As a plumber and pipe fitters wife, that entire set up is orgasmic. Hats off to you or whoever did that work because it’s insanely clean looking, organized, and accessible!! Now I really want to see the electrical!!
There is absolutely no way that even the most professional plumber or pipefitter or electrician would ever put this much intricate attention to detail in a CUSTOMER'S utility closet. This could be no other person but the home owner. Man I cant wait to do this in my own home!
Thanks for your compliments! I designed and built the entire setup myself, and documented all of it right here on my channel: th-cam.com/play/PLdWeMRuZcbQjekwiBk_uy39IS6JFWYORD.html&si=UJbV2-QnCJxyK_Zg Thanks for watching!
Just when you're starting to get bored with TH-cam, the ole algorithm kicks in and gives you 26 minutes and 12 seconds of joy. I can spend a good 10 minutes, just staring at the setup.
Same. There’s gotta be 16 grand hanging on that wall. What is this dude some type of mad scientist plumber? Bored engineer? Maybe he works for Parker? My question is how in the hell is there not sharpie instructions all over that wood, and no masking tape labels on components.
My jaw literally dropped when I saw your utility closet. I instantly knew you did it all yourself too, no builders would ever do it like that. Great work I can tell how proud you are
The issue people run into is no matter how much you spend, there’s always the contractor that asks for a lot and appears knowledgeable at the surface, but they are hiring a team of methheads to fufill the work for cheap. It’s a coin toss with some businesses.
@@madjackgamingandfitness498 That's why you cover your ass by having a clear plan agreed on and a list of all necessary requirements from a contractor. Diagrams, engineering designs, etc. If they refuse this, avoid. Also you have every right to observe any and all construction or work that is being done; obviously this isn't possible in a lot of cases, hence why people hire contractors in the first place, but if you can be there while they're doing the work, and you know what shoddy work looks like, it's the best way you can be sure they don't do a crappy job, leave, and then ghost you about any follow-up fixes without having to go through legal channels. Biggest problem these days is people saying they are plumbers or electricians but they are really just "handymen" found on Facebook or something. Naturally, they are the cheapest option, so a significant number of people are hiring what they think are electricians or plumbers but in reality they are not licensed nor professionally trained, don't have insurance, etc. In a case like OP's radiant heating system not a single pipe or circuit would be run before the entire proposed installation is laid out on paper, and good contractors will have a guarantee that any work not up to standards is free to repair. I have shelled out money for more expensive contractors in the past and most of the time, there were issues they had to come out to fix; typically just cosmetic, but since it was in their contract they made no fuss about coming out and doing several more hours of extra work to fix it properly. The difference is they are larger businesses that budget this kind of contingency in, whereas your local neighborhood hackjob handyman does not. I would not call finding contractors a coin toss if you do your due diligence, although I understand this is harder for the average person with no trade knowledge.
@@madjackgamingandfitness498 yea if you want something done right, gotta do it yourself. I’m guessing the original uploader is an engineer of some sort. I think it would be neat to buy this house after the fact, i am willing to bet the uploader would type up a PDF of it’s functionality and how to use/maintain/monitor it. As an engineer myself this is something i’d definitely geek out over lol
Holy mother! You're not kidding. I read your comment before I saw that part of the video and it was even more beautiful than I dreamed. I wish I had the skills to do this kind of thing around my house
No joke even the solder joints on the copper are immaculate I wonder who did all that. They definitely had experience (installing that system specifically I mean) and a ton of planning.
Im sure that works great if you get the sun for more than an hour a day. The Buffalo region is finally coming out of a more than a month long period of no sun. Not so easy to melt that lovely block of ice when that happens
That is artwork! A house about 2 miles down the road did this. They have about a 200 yards driveway and when they were doing the construction everyone was curious what they were doing but, as soon as I seen pallets of foam sheets, I knew. That driveway hasn't seen snow in 3 years and this is above Buffalo's line of longitude.
what doe buffalo's line of longitude have to do with this? I can see 79ºW runs through buffalo, but those indicate east and west, never heard of being below or above a line of longitude, usually that refers to latitude. But even then I'm not sure what being above or below it would matter
Yep. Air is horrible at transferring heat compared to liquids or solids, so any air pockets that form between the slab and the ice actually insulate the ice from the heat of the slab. Even moreso if the ice you did melt manages to evaporate and escape, as _dry_ air is an even better insulator.
i am from california; lived in chicago 2 years, so i told my family there, kiddingly, you guys should have heater system under the side walk; mind you, i did not know about heating systems in slabs, or they it was possible, them i returned to california and learned all the trades; indeed, slabs can be heated, i found out; and yes, i am very impressed as well; he is so well orginized ... i envy him, i mean admire him... hahah
This setup is insane!! Not sure why your video popped up on my feed but glad it did! This is sooo cool to see someone did this themselves! Cool use of smart things and those smart outlets! Keep it up!!
I used to install these systems that is beautiful clean work. You can put an outdoor reset sensor in that automatically turns it on if the temp is below 32 and enough moisture to snow.
I have to replace my driveway. What kind of setup is this called? What kind of company (industry name) do I look for? Or is it something I have to draw up and hire an eccentric handyman to assist? I am terrible at sweating pipes so I doubt I have the skill to do it all.
Look up Tekmar controls. They have a sensor that is embedded in the driveway that senses the temperature and humidity, so the system will automatically turn on when required avoiding the time it takes to clear the driveway after the fact. It also takes less energy this way. Very neat installation.
