Self Regulating Heat Cable Vs Constant Wattage
Heat cable is one of the most widely used products in Park City used to help prevent ice dams. Not all of the heat cable that you see installed on Park City homes is the same though. There are two common types of heat cable, self-regulating and constant wattage heat cable.
In this article, we will take a look at which heat cable is better in Park City.
What is Constant Wattage and Self Regulating Heat Cable
One of the most significant differences between heat cable is whether it is constant wattage or self-regulating. Constant wattage heat cable runs at 100% power while it is turned on. That means that constant wattage heat cable is constantly drawing electricity.
Self-regulating heat cable only turns on when outdoor temperatures drop to below 40 degrees F. While self-regulating heat cable usually draws twice as much power when it is on when compared to constant wattage heat cable, it uses less electricity over the season.
Self-regulating heat cable can turn on and off as needed which means your cable isn’t always drawing electricity.
This helps keep the operating costs of running heat cable down.
3 Main Difference Between Constant Wattage and Self Regulating Heat Cable
1. IMPROVED DURABILITY AND WARRANTIES
One of the main differences between constant wattage heat cable and self-regulating heat cable is manufacturing quality.
Most consumer grade heat tape that you can buy at store’s like Home Depot is constructed to be replaced every couple of years.
The coating and protective layers have shown to not last the test of time and our harsh Utah winters.
Most self-regulating heat cable is made for the commercial application. Because of this, the protective coatings and layers are much thicker and more durable.
The improved construction of self-regulating heat cable makes the cable more durable than constant wattage heat cable.
The durability is also reflected in the increase product warranties offered on premium self-regulating heat cable like Raychem.
Raychem offers a 10-year product warranty on their cable vs. most constant wattage cables 1 to 3-year product warranties.
2. REDUCED OPERATING COSTS
One of the great things about self-regulating heat cable is its ability to reduce the amount of power it is drawing as the temperature warms up. Self-regulating cable is made up by two wires that have a conductive layer separating them.
This conductive layer changes with the temperature; the colder it is, the more conductive and more power it will draw, and the warmer it is, the less conductive it becomes.
This layer runs the length of the entire cable and can operate differently throughout the cable. Meaning that one area could be drawing more power than another if it were covered by ice.
The ability of self-regulating heat cable to vary the power that it draws makes it operational costs lower than constant wattage heat cable.
As the name implies, constant wattage heat cable draws a consistent amount of power when it is turned on. That means that while many constant wattage cable brands draw less power at any given time; when you add the total time that your cable will be running during the winter constant wattage heat cable ends up consuming more electricity.
Conclusion
We always recommend that homeowners install self-regulating heat cable over constant wattage heat cable. Self regulating heat cable from reputable brands like Raychem are made to last far longer than big box brands and are backed by better warranties.
Self regulating heat cable also has a decreased operating cost when compared to constant wattage heat cable.