Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Heated Driveway????

Sdashiki said:
if you are old, or infirm this is impossible.

every winter scores die because they were too frail to shovel snow, did it anyway, and had heart attacks.

shoveling snow, is a HUGE workout for anyone, the labor is intense even for young strappin' lads.
Click to expand...

There are enough 14 15 year olds who would love to make £5 just doing this.
 
The problem with the tarp idea is that if you let the snow get to heavy you won't get the tarp to move.
 
my parents have it and its good for a little bit of snow or after it snows and you rin it over and leave nasty packed tire marks. you shovel the driveway then turn it on to get it all nice and clean. its really expensive and it breaks alot though
 
topgunn said:
Concrete is like a rock. Rocks break when they go through repeated freeze thaw cycles.

When you heat your driveway, the snow melts (I know, no surprise) and the water now flows into all the cracks and pores in the concrete. You are happy because you didn't have to shovel the driveway and you happily proceed to work. Unless you heat your driveway ALL the time which would be a HUGE waste of energy, the water that seeped into your driveway will quickly refreeze all while expanding. Your driveway will go from having a useable life of 15-25 years to probably about 5.
Click to expand...

And this is why most roads and driveways in the northeast are asphalt instead of concrete. Shorter life sure (****ing potholes), but the blackness of it helps melt remaining snow. Our driveway faces west, so it gets plenty of sun. We don't even bother with the packed stuff, and just let radiation do it's thing.
 
i too had to shovel today and i must say while shoveling i thought about the same thing as the OP.
then i realized that my heart was beating hard for the first time in months and realized that i actually enjoy the exercise.
 
emw said:
Build your driveway out of a metal grate.

Build it over a 10-foot pit.

Snow goes into pit.

No shoveling. Unless, of course, you get more than 10 feet of snow.
Click to expand...
Oh, so that's why you never see Jiffy Lube™ employees shoveling snow. 🙂
 
I dont think that this idea it totally out of warrant

like someone posted it would be great for handicapped people
and besides it up's the value of your home what could be wrong with that?

there is no difference in the driveway versus heated floring in your bathroom so you dont step out of a hot shower onto a cold floor
 
My family has a heated driveway. Keep in mind, our driveway is quite long and winding. It's nice waking up in the morning, though. All you do is flick the switch, wait an hour, open up the gates and you're out.
 
As far as I know, one person in my neighborhood has a heated drive way & front steps.

Edit: These people are extremely wealthy (but not very old) and obviously had nothing better to do with their money.
 
People are so damn lazy.

Just pick up a shovel, toughen up, and go at it! It doesn't snow that often....not often enough for shovelling to be a huge pain in the ass each and every single year.
 
Abstract said:
People are so damn lazy.

Just pick up a shovel, toughen up, and go at it! It doesn't snow that often....not often enough for shovelling to be a huge pain in the ass each and every single year.
Click to expand...
Syracuse, NY, for example, averages over 100" of snow per year. So "no that often" depends on where you live.
 
We have a snowblower attached to our tractor to do the driveway, and a walk behind one to do the walkways. I had to shovel the deck, that was more than enough work for me. It was about 4"-6" deep depending on where you were except for the 3ft snow drif that massed right up at the side of the house. I am an athletic person and that was more than enough work for me. I don't see how people can shovel their driveways unless they don't get any snow or have unlimited time and energy to waste shoveling all day.

I am fine with heated driveways, if thats what you want to spend your money on then fine. My neighbors that have it have it because their driveway as very steep and would be dangerous to do with a snow blower. Additionally, the original owners of the house had a Lincoln LS (RWD) and when they didn't turn it on, it was fun to watch the guy try to get up his driveway. We have heated floors in our mudroom, one of our 1/2 baths, and my parents bathroom.
 
jsw said:
Syracuse, NY, for example, averages over 100" of snow per year. So "no that often" depends on where you live.
Click to expand...

Still? I'm from Toronto and the amount of snow we get each year seems to decrease. Yes, we do get snowstorms, but while we used to get 5-6 big ones every year in the '80s, we get around 2-3 now. 😱

But apparently, Syracuse is getting all our snow, so there is balance in nature. 😛
 
Abstract said:
Still? I'm from Toronto and the amount of snow we get each year seems to decrease. Yes, we do get snowstorms, but while we used to get 5-6 big ones every year in the '80s, we get around 2-3 now. 😱

But apparently, Syracuse is getting all our snow, so there is balance in nature. 😛
Click to expand...
Well, I've been gone for nearly 10 years now, but, for the 7 years I was there, the average was 134" for the time, so it hadn't gone down then. The 192" year was particularly memorable. 😉
 
As I posted elsewhere, I had my driveway filling up over and over the last two days. But I solved the problem really cheap.

I bought a flame thrower.
 
and people wonder why north american society is becoming fat!

i can understand geothermal heating for a house, but the driveway? that is pure fat a&& laziness as far as i'm concerned. i'm a small guy 5'2" and it only took me 15 minutes (if that) to clean our driveway tonight (fits 4 vehicles). snow was about 5 inches deep which doesn't seem like much, but it adds ups.

as a human race, we have to get off these ideas of always having something to make life too easy. sure, some inventions are great for real purposes, but for the most part, we're just saving ourselves time (and physical exercise) so we can sit on our couches and get fat.

ugh.

cheers,
keebler
 
Abstract said:
Still? I'm from Toronto and the amount of snow we get each year seems to decrease. Yes, we do get snowstorms, but while we used to get 5-6 big ones every year in the '80s, we get around 2-3 now. 😱

But apparently, Syracuse is getting all our snow, so there is balance in nature. 😛
Click to expand...


im from north of toronto (newmarket) and we had a dumping last night! we had to borrow our neighbours tractor and plow alot of it before we could turn on the driveway.
 
SamIchi said:
Since there's this big storm over here, I was wonderin' about better ways to deal with the snow. Me and my friend were thinkin, why not just heat the driveway. I Googled it and came up with plenty of result... So I'm wonderin' why don't more people have it? Is it really expensive? Anyone on MR have it? Shovelin' ain't that bad, atleast I get some needed exercise in the slow winter days.
Click to expand...

They are very common in homes with radiant heat.
They just extend the radiant heat outside rather than install an entirely new unit.
 
I knew of a guy that had heated LAWN in his backyard.

So when you jumped out of the pool, it was nice and warm on your feet.

was all done with heated water/piping
 
^^^That's retarded. You live in Australia!



And yes....about being fat and lazy.....I do agree with that. Life was good before heated driveways hit the market, and life will be equally good without it. 🙂

Just shovel and get some exercise rather than try to find any way to avoid it. If you have a bad back, then hire a teenager to do it for you. This way, you avoid work, and he earns money. I used to shovel my parents' driveway, and then I'd knock on every door in the neighbourhood and ask them if they'd like their driveway shovelled. My friend and I made a lot of money that way, and we were only 12-13 years old.
 
Abstract said:
My friend and I made a lot of money that way, and we were only 12-13 years old.
Click to expand...

Hey want to shovel my driveway? It's almost 700 feet long and covered in 2 inches of ice. I don't even have a snow shovel. Not that it would help, you'd need a pickaxe to break through that stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back