Holy moly ... I'm an IT specialist and I'm in awe of your beautiful setup! It's so common to see bad setups that "normal" ones become the exception, so seeing something like this was a true delight! I'm not sure why, but the TH-cam gods have put you on my homepage (and from the comments, many others also) and you have my subscription. This is my kind of content, I was shocked to see you're under 200k subs minimum, I know you'll blow up soon - *_theoretically!_*
Even as a numbnut who understood very little about your setup, I can't help but be amazed by it. It seems very robust, efficient, secure, and my personal favorite... aesthetically pleasing!
@estamnar6092 Hi! I was actually able to build this myself for less than $10k in materials. It not only melts the driveway, but provides radiant heat to my garage and basement, floor warming to my bathrooms, kitchen, shower and entryway, as well as all of my hot water. I talk about pricing in this video if interested: th-cam.com/video/zvOQSQiaqTw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=gB2sMk8ofbRYLU59 Thanks for watching!
I discovered this video by chance. I have not seen any of your others so forgive me if my question has already been answered. Why did you choose a water based system rather than electric heating cables in the driveway? (I live in Canada so hip replacement is 100% covered by insurance.)
I do this for a living and I 110% approve of the installation. Installation, materials, layout etc! Looks a bit crowded but you work with the space you’ve got and that’s how you do it man. Nice work. New subscriber EARNED right here!
Commenting as I’m watching through the video, I LOVE USING THE BOILER SIDE OF THE STORAGE TANK ALMOST LIKE A BUFFER TABK FOR THE REST OF THE SYSTEM! I was like why on earth did he shut it down, and then I realized while watching the overview of the system! Impressive theory implementation!l and the proof, well that’s just in the puddin’!
I enjoy watching how you have used your brain to make your life easier. I grew up in Chicago, lived in Wisconsin and Ohio, currently in CA. I've been through my fair share of snow events and ice storms. YOur system is awesome.
Thank you 😊. If you’re interested in seeing more of it, stay tuned. I have some projects I am currently filming that will show more of the inside. I’ve also debated on making photo videos showing our 15+ years of renovations and projects that led to its current state, but I wasn’t sure if there would be any interest. Thanks again for your kind words, I appreciate having people like you as subscribers!
I'm a retired plumbing contractor with 48 years of hands-on field experience and I totally approve of this installation 😮! Put you some rubbing alcohol into a pump sprayer and spray thicker accumulations. Isopropyl alcohol is "miscible" with water and lowers the phase-change temperature. I'm subscribing! Never too old (75) to learn new tricks.😅
As a contractor, I just want to personally complement whoever did your hot water on demand system. They obviously take very much pride in their work. That is an absolute work of art. Whoever did that work you have my respect that some great work
You just popped up on my feed, first vid I've seen. I'm also in Buffalo, so the title caught my attention right away. You have a pretty sweet set up there. I've been in residential construction and plumbing all my working life. That plumbing is A1👍🏻👌🏻 (ESPECIALLY for not being a plumber!)Nice job. I subbed & I'll check out some more vids in the future 👍🏻🛠️🔧🔩⚡🔌⚠️💨🔥👨🏼🔧
Just found your video, thank you for sharing your experience. WOW!!! I am from Southern California and I have become fascinated with weather events. Your information about the “ice bridge” is new and amazing to me. Thank you so much
I ran across this channel by accident and was I impressed... I'd assume some call this an obsession, but I'm going to say it's the very useful hobby of an intelligent person with a bit of extra time and some extra money... No doubt if someone is as capable as yourself there is no reason not to hold off Mother Nature if they can... By the way, the setup, the equipment, the installation is just fantastic. Wonderful job, neat, clean, well thought out.. I'm a new subscriber, yes from the deep South, Texas i fact.. Now the snow melting driveway isn't a thing for me but I will use your expertise to slightly cool a concrete floor on those 105 degree days, right up but below the point where the floor sweats, and air movement to make a large shop more comfortalbe in the summer and warm it during the winter without a forced air closed system. Again, I'm very happy to have found your channel and congrats on making your home safer for your family and obviously thinking far far far ahead for any possible issues with the house systems as well.... I could have used a Solar addition to the water heater on multiple occasions over the years... Thank you very much... Oh, just 1 question... Did you make any special adjustment for the ice/snow melt when the driveway system is on? Or do you need to do that at all?
Have you considered applying a black IR emissive coating on top of the concrete? This could help with the ice bridging effect as the coating would use the energy from your heated glycol to emit infrared radiation that would continue inputting thermal energy into the ice regardless of airflow under the ice bridge. Worth a try and would make an interesting video
You pointed out that your temps match on the two loops around @ 10:20 It appears you likely have HX setup as parallel flow. If you replumb to have counter flow it is possible to get a temperature cross and higher efficiency
I watched your video when you took on the blizzard several years ago. This is another Interesting contest by taking on an ice storm. Love this type of 'head on' challenge ! Disappointed that you had to shovel since I have a bad back. I agree, the horse got out of the barn while you were away. I wonder if you could beat 'thermal bridging' if you pretreated the surface ?? Possibly using calcium chloride or the liquid spray that the highway departments use now so as not to damage the concrete. I pretreat my driveway and it works great. I have seen your operation before but still marvel at the plumbing and electrical setup. You are my hero. 🙂
I had a mental picture of the utility room when you put that piece of ice on the bin back in its spot. -just saw the manabloc, I put one in my house and love it
😂 A few others have commented on that. I don’t even remember doing it, I had to go back and watch myself! My OCD I guess…. I also love the manabloc! Thanks for your comment and for watching!
