are thus very flexible in relation to varying roof gutter and downpipe -lengths. As a rule of thumb, it normally suffices to install one cable run in a gutter.

When using self-regulating heating cables, the power supply circuitry must be dimensioned with respect to the inrush current that may occur in such heating cables. Self regulating heating cable systems should be calculated by a person possessing experience with such systems.