PipeFreezePRO comes with one or more 30ft rolls of high-quality fiberglass tape, but you can use any tape with a temperature rating of 150º F and above. Self-adhesive aluminum foil tape can be used but avoid standard tapes, including electrical tape and duct tape because they lose their adhesion when exposed to heat. Remember, it’s imperative to cover the pipe/heat tape assembly with pipe insulation (1/2″ minimum thickness). Think four easy steps: 1) cable on pipe, 2) tape on cable, 3) insulation on pipe/cable and 4) tape on insulation.
Every Length of Heat Tape Pro has a cord length of 10-feet that is not included in the listed/state length. Meaning: A 100-foot Heat Tape pro will have a 100 feet of heated cable + a 10-foot unheated power cord.
Every Length of Pipe Freeze Pro has a cord length of 3-feet (36″) that is not included in the listed/state length. Meaning: A 30-foot Heat Tape pro will have a 30 feet of heated cable + a 3-foot unheated power cord.
Heat Tape purchased in big-box stores is most often constant wattage heat tape. “Constant Wattage” means: it’s always on. It is always drawing full power and is costing you peak energy expenses, which –over the length of a season can add up huge. Thought you were saving money on that heat tape you got at that home improvement store? Guess again.
Radiant Solutions’ Heat Tape PRO™ heating cable is Self-Regulating. This means, as the temperature gets colder, the cable creates more heat by drawing more power and when it gets warmer it creates less heat by drawing less power. This allows you to consume only the energy you need to help protect your home from damage caused by the ice and cold.
The core of our ice dam heat tape is comprised of two bus wires encased in a material that is infused with carbon. As ambient temperatures decrease, the core material shrinks pulling the bus wires closer to each other, creating more electrical pathways through the carbon which makes the cables heat up. When ambient temperatures get warmer, the inner core expands and the cable demands less energy and creates less heat.
No, not really. Because any control or switch is still going to tell your constant wattage cable to be either off or on at 100% power. It is very binary. Conversely, Self-regulating Heat Tape will output variable temperatures based on the external, ambient temperature. So when it’s 31ºF or 10ºF constant wattage heat tape will always be on full heat, where self-regulating heat tape will only use just enough power to be at the temperature you need to prevent ice dams on the roof or frozen pipes around your property.
Among other things, constant wattage heat cable cannot be overlapped without creating risk of over heating or shorting out. It cannot be used under 15°F, it cannot be used on wood roofs, rubber roofs, metal roofs, or anything other than asphalt shingle roofs. You must clean combustibles such as leaves away from constant wattage cable throughout the operating season. The warranty on most constant wattage heat cable systems is no more than two years. Lastly, unlike self-regulating heat cable systems, constant wattage heat cables cannot be repaired in the field if they are damaged. One knick in the jacketing, and the cable is done.
Consider using Heat Tape Pro inside of open drain pipes as that cable is rated for use in wet areas.
Heat Tape Pro is our line of robust, outdoor rated cable. It’s designed specifically for the demands of extreme environments including wet locations such as outdoor pipes, open drain lines and of course roof and gutter de-icing applications. Do not use Pipe Freeze Pro as it is rated for dry locations only.
Measuring the area of your roof that is affected by ice dams so you know how much heat tape to get is not overly complex, but it does have a few variables. Use our Heat Tape Measuring Guide to understand the process and print a worksheet that you can use to make sure you have all the right numbers.
Once you have all the measurements and considerations you need, use our Heat Tape Calculator to calculate the size of heat tape you should get.
Heat Tape Pro and Pipe Freeze Pro are offered in many lengths from 6-foot up to 150-foot. These products are not designed to be modified, so you should pick the length you need and work with that length. These cables should not be altered and doing so would void any warranty on the product.
We offer heat tape on spools from 250-foot to 1000-foot. These spools are designed to be cut to length, made into multiple cables, etc. Heat Tape on spools needs to be hard-wired into a junction box, or have a power connection plug-in manually added to it for use. It also requires ends to be properly sealed and terminated. When working with Heat Tape on spools, a Licensed Electrician should be utilized to assure proper wiring per regional codes and standards.
If you are in need of a specific product that is currently out of stock, you can request to be notified when new inventory of product is in stock.
Click Here to complete the Re-stock Notification Form
We generally do not reserve stock for miscellaneous reasons outside our stated inventory on this website. Besides selling on this website, we also Sell our products on Amazon.com – in doing so, we send separate inventories to their warehouse for fulfillment, so you could check inventory of the product you are looking for there.