Chris, Nice system. I work at a major upstate NY University running their EMS department, we have massive snowmelt systems on campus. It helps with slips and falls, staffing, and prevents salt from being tracked in our buildings. We run ours at an idle mode maintaining a slab temp of 40 when OA is below 38. We also have a melting mode, we bump slab setpoints to 55 degree when we have forecasted snow/lake effect. Great home system!
Chris we really have been getting lots of crazy weather this winter. I think we have been hit with just about everything here. I love watching your videos and wondered how this was working out for you with the ice. Your driveway has been worth having for sure!
Hey carezee! It has been wild this year hasn't it? I forgot to mention the EARTHQUAKE we had in early February too! th-cam.com/users/shortsypDO77RSArM?feature=share The driveway has been pushed to the limit this winter, but I have been happy with it's performance. It has worked as designed. Thanks for being a subscriber and for taking the time to watch! I really appreciate that! 😊
So, are you running plain hot water just to a heat exchanger that transfers heat to the glycol? I guess I'll have to go watch some of the other videos on the build. Looks fantastic though. 👍
Yeah bridging is a real thing. Happen to me the last snow fall. I turned the system off to early. As you know the slab holds temp for quite a while and melts and then dries. I turned it off before it stop snowing and it got windy and cooled the surface to fast and woke up to a sheet of ice. Turned back on the snow melt. Worked pretty good but like you said had to break it up to to come back in contact with surface again. But yeah the concrete was 100% dry.
Thanks! As a DIY’r it definitely took me a lot longer than it would’ve a professional, but I saved a ton in labor and learned how to solder. Another benefit is that having designed and built it all myself, I know exactly how it all works, and if something breaks I know how to diagnose and fix it! Thanks for watching!
I so wish we could have something like this for the roads. They have it in some parts of Europe. Imagine how many crash injuries and fatalities could be prevented, not to mention the salt and ice damage to the highways. Imagine being able to go over Donner Pass in California without chaining, or through Wyoming or North/South Dakota and Montana without getting stuck in 20 feet of snow.
It sounds cool and all till one does a bit of math and then the idea just doesn't work, at 50w a sq ft for a two lane road you would need almost 8mega watts per mile, in states like ND,SD,MT,MN when its -30 out you would need more it just isn't going to work on a large scale.
it def would have melted even with thermal bridging as the air underneath does warm up, but I also get just wanting to get it done with. I dont have the best patience either. Either way, great thing to have if you live in a cold climate!! Very impressive.
It's not just a matter of time but also efficiency. Less energy spent melting the ice if you can shovel it off. It is interesting how air acts as an insulator even when it's warm, like having a fire in an igloo will make it warm inside but the heat transfer from air to ice is so slow the structure stays solid.
As someone who spent many winters in the Twin Tiers, I genuinely don't know how you folks up in Buffalo deal with it all. 😂 Hat's off to you for such a creative and clean set up! Thank you for sharing your process and all that great knowledge with us here on the web. 👍
Christopher, did you put down a 4" thick layer of XPS foam before laying the PEX so that the heat cannot go into the soil it can only up through the concrete driveway to melt snow or ice?
Hey Chris! So I used 2” XPS foam for a total of R-10. You can see where I did that in these videos: th-cam.com/video/gxF1TouS5Hs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=2Tf-mkaizoPHeXy5 th-cam.com/video/uxzPfGXPpRk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=xsT6qAKN1Kt9WaJR and th-cam.com/video/lMb4JjBGurA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=M_O-xgGdJE7dPqQ0 If you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to ask and I’ll try to answer! Thanks for watching!
I have seriously been anticipating this video. Great video! I would be curious what a little bit of course calcium chloride would do to help? My thought process is that it may create hundreds and hundreds of craters down to the slab to allow water/air exchange and let the ice sheet contact the slab? keep up the vids
I am impressed! That doesn't happen very often. I wish I were your friend or neighbor, I can tell we would get a long well. I love this kind of stuff - organized, glycol systems, hot water systems, all your stuff is neat, etc. . . . . I could go on and on. I love cement style siding too, your home looks so well done and kept. I dislike vinyl or aluminum siding. You have so much order in how you do things. I love order, I dislike chaos.
In 43 years of existence i have known numerous people who have had anything from a severely sprained ankle, blown knees, all the way up to massive heart attacks, from snow or ice on driveways. We will build our entire house now with space age processes and materials. But most won't even blip the thought of this.
I wouldn't call the air pocket a "Thermal Bridge," it's more of an "Air Gap." A Thermal Bridge transfers heat through conduction by physical contact. An air gap is an air pocket that help insulates 2 objects like such in a double pane window.
Just found this video somehow. I have designed snow melt systems in a lot of areas including Fargo, ND. Bridging is no joke. If you miss the start of an event it will be tough to not shovel it off. Cool video. I will watch some of your others soon.
I’m from NY and moved to Texas back in 2019. So so glad I got away from the snow and such but I’m mad that no one in my family thought about installing the set up you have. Would’ve saved so much time and energy and our driveway wasn’t even as big as yours
I'm in Florida, have family in buffalo, always knew they struggled with snow removal, but this just blew my mind as to how far people will geek out. well done!
It's like this Buffalo winter decided to throw everything it could think of at your driveway. It's been a really brutal torture test of your system, but really interesting to see how it handles different extreme scenarios. In this case, I probably would have driven the vehicle up and down the driveway every once in a while to crack the bridging.
