Running heat to remove snow

pj48009 · 01-01-2019, 06:04 PM

Got about a foot of snow last night on my Minnie plus. Gently removed the top several inches with a plastic roof rake to get most of the weight off. My lazy side thought why not use the heat to melt the snow off. Has anyone tried this? If I did do it it might take a couple days and I’m sure you’d have to make sure it was dry so it wouldn’t freeze and create leaks. Wonder what your experience is.

akeagle · 01-01-2019, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pj48009

Got about a foot of snow last night on my Minnie plus. Gently removed the top several inches with a plastic roof rake to get most of the weight off. My lazy side thought why not use the heat to melt the snow off. Has anyone tried this? If I did do it it might take a couple days and I’m sure you’d have to make sure it was dry so it wouldn’t freeze and create leaks. Wonder what your experience is.

Just yesterday I shoveled (with a plastic shovel) about a foot of snow off my Minnie Winnie. I was leary of leaving it there because a sudden weather warmup has made it quite heavy with water on the bottom which of course will eventually refreeze and possible cause problems. It was a lot of work since I had to move the snow twice, but I think it will be worth the effort.

Wayne M · 01-01-2019, 10:41 PM

I would use a street broom or similar. No worries about gouging the roof. Just brush all the snow of and forget about it until next time.

You would have to have a lot of heat to penetrate through the insulation.

pj48009 · 01-02-2019, 06:25 AM

After thinking about it I guess the heat would have to be on long term. I was thinking about how poorly insulated homes in my neighborhood rarely have snow on their roofs. If the Winnie is well insulated then it’s a waste of time and money. I’ll just keep watching the weather and go clear the snow off.

akeagle · 01-02-2019, 06:01 PM

"Well insulated" is a very relative term!!!

old_engineer · 01-04-2019, 09:41 AM

What's snow?

If I had to worry about snow I would use a broom to minimize the risk of damaging the roof membrane. I think it is getting the weight off that is most important. I'm not sure the presence of snow would greatly increase the risk of damage from freeze thaw cycles as moisture will be there throughout the winter anyway.

akeagle · 01-04-2019, 06:10 PM

The weight issue was my main concern when I chose to shovel the foot of heavy wet snow from the roof of our Minnie. A close second was the warmup we had recently which caused some melting. Here in Alaska we have to be mindful of the probability that the meltwater will simply sink to the bottom of the snowpack and re-freeze. On house roofs that can cause ice dams to form which can then force water under the shingles and leak onto ceilings or down walls. I know RV roofs are completely different, but under these specific conditions I'm leery of the possibility of ice getting into places it should be and causing leaks inside. That's just me being willing to expend the energy to prevent a possible problem down the road.

GaryS · 01-05-2019, 07:18 PM

I don't know what kind of snow you have in Alaska but I do think that a better option than using a rake, broom or shovel to remove snow would be a leaf blower. It would not harm the room membrane but would possibly not work if the snow was wet.

At the apartment where my son lives it is what they use to clear the sidewalks immediately after a snow. It beats shoveling.

akeagle · 01-05-2019, 09:18 PM

You might have missed my saying the snow was very wet and heavy. Otherwise I would definitely used a broom and/or leaf blower.

GaryS · 01-05-2019, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akeagle

You might have missed my saying the snow was very wet and heavy. Otherwise I would definitely used a broom and/or leaf blower.

I was responding to the OP but whatever...