: Snow Harvesting With Breakthrough Technology Heated Gutter Guard
The inventors of Gutterglove gutter guard are unveiling a 'heated' gutter guard that is the first of it's kind in much needed icicle hazard areas of the world. This heated gutter guard, properly named 'Gutterglove IceBreaker', melts icicles, snow loads and ice dams on your gutter so you can finally harvest the melted snow in your rainwater tanks for later use. IceBreaker even filters out leaves, pine needles and tiny roof sand grit so gutter cleaning is a thing of the past. This never seen before technology incorporates a self-regulating heat cable that installs in a built in channel in the IceBreaker gutter guard itself. It efficiently warms up the gutter guard and inside the gutter for melting the ice that has plagued homeowners for centuries from falling icicles. When Gutterglove IceBreaker is turned on, it not only melts the ice, but prohibits icicles from forming on the gutter. Falling icicles from building structures can cause serious harm and even death when they fall on unsuspecting pedestrians. Russia knows all too well about this problem.
In Moscow, TASS news agency reported on February 26, 2008, "Six people have been killed in three days by icicles falling from buildings in a central Russian region."
Report by Rachelle Bowden of the Chicagoist.com, "In 2000, Donald Booth, a Wisconsin man, was walking down the sidewalk past the Neiman Marcus building (in Chicago) when a microwave-size piece of ice fell from the sky, crushing his skull and vertebrae and instantly killing him,"
Robert Lenney, co-inventor of IceBreaker, says that his heated gutter guard is truly unique and can eliminate icicle fatalities.
"IceBreaker is a true heated gutter guard because it has a built-in channel in the gutter guard itself that the self-regulating heat cable snaps into," says Lenney. "This built-in feature for the heat cable allows significantly more potential of conductive heat to radiate through itself and downward inside the gutter." Traditional ways for deicing a gutter is to place the cable on the bottom of the gutter. But Lenney says the problem with this is that the oblong shaped cable has three sides exposed to the cold air, so 75% of the heat is being wasted. The only real functional heat is coming from where one side of the cable is touching the bottom of the gutter.
Lenney also adds, "IceBreaker is energy efficient also, because only one heat cable is needed to melt the ice in and on your gutter. I emphasize a single cable because a couple other gutter guards that claim to be heated, use two or three cables to achieve what IceBreaker can do with just one cable."
Lenney's IceBreaker design allows the option of having the cable enclosed on three sides or all four sides. Optimal heat transfer occurs throughout the gutter when all four sides of the oblong shaped cable are enclosed inside the aluminum channel. To achieve the closure of all four sides, there is an optional aluminum cover that attaches on top of the cable.
Gutterglove IceBreaker also solves another problem, cleaning out your gutters. The top of IceBreaker has a fine stainless steel mesh that filters out all the leaf and pine needles, including roof sand grit. No more gutter cleaning, and no more icicles. The traditional way of cleaning out a gutter with a cable installed in the bottom of a gutter is very difficult. The debris wraps itself around the heat cable making it troublesome to clean out the leaves, pine needles and sand from the gutter. Fireman also consider this a fire hazard when dried leaf debris mixes with the heat cable in the summer time.
IceBreaker is the only gutter guard in the world that uses aluminum alloy 6,000 series (6063 to be more specific) because it can be formed into a hardened extrusion that is superior in strength with optimum radiant heat transfer characteristics. Type 6063 is also 20% more conductive than other aluminum alloys which is why it's widely used in the electronic industry (computers, stereo's etc) as 'heat sinks' because of it's ability to absorb and transfer heat away from sensitive components.
In climates where temperatures are sub-zero Fahrenheit and below, a special 'heat sink' accessory is available that snaps to the underside of IceBreaker and transfers additional heat to the bottom of the gutter.
Co-inventor John Lewis feels that IceBreaker will also help eliminate rainwater erosion problems during the fall and spring when it's not cold enough to snow yet.
"Many homes in colder climates generally don't have gutters because of the icing problems that exist," comments Lewis. "However, that's not a problem anymore. Because IceBreaker eliminates these problems, homes can now have gutters as long as IceBreaker is installed on them."
Lewis also mentioned that when snow slides off the roof, as long as IceBreaker is installed at the same pitch of the roof, the snow and ice just slide off IceBreaker, leaving your gutters intact. One of the benefits of having a gutter on your home is that it channels the rainwater away from your home eliminating water erosion problems. With IceBreaker, you can also perform snow harvesting, also referred to as rain harvesting. Your gutter allows the melted snow to flow to your rainwater storage tanks which can be used later for a variety of water uses.
Currently, Lenney and Lewis have designed two more gutter guards (non-heated) in addition to IceBreaker. Because of the recession and everyone being on very tight budgets, they felt the need to design two low cost gutter guards that every homeowner can afford. And they did just that. Both are mesh filtering and keep leaves, pine needles and roof sand grit out of the gutter. Gutterglove Ultra will sell for around $5.50 per foot for a DIY self install and LeafBlaster will be around $1.99 per foot as a DIY self install.�
About Gutterglove Gutterguard
Gutterglove Gutterguard was founded in 2003 and has offices in Rocklin and Fremont� California, and dealers located across the country. They were awarded a U.S. Patent in 2007 for their core gutter guard product and continue to invent state-of-the-art technology in the gutter guard industry. For more information, call 877-662-5644, or visit: www.Gutterglove.com.
Robert Lenney and John Lewis are also Accredited Professionals through the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (www.arcsa.org). Contact Info: Robert Lenney
916-778-8777
Robert@Gutterglove.com