It really has Ken! I also forgot to mention the EARTHQUAKE! th-cam.com/users/shortsypDO77RSArM?feature=share This winter has tested everything! I knew when I designed it that it would have limitations, but the blizzard REALLY pushed it to it's limits. That storm pushed EVERYTHING to its limits around here! Either way, like you said it has been a great test, and a lot of fun. March so far has brought some good snow events so I'll be posting those soon, and there is always next winter :) Thanks for watching!
Pretty amazing. Funny I was working on installing a snow melt system today and this popped up in my feed. We use a snow sensor 90 from Tekmar to automatically turn the system on. I’m sure you have some kind of snow detection system but didn’t see it mentioned in the video.
So I did install the Tekmar socket in the slab, and ran the conduit back to the utility room for future installation, but I haven’t brought myself to spend the $2k+ for the sensor or controls yet. So far it works great turning it on / off in person or from my phone. This storm was unique in that we were in an area with no cell coverage for a few days so I had no access to the cameras or SmartThings to see what was happening and turn it on until it was to late. Maybe I’ll install the Tekmar controls at some point. Thanks for watching!
That is quite the setup. I have never seen anything like it. Reading the comments it seems that you've built it, and it shows. Very cool. It's also absolutely insane. Good work!
Mate, here I am watching this from Melbourne. Australia where I have my A/C on because it’s 33 deg cel (91.4 f) outside. Melbourne is considered a cold state but I’ve pretty much never lived with snow or ice like this. Amazing.
I think your neighbors will thank you for shoveling the ice off rather than let it melt off. All I can think is that the water is going to create an ice skating rink in the street if you leave it alone. All the ice in the street wouldn’t allow the melt to go downstream. Just my perfectionist thinking. Oh, one more thing… what a work of art at the controls!!!
Your neighbors won’t pay for your medical bills when you’re 60 and need to replace half of your body , if ice is on the street it’s the city’s responsibility not his
![Answering the Top 5 Most Frequently Asked Questions About my Buffalo NY Heated Driveway - [12-3-22]](/img/n.gif)
This is a man who slipped one too many times. And has deemed he never will again
@@nickc7320 😃😂👍
If you have pets you dont need to worry about salt poisoning them.
As a plumber and pipe fitters wife, that entire set up is orgasmic. Hats off to you or whoever did that work because it’s insanely clean looking, organized, and accessible!! Now I really want to see the electrical!!
Thanks for your compliments! This system was 100% DIY. I designed and built everything myself. Thanks for watching! 😊
There is absolutely no way that even the most professional plumber or pipefitter or electrician would ever put this much intricate attention to detail in a CUSTOMER'S utility closet. This could be no other person but the home owner. Man I cant wait to do this in my own home!
@@DeckerChristopherJ What is sour job? Are you a plumer or something? (This is my first time seeing your videos)
Orgasmic you say? I want to hear more! Lol 😈
@@MatteoBRap He's Himbron James
The plumbing on that system is a work of art. Seriously, much respect to you or whoever installed it.
Thanks for your compliments! I designed and built the entire setup myself, and documented all of it right here on my channel: th-cam.com/play/PLdWeMRuZcbQjekwiBk_uy39IS6JFWYORD.html&si=UJbV2-QnCJxyK_Zg Thanks for watching!
Was just about to say the same thing!
Pure beauty I knew I would find this comment 👍🏿
Was going to post the same! You can really see the quality here.
Also was going to say the same, absolutely beautiful design and install. What do you do for a living?
Just when you're starting to get bored with TH-cam, the ole algorithm kicks in and gives you 26 minutes and 12 seconds of joy. I can spend a good 10 minutes, just staring at the setup.
Same. There’s gotta be 16 grand hanging on that wall. What is this dude some type of mad scientist plumber? Bored engineer? Maybe he works for Parker?
My question is how in the hell is there not sharpie instructions all over that wood, and no masking tape labels on components.
its so pretty isnt it? I want someone that would do a work that nice whenever i build
Until TH-cam decided to wreck the experience with advertising for over 30 seconds.
@@pauljensen5699 So, I'm not going crazy. I'm searching for the skip button and realizing it's not there for most ads.
amen
@@mikesapp3241
My jaw literally dropped when I saw your utility closet. I instantly knew you did it all yourself too, no builders would ever do it like that. Great work I can tell how proud you are
No builder would do that unless given a blank check, and it’s got quadruple redundancy I guess?
The issue people run into is no matter how much you spend, there’s always the contractor that asks for a lot and appears knowledgeable at the surface, but they are hiring a team of methheads to fufill the work for cheap. It’s a coin toss with some businesses.
@@madjackgamingandfitness498 That's why you cover your ass by having a clear plan agreed on and a list of all necessary requirements from a contractor. Diagrams, engineering designs, etc. If they refuse this, avoid. Also you have every right to observe any and all construction or work that is being done; obviously this isn't possible in a lot of cases, hence why people hire contractors in the first place, but if you can be there while they're doing the work, and you know what shoddy work looks like, it's the best way you can be sure they don't do a crappy job, leave, and then ghost you about any follow-up fixes without having to go through legal channels.
Biggest problem these days is people saying they are plumbers or electricians but they are really just "handymen" found on Facebook or something. Naturally, they are the cheapest option, so a significant number of people are hiring what they think are electricians or plumbers but in reality they are not licensed nor professionally trained, don't have insurance, etc.
In a case like OP's radiant heating system not a single pipe or circuit would be run before the entire proposed installation is laid out on paper, and good contractors will have a guarantee that any work not up to standards is free to repair.
