Ice and snow melting

Energy-efficient control of ice and snow melting

Precision even when it is snowy and icy

Wherever outdoor surfaces like driveways, emergency access roads, parking spaces, pedestrian areas, bridges, junctions, crossroads or helicopter landing sites need to be protected from dangerous snow and ice in winter time, our Uponor Snow and ice melting system integrated in the ground keeps them free. The time-consuming shoveling of snow and polluting de-icing with salt or sand can thus be avoided completely. An automatic control system heats up only when it is needed; day and night.

The Uponor Snow and ice melting system needs only a minimum of +35 °C water temperature to work. This means that a wide variety of heat sources can be used, including district heating return water, waste heat from various processes, heat pumps, etc. The heat from any suitable source can be transferred through a heat exchanger to the Uponor Snow and ice melting system. The basic and easy design consists of Uponor PE-Xa pipes with c/c 250 mm and Uponor Industrial manifolds.

A fundamental principle of the Uponor Snow and ice melting system is that all loops from a given manifold should be of equal lengths. The heat will then be distributed evenly, without the use of throttling valves. Distribution pipes should be designed using Uponor's pre-insulated pipes for industrial buildings. These pipes are equipped with insulation and are flexible to install both into the ground and in walls. Uponor Snow and ice melting system can be rated for heat outputs ranging up to 350 W/m2. The output required is dependent on the geographical location and the requirements of the system. Thanks to our research work and long experience, we can always recommend an optimum output. The depth of installation and the loop centre-to-centre distance are also matched to the relevant system.