A 12 Hour Snow Melt Time Lapse in Buffalo, NY on January 25th, 2023 // DIY Heated Driveway Project
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- Опубликовано: 7 июн 2024
- On January 25th, 2023, Buffalo was issued a Winter Weather Advisory with snow accumulation of 3-6 inches expected, and ice accumulations of a few hundredths of an inch. Winds of 45 MPH were also expected, making this a good "normal" Buffalo snowfall event for the driveway.
As you'll see in the Timelapse, the snow begins around 8 AM, and continues throughout the day. I did not turn the system on before leaving for work, but once I noticed the accumulation through the cameras, I turned it on remotely.
As you've noticed and heard me mention before, it is critical to run the system until the slab is dry so that it doesn't re-freeze creating ice, however in this case temperatures were slowly rising above freezing by 8 PM, and the snow had turned to rain. At this point I decided to shut the system down since the driveway was clear of snow, even though it was still wet. Being above freezing, it did not turn to ice.
Costs were a bit higher than the normal $1 per hour as this was only a 12 hour event (the longer it runs, the lower the average costs as most energy is used during the first 2-3 hours during startup).
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:45 - Timelapse
02:58 - Stats & Outro
For more melting videos or a step by step guide on how I designed and built this system, please visit: • Heated Driveway / Snow...
The playlist will have all of my videos in the correct order form start to present, regardless of the date I uploaded them. It starts with how I designed the PEX and Snowmelt Loop Layout, shows the process of installing the actual heated concrete slab, demonstrates how I did the math to calculate the boiler and pump sizes, installation of all of the components, and ends with lots of time-lapse of the system melting snow. It also includes snowmelt system startup and shutdown videos, as well as walkthroughs of the mechanical room, continuous circulation design and electrical system.
For a list of tools, equipment, and other products I use, please visit my Amazon Affiliates store found at Http://www.cdecker.com
If you enjoy my content, please consider subscribing to my channel by clicking the following link: / @deckerchristopherj
Music Credit:
'Escape' by @Sappheiros 🇺🇸 | Chillstep Song (Non Copyrighted Music) ⛵
/ sappheirosmusic
Link - • 'Escape' by @Sappheiro...
#heateddriveway #snowmelt #buffalo #timelapse 
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There’s just something very relaxing about sitting back and watching the snow melt. I love these time lapse videos!
Ha same !!!
Sweet. It works a lot better when you don't have 5 ft. of snow to deal with.
😂 Yes it does. I would say it works great 98% of the time. It just wasn’t designed for Blizzards or 5” per hour lake effect events, and if I had designed it for those, it would be grossly oversized and inefficient for the majority of normal events like this 😉
Awesome video! 👍
Thanks Jack!
Great video. Clarity is great. Always nice when all that hard work and planning pays off.
Thanks Matt, I’ve been enjoying your channel as well!
It seems you kept camera 2 then? Still fun to watch.
I kept both actually, but Camera 1 will be primarily for the snow melt time lapses moving forward. You can watch the full comparison / review here: ruclips.net/video/g6KNzM8oh3w/видео.html Thanks for watching!!
Nice, this is something I had intended to put in my driveway/sidewalks when I bought my house in Michigan 33 years ago, unfortunately, things changed and I never got to redo any of the cement.
I just found your channel just before the big snow of 2022 and enjoy watching a working and well done system.
Thanks Johnny!! 😊
I would have thought the counterflow loops would have melted the snow 1st, but they lagged behind a little
Great observation Ryan, and I have never been able to figure that out. I always thought the same, but they have always lagged behind. I even opened them up completely on the manifold, so they are getting more flow and heat than the others, and they still lag 🤷🏻♂️. The one closest to the garage on the right is always last, and it’s not even the longest. Oh well, they all eventually even out so it’s all good, but I appreciate your observation and comment 👍. Thanks!
When it began snowing I thought that a video just might be coming 👍
I actually have a couple in the backlog now. It’s been running a lot this week!
Chris, have you ever tried to determine the cost of running the system per snow storm? It would be easier if it were electric resistance this might be a bit harder because you share with your floor heating system.
Hi Joel! I do calculate the cost to run the system for every snow storm. The stats are and the end of each video 😉. A lot of people don’t watch the entire video to the end so they miss the stats, and that’s ok. Basically, it costs about $1.00 per hour to run once up to temperature. As you’ll notice in my other videos, it’s actually cheaper and more efficient the longer it runs, as most of the cost is in the first 2 hours during startup. I will do another breakdown video soon showing exactly how I calculate the operating cost, like I did for February of 2021 here: ruclips.net/video/VotJEQigTkw/видео.html Believe it or not, it actually cost about 50% LESS to operate back then, thanks to the increase in natural gas prices this 22-23 winter. Just to give you an idea of how I calculate the cost, for 30-60 days I clocked the gas meter at 7:45 AM and 7:45 PM and entered the data into a spreadsheet. I also recorded the outdoor temperature over the same 12 hour period. This allowed me to calculate my "normal" usage based on day of the week and outside temperature, as those will both affect usage. We use more gas when it's colder obviously, and more on weekends when we're here vs weekdays we're gone (setback). For each video, I read the meter when I turn the system on, and again when I turn it off. I note the day of week the system was running, and the average outdoor temp over the events run time. With that info I have a pretty good idea what my typical 24-Hour usage (furnace, radiant floors, etc) based on the usage data I collected, so I enter that data and my spreadsheet does the rest to calculate the cost to run for the event, subtracting out the "normal" cost that I would be paying anyways to heat the house, garage & hot water. Every month when I get my gas bill, I update the cost per CCF and other totals in the spreadsheet so that it is calculating cost based on the most recent bill, and provides the most accurate estimate. It's not perfect, but I think I've got it calculated down to being pretty darn close to what it's really costing me. Hopefully that answers your question, if not, just ask! 😊 Thanks for watching!!