I have shelled out money for more expensive contractors in the past and most of the time, there were issues they had to come out to fix; typically just cosmetic, but since it was in their contract they made no fuss about coming out and doing several more hours of extra work to fix it properly. The difference is they are larger businesses that budget this kind of contingency in, whereas your local neighborhood hackjob handyman does not. I would not call finding contractors a coin toss if you do your due diligence, although I understand this is harder for the average person with no trade knowledge.
@@madjackgamingandfitness498 yea if you want something done right, gotta do it yourself. I’m guessing the original uploader is an engineer of some sort. I think it would be neat to buy this house after the fact, i am willing to bet the uploader would type up a PDF of it’s functionality and how to use/maintain/monitor it. As an engineer myself this is something i’d definitely geek out over lol
Holy mother! You're not kidding. I read your comment before I saw that part of the video and it was even more beautiful than I dreamed.
I wish I had the skills to do this kind of thing around my house
As a plumbing and heating engineer from the UK I feel I must complement you on the quality and neatness of your installation. A job well done
Thank you sir! I appreciate your compliments, especially coming from a professional. 😊
I agree. That’s the first thing that I noticed too!
No joke even the solder joints on the copper are immaculate I wonder who did all that. They definitely had experience (installing that system specifically I mean) and a ton of planning.
An old heat and air man here.. .your trade skills and engineering knowlege are out of this world. I have the highest respect for you.
we have a system down here. Its a two part system consisting of sun and tomorrow. haha. beautiful setup. (tennessee master plumber here).
No sun for 4 mths up here. Well, if you don’t count the 3-4 days in that period. Not enough snow to snowmobile or ski. Terrible area
This system works great, until the HOA Karen shows up.
...and a $20 pair of those rubber-banded crampons.
Im sure that works great if you get the sun for more than an hour a day. The Buffalo region is finally coming out of a more than a month long period of no sun. Not so easy to melt that lovely block of ice when that happens
That is artwork!
A house about 2 miles down the road did this. They have about a 200 yards driveway and when they were doing the construction everyone was curious what they were doing but, as soon as I seen pallets of foam sheets, I knew. That driveway hasn't seen snow in 3 years and this is above Buffalo's line of longitude.
what doe buffalo's line of longitude have to do with this? I can see 79ºW runs through buffalo, but those indicate east and west, never heard of being below or above a line of longitude, usually that refers to latitude. But even then I'm not sure what being above or below it would matter
“Turn the driveway on”. Living in TX that’s an expression I never thought I’d hear.
Living in the north east that's an expression I never thought I'd hear either.
I wish i saw this vid about 3 days ago 😂😂 insane snow in Houston!
Thermal bridging is the reason you can cook sleep and survive a winter storm in an igloo. Very interesting and enjoyable video thanks for sharing
Yep. Air is horrible at transferring heat compared to liquids or solids, so any air pockets that form between the slab and the ice actually insulate the ice from the heat of the slab. Even moreso if the ice you did melt manages to evaporate and escape, as _dry_ air is an even better insulator.
I’m a retired builder from California. Completely impressed with your whole set up. Great job both in what you’ve done and the video.
i am from california; lived in chicago 2 years, so i told my family there, kiddingly, you guys should have heater system under the side walk; mind you, i did not know about heating systems in slabs, or they it was possible, them i returned to california and learned all the trades; indeed, slabs can be heated, i found out; and yes, i am very impressed as well; he is so well orginized ... i envy him, i mean admire him... hahah
Looks like the cockpit of a jumbo jet! Incredible! Kudos to the Master who laid out that intricate pipe/electrical system!
That was 100% me. Lots more videos of how I did it and it working on my channel. Thanks for your compliments and for watching!
This setup is insane!! Not sure why your video popped up on my feed but glad it did! This is sooo cool to see someone did this themselves! Cool use of smart things and those smart outlets! Keep it up!!
I used to install these systems that is beautiful clean work. You can put an outdoor reset sensor in that automatically turns it on if the temp is below 32 and enough moisture to snow.
What kind of sensor would figure out if there was moisture?
@@jeffa847hygrometer
@@jeffa847 Hygrometers for moisture in the atmosphere would be one.
I have to replace my driveway.
What kind of setup is this called? What kind of company (industry name) do I look for?
Or is it something I have to draw up and hire an eccentric handyman to assist? I am terrible at sweating pipes so I doubt I have the skill to do it all.
Look up Tekmar controls. They have a sensor that is embedded in the driveway that senses the temperature and humidity, so the system will automatically turn on when required avoiding the time it takes to clear the driveway after the fact. It also takes less energy this way. Very neat installation.
Very cool. I just kept thinking about your wife, rolling her eyes and being grateful at the same time!! Loved this video!
Holy moly ... I'm an IT specialist and I'm in awe of your beautiful setup! It's so common to see bad setups that "normal" ones become the exception, so seeing something like this was a true delight! I'm not sure why, but the TH-cam gods have put you on my homepage (and from the comments, many others also) and you have my subscription. This is my kind of content, I was shocked to see you're under 200k subs minimum, I know you'll blow up soon - *_theoretically!_*
Even as a numbnut who understood very little about your setup, I can't help but be amazed by it. It seems very robust, efficient, secure, and my personal favorite... aesthetically pleasing!
A few dollars to clean the driveway.... $25,000 for a hip replacement. The math is pretty simple. I wish I had this.
Uses of 4:24 the home hot water heating system to melt your drive way is cool ideal
That hydronic system costs like $25,000 *installed
@estamnar6092 Hi! I was actually able to build this myself for less than $10k in materials. It not only melts the driveway, but provides radiant heat to my garage and basement, floor warming to my bathrooms, kitchen, shower and entryway, as well as all of my hot water. I talk about pricing in this video if interested: th-cam.com/video/zvOQSQiaqTw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=gB2sMk8ofbRYLU59 Thanks for watching!
I discovered this video by chance. I have not seen any of your others so forgive me if my question has already been answered. Why did you choose a water based system rather than electric heating cables in the driveway? (I live in Canada so hip replacement is 100% covered by insurance.)
I'm guessing this was built a few years ago, at least if the material was 10k or less. Material is outrageous now in 2024.
I do this for a living and I 110% approve of the installation. Installation, materials, layout etc! Looks a bit crowded but you work with the space you’ve got and that’s how you do it man. Nice work. New subscriber EARNED right here!
Commenting as I’m watching through the video, I LOVE USING THE BOILER SIDE OF THE STORAGE TANK ALMOST LIKE A BUFFER TABK FOR THE REST OF THE SYSTEM! I was like why on earth did he shut it down, and then I realized while watching the overview of the system! Impressive theory implementation!l and the proof, well that’s just in the puddin’!
The water eventually becomes an insulator between the concrete and the ice. Amazing. It’s like a massively cool science project. Bravo.
I enjoy watching how you have used your brain to make your life easier. I grew up in Chicago, lived in Wisconsin and Ohio, currently in CA. I've been through my fair share of snow events and ice storms. YOur system is awesome.
I love your house. It looks so well thought out, I've mentioned this before, but it's really something so aspire to.
Thank you 😊. If you’re interested in seeing more of it, stay tuned. I have some projects I am currently filming that will show more of the inside. I’ve also debated on making photo videos showing our 15+ years of renovations and projects that led to its current state, but I wasn’t sure if there would be any interest. Thanks again for your kind words, I appreciate having people like you as subscribers!
The level of care and OCD organization that went into that system build is Amazing! What a nifty idea!
Holy cow how clean is this install. As a German I salute you, great job you can be proud of yourself no doubt about it.
Dude. That utility closet looks like the inside of a submarine lol. Awesome video.
I'm a retired plumbing contractor with 48 years of hands-on field experience and I totally approve of this installation 😮!
Put you some rubbing alcohol into a pump sprayer and spray thicker accumulations. Isopropyl alcohol is "miscible" with water and lowers the phase-change temperature.
I'm subscribing! Never too old (75) to learn new tricks.😅
I love when I see older folks comment on TH-cam about hobbies or without a condescending tone. It’s heartwarming to see
Geeking out over your home built system and sharing with all of us. Awesome! Thanks for uploading :)
Thank you for watching!! 😊
Had no idea how complex a heated driveway system was. Fascinating video and very impressed with your work
Glad to see you and the driveway back again ! Welcome to another season
Your equipment room is like a printed circuit board ❤
Right, it’s flawless
Greetings from Northeast Ohio! What an amazing setup! So glad I stumbled upon your channel!
Neat set up….And here I’m heating my pool and hot tub, while you’re heating your driveway . Greetings from Palm Springs, CA.😎🌴
My hometown!
Oh wow! Got to the part of the video that you built it yourself. You did wonderful!
As a contractor, I just want to personally complement whoever did your hot water on demand system. They obviously take very much pride in their work. That is an absolute work of art. Whoever did that work you have my respect that some great work
Whoever completed the work did a thorough and excellent job installing the unit. Looks clean!
You just popped up on my feed, first vid I've seen. I'm also in Buffalo, so the title caught my attention right away. You have a pretty sweet set up there. I've been in residential construction and plumbing all my working life. That plumbing is A1👍🏻👌🏻 (ESPECIALLY for not being a plumber!)Nice job. I subbed & I'll check out some more vids in the future 👍🏻🛠️🔧🔩⚡🔌⚠️💨🔥👨🏼🔧
Just found your video, thank you for sharing your experience. WOW!!! I am from Southern California and I have become fascinated with weather events. Your information about the “ice bridge” is new and amazing to me. Thank you so much
I ran across this channel by accident and was I impressed... I'd assume some call this an obsession, but I'm going to say it's the very useful hobby of an intelligent person with a bit of extra time and some extra money... No doubt if someone is as capable as yourself there is no reason not to hold off Mother Nature if they can... By the way, the setup, the equipment, the installation is just fantastic. Wonderful job, neat, clean, well thought out.. I'm a new subscriber, yes from the deep South, Texas i fact.. Now the snow melting driveway isn't a thing for me but I will use your expertise to slightly cool a concrete floor on those 105 degree days, right up but below the point where the floor sweats, and air movement to make a large shop more comfortalbe in the summer and warm it during the winter without a forced air closed system. Again, I'm very happy to have found your channel and congrats on making your home safer for your family and obviously thinking far far far ahead for any possible issues with the house systems as well.... I could have used a Solar addition to the water heater on multiple occasions over the years... Thank you very much... Oh, just 1 question... Did you make any special adjustment for the ice/snow melt when the driveway system is on? Or do you need to do that at all?
Brilliant job of explaining the system and bridging. Made good sense.
Your family is lucky to have you keeping them safe and comfortable.
Impressive. Very clean and organized installation.
Amazing piping job the neatest joint solder I have ever seen a marvelous work of art
Thanks!