@@DeckerChristopherJ wow. Very impressive. Nice way to back out usage. You must be calculating down to cubic feet per degree hour. Better than the propane auto fill services!
Could you consider overlaying the time lapse with the cost of heating with that number increasing to the final cost? Would be pretty cool.
Great video, again! Many thanks for this one. When you "activate" the system, what temperatures do you run (supply/return) over the loops ? Did you try ground sensors for automatic control? I found they work pretty well and you never miss out because the forecast is wrong. Wich it is from time to time. 😂 It seemes you have quite good response time, so sensor control would work even better for you than for me. Any way great video! Just awesome!!! 👌👌👏👏
Thanks!! So depending on how cold the slab is and the temperature of the glycol coming back, I will usually start with around an 80°F supply temp going out. As the returns climb, the supply will also climb to a max of around 100°F once everything is up to temp. I’ve never observed the supply out to the driveway go over 102° which is what the design called for. I did install the Tekmar 091 socket for fully automatic control, I just haven’t brought myself to spend the $1k+ on the 090 and 654 yet. Also, I actually tend to let it accumulate on the slab on purpose, so I can record the Timelapse of it melting off. If it never accumulated, there would be no videos of it melting off for everyone to enjoy 😉. Do you have experience with the Tekmar controls?
@@DeckerChristopherJ Hi , no, I never used the Tekmar (or Watts) control products, but I studied the Tekmar sensor 090 and found out they all work the same, more or less. I’ve used the ”ETOG-56” (by OJ electronics in Denmark) a lot lately, and they work great. It is by far the most commonly used in Nordic countries. Tekmar is more common down in Poland and Germany I think. What makes the biggest difference is the control unit (regulator, the brain) that the sensor is connected to. All producers of snow melt system components have their own regulator, but they use the same ground sensor, funny. I happen to like the LK systems ETO2 and the Uponor Move Pro the best. I’m going to try and evaluate a weather fore cast control signal for snow melting. Giving the regulator 3 hours startup in advance. Also, stopping startup when raining at +1 degC if a temp drop is not expected soon. And so on… I love my job. 😆👍🏻
Yes, a perfectly cotrolled system would be quite boring to watch. 😂👍🏻
Which camera did you select? Looks like #1.
yeah my money's also on #1
I actually kept both, but #1 will be primarily for the snow melt time lapse videos. I dis the full comparison and explained why in this video if you haven’t seen it: ruclips.net/video/g6KNzM8oh3w/видео.html
@Chris Decker i saw. Wise. Always good to have a backup plan. Thank you.
What is the theory/science behind turning system on during a snow vs. after a snow? Preference? Performance?
Hi Kelly! So ideally, you would want to turn the system on a couple of hours before an event. This would pre-heat the driveway and melt the snow as it hits the surface with no accumulation. Fully automated systems will sense the moisture from falling snow and detect that the temperature is below freezing, and activate the system automatically at the beginning of an event. This is not as good as pre-heating, but it’s better than manual, especially if snow begins in the middle of the night while your asleep. For me personally, I prefer letting it accumulate a bit before manually turning it on, so that I can record it melting for my RUclips audience. If I pre-heated it, all of my time lapse videos would just be of a wet concrete driveway 😉. Hopefully that answers your question, if not let me know. Thanks for asking it and thanks for watching!
@@DeckerChristopherJ thanks! I was just curious if letting DEEP(1m/3ft plus) accumulation happen, would it be too hard on the system or create too much/fast runoff, etc...🌨️🎥☺️
I wish I could win the lottery. Guess what I have have put in my driveway, and sidewalk.
No need to win the lottery William, I sure didn’t. 😉. I DIY’d the entire thing for less than $10k. This video explains more: ruclips.net/video/zvOQSQiaqTw/видео.html Thanks for watching!
@@DeckerChristopherJ Your welcome!. Unfortunately in my case I would have to get someone to put it in my yard. If I ever had the opportunity for doing something like what you did I would. I would even like to see that in my sidewalk. I know that the city would not allow me to do that.
I also would’ve liked to put loops in both my apron and sidewalks, but like you mentioned the town wouldn’t allow it. Also, if they or one of the utility companies cut through it when I wasn’t around, I would have no recourse. Thinking back, what I really should have done was ram a couple of 1” insulated pex lines out to a remote manifold in an irrigation box, and ran the apron and sidewalk loops into that. That would’ve allowed me to run the apron and sidewalks longer and independently from the driveway to melt the snow off from the plow, and if it was ever damaged I could easily isolate it or repair / repour without ripping up the whole driveway. Maybe next time 😊😉.
@@DeckerChristopherJ I would have a similar problem. There's a lot of utility stuff close to my city sidewalk, and the city has a water main that is in close proximity to the walk.
Wifey wants us to move from Atlanta to Lewiston so she can be near her family in Ontario. She is adamant about it. Having watched many of your videos, it's time to visit a divorce lawyer. 🤷♂️
😂😂 Nah, it’s typically not this crazy here. Buffalo has been in the news a lot this winter due to a couple of major storms, but they are not “common.” Depending on where you are in Ontario, you might not get the lake effect either. It was 56° today February 9th, 2023, and the extended forecast looks to be more of the same. We enjoy spending time in Ontario, Canada every summer! Thanks for watching!