Have you considered applying a black IR emissive coating on top of the concrete? This could help with the ice bridging effect as the coating would use the energy from your heated glycol to emit infrared radiation that would continue inputting thermal energy into the ice regardless of airflow under the ice bridge. Worth a try and would make an interesting video
This is so incredibly fascinating! I’m born and raised on the beach in SoCal, this is truly amazing to watch. I have so many questions!
You pointed out that your temps match on the two loops around @ 10:20
It appears you likely have HX setup as parallel flow.
If you replumb to have counter flow it is possible to get a temperature cross and higher efficiency
I watched your video when you took on the blizzard several years ago.
This is another Interesting contest by taking on an ice storm. Love this type of 'head on' challenge !
Disappointed that you had to shovel since I have a bad back. I agree, the horse got out of the barn while you were away.
I wonder if you could beat 'thermal bridging' if you pretreated the surface ??
Possibly using calcium chloride or the liquid spray that the highway departments use now so as not to damage the concrete.
I pretreat my driveway and it works great.
I have seen your operation before but still marvel at the plumbing and electrical setup.
You are my hero. 🙂
I had a mental picture of the utility room when you put that piece of ice on the bin back in its spot.
-just saw the manabloc, I put one in my house and love it
😂 A few others have commented on that. I don’t even remember doing it, I had to go back and watch myself! My OCD I guess…. I also love the manabloc! Thanks for your comment and for watching!
As the rest of the comments say, great job man, the set up is immaculate! The moment I saw it was just wow 👌
This is an awesome system. I’m saving my money for when I do my driveway over. Just south of Albany
Excellent system Chris I have to hand it it to you, an awesome set up!
Thanks! I really appreciate that!
You are a 🌟 star , look at your neighborhood and look at your driveway. Just perfect. applause. Clapping.
Such a clean setup!
Chris, Nice system. I work at a major upstate NY University running their EMS department, we have massive snowmelt systems on campus. It helps with slips and falls, staffing, and prevents salt from being tracked in our buildings. We run ours at an idle mode maintaining a slab temp of 40 when OA is below 38. We also have a melting mode, we bump slab setpoints to 55 degree when we have forecasted snow/lake effect. Great home system!
You have a beautiful home. Thank you for sharing this.
I just love this! What a system you have built!
Chris we really have been getting lots of crazy weather this winter. I think we have been hit with just about everything here. I love watching your videos and wondered how this was working out for you with the ice. Your driveway has been worth having for sure!
Hey carezee! It has been wild this year hasn't it? I forgot to mention the EARTHQUAKE we had in early February too! th-cam.com/users/shortsypDO77RSArM?feature=share The driveway has been pushed to the limit this winter, but I have been happy with it's performance. It has worked as designed. Thanks for being a subscriber and for taking the time to watch! I really appreciate that! 😊
Love the organization and cleanliness of your basement
So, are you running plain hot water just to a heat exchanger that transfers heat to the glycol? I guess I'll have to go watch some of the other videos on the build.
Looks fantastic though. 👍
your utility room looks wild. Great cable management, very clean!
Yeah bridging is a real thing. Happen to me the last snow fall. I turned the system off to early. As you know the slab holds temp for quite a while and melts and then dries. I turned it off before it stop snowing and it got windy and cooled the surface to fast and woke up to a sheet of ice. Turned back on the snow melt. Worked pretty good but like you said had to break it up to to come back in contact with surface again. But yeah the concrete was 100% dry.
Very nice install, just looks super professional. All installs should look this neat.🔥🔥
Thanks! As a DIY’r it definitely took me a lot longer than it would’ve a professional, but I saved a ton in labor and learned how to solder. Another benefit is that having designed and built it all myself, I know exactly how it all works, and if something breaks I know how to diagnose and fix it! Thanks for watching!
You beat two things...the ice and my OCD. That piping is obviously on another level, the pre planning paid dividends, my friend, fantastic job.
That install is beautiful. Whoever did that hands off to them. True craftsmanship.
I so wish we could have something like this for the roads. They have it in some parts of Europe. Imagine how many crash injuries and fatalities could be prevented, not to mention the salt and ice damage to the highways. Imagine being able to go over Donner Pass in California without chaining, or through Wyoming or North/South Dakota and Montana without getting stuck in 20 feet of snow.
It sounds cool and all till one does a bit of math and then the idea just doesn't work, at 50w a sq ft for a two lane road you would need almost 8mega watts per mile, in states like ND,SD,MT,MN when its -30 out you would need more it just isn't going to work on a large scale.
Yep
@@vinces8209 It wouldn't even be feasible for my 90 ft. driveway.
Great idea, Impressive Utility Room, and especially, the ability to Heat the driveway to melt away and prevent a slippery slope 🔥
Love the time lapse videos!
Wow, that is an amazing heating system. I’m in awe.
it def would have melted even with thermal bridging as the air underneath does warm up, but I also get just wanting to get it done with. I dont have the best patience either. Either way, great thing to have if you live in a cold climate!! Very impressive.
It's not just a matter of time but also efficiency. Less energy spent melting the ice if you can shovel it off. It is interesting how air acts as an insulator even when it's warm, like having a fire in an igloo will make it warm inside but the heat transfer from air to ice is so slow the structure stays solid.
As someone who spent many winters in the Twin Tiers, I genuinely don't know how you folks up in Buffalo deal with it all. 😂 Hat's off to you for such a creative and clean set up! Thank you for sharing your process and all that great knowledge with us here on the web. 👍
Christopher, did you put down a 4" thick layer of XPS foam before laying the PEX so that the heat cannot go into the soil it can only up through the concrete driveway to melt snow or ice?
Hey Chris! So I used 2” XPS foam for a total of R-10. You can see where I did that in these videos: th-cam.com/video/gxF1TouS5Hs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=2Tf-mkaizoPHeXy5 th-cam.com/video/uxzPfGXPpRk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=xsT6qAKN1Kt9WaJR and th-cam.com/video/lMb4JjBGurA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=M_O-xgGdJE7dPqQ0
If you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to ask and I’ll try to answer! Thanks for watching!
Your utility closet is a work of art absolutely beautiful work.
I have seriously been anticipating this video. Great video! I would be curious what a little bit of course calcium chloride would do to help? My thought process is that it may create hundreds and hundreds of craters down to the slab to allow water/air exchange and let the ice sheet contact the slab? keep up the vids
Thanks man, appreciate the compliments as always! Hmm, I've never considered calcium chloride 🤔. It probably would work exactly as you describe! 👍
What an amazing installation! WOW!
I guess I missed something, but I wonder how much the energy cost (gas/electric) is and how much it cost to buy and install in the first place
I enjoy this so much! Amazing content, best wishes to you and your future projects! 🌻
I wonder if there is an option for a smart controller system that one can use their device to turn it on when away
I am impressed! That doesn't happen very often. I wish I were your friend or neighbor, I can tell we would get a long well. I love this kind of stuff - organized, glycol systems, hot water systems, all your stuff is neat, etc. . . . . I could go on and on. I love cement style siding too, your home looks so well done and kept. I dislike vinyl or aluminum siding. You have so much order in how you do things. I love order, I dislike chaos.
In 43 years of existence i have known numerous people who have had anything from a severely sprained ankle, blown knees, all the way up to massive heart attacks, from snow or ice on driveways. We will build our entire house now with space age processes and materials. But most won't even blip the thought of this.
I wouldn't call the air pocket a "Thermal Bridge," it's more of an "Air Gap." A Thermal Bridge transfers heat through conduction by physical contact. An air gap is an air pocket that help insulates 2 objects like such in a double pane window.
That... Is... The... BEST PLUMBING... I'VE EVER SEEN.
Your system is a thing of beauty.And your soldiering is perfect.
That's a nice stick collection.
As a person who has plumbing experience for over a decade, your basement is a plumber’s wet dream. Beautiful work.
Wow the copper work is all class
Just found this video somehow. I have designed snow melt systems in a lot of areas including Fargo, ND. Bridging is no joke. If you miss the start of an event it will be tough to not shovel it off. Cool video. I will watch some of your others soon.
this is badass
I know I’m late to the game but man what a cool system!! I want to do this in my house
That system is a thing of beauty.
Thanks! 😊
Drooling over the entire contraption. I'm in Texas and we only get snow every other year or so but this is beautiful!
The setup was pure beauty.
I’m from NY and moved to Texas back in 2019. So so glad I got away from the snow and such but I’m mad that no one in my family thought about installing the set up you have. Would’ve saved so much time and energy and our driveway wasn’t even as big as yours
Have you ever calculated what does it costs to de-ice that driveway ??
22:40
I'm in Florida, have family in buffalo, always knew they struggled with snow removal, but this just blew my mind as to how far people will geek out. well done!
It's like this Buffalo winter decided to throw everything it could think of at your driveway. It's been a really brutal torture test of your system, but really interesting to see how it handles different extreme scenarios.
In this case, I probably would have driven the vehicle up and down the driveway every once in a while to crack the bridging.
It really has Ken! I also forgot to mention the EARTHQUAKE! th-cam.com/users/shortsypDO77RSArM?feature=share This winter has tested everything! I knew when I designed it that it would have limitations, but the blizzard REALLY pushed it to it's limits. That storm pushed EVERYTHING to its limits around here! Either way, like you said it has been a great test, and a lot of fun. March so far has brought some good snow events so I'll be posting those soon, and there is always next winter :) Thanks for watching!
Pretty amazing. Funny I was working on installing a snow melt system today and this popped up in my feed. We use a snow sensor 90 from Tekmar to automatically turn the system on. I’m sure you have some kind of snow detection system but didn’t see it mentioned in the video.
So I did install the Tekmar socket in the slab, and ran the conduit back to the utility room for future installation, but I haven’t brought myself to spend the $2k+ for the sensor or controls yet. So far it works great turning it on / off in person or from my phone. This storm was unique in that we were in an area with no cell coverage for a few days so I had no access to the cameras or SmartThings to see what was happening and turn it on until it was to late. Maybe I’ll install the Tekmar controls at some point. Thanks for watching!
yeah, i took a pic of the wall, gonna make it my screen saver😅
Pure work of ART❤
That is quite the setup. I have never seen anything like it. Reading the comments it seems that you've built it, and it shows. Very cool. It's also absolutely insane. Good work!
An HVAC pro's wet dream is what I see here.
Mate, here I am watching this from Melbourne. Australia where I have my A/C on because it’s 33 deg cel (91.4 f) outside. Melbourne is considered a cold state but I’ve pretty much never lived with snow or ice like this. Amazing.
I think your neighbors will thank you for shoveling the ice off rather than let it melt off. All I can think is that the water is going to create an ice skating rink in the street if you leave it alone. All the ice in the street wouldn’t allow the melt to go downstream. Just my perfectionist thinking. Oh, one more thing… what a work of art at the controls!!!
Your neighbors won’t pay for your medical bills when you’re 60 and need to replace half of your body , if ice is on the street it’s the city’s responsibility not his