De Icing Cables

[David C. Macy]

Question on electrical requirements for De icing cables.

I am looking to install on a portion of my roof that receives no sun and the downspout, gutter ices up.

I was reviewing the installation instructions and they require a grounded outlet, GFCI protected and also a switch with a light indicator.

The GFCI sheet I have states:

3b. Changed back to ALL dwelling unit exterior outlets in 1996; except an outlet for snow melting equipment IF on a dedicated circuit and NOT readily
accessible.

I was wondering what the NEC states for De icing equipment.

I am going to have my electrician wire it for me as I like the light indicator requirement.

Also, when doing an inspection do you observe De icing equipment or is this not part of the standards?

[Robert Meier]

There are a few 2008 NEC sections that cover deicing equipment:

210.8 Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupter Protection for Personnel.
FPN: See 215.9 for ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection for personnel on feeders.
(A) Dwelling Units. All 125-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere receptacles installed in the locations specified in (1) through (3) shall have ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection for personnel.
(1) Bathrooms
(2) Garages, and also accessory buildings that have a floor located at or below grade level not intended as habitable rooms and limited to storage areas, work areas, and areas of similar use
(3) Outdoors
Exception to (3): Receptacles that are not readily accessible and are supplied by a dedicated branch circuit for electric snow-melting or deicing equipment shall be permitted to be installed in accordance with 426.28.

426.28 Equipment Protection.
Ground-fault protection of equipment shall be provided for fixed outdoor electric deicing and snow-melting equipment, except for equipment that employs mineral-insulated, metal-sheathed cable embedded in a noncombustible medium.

210.8(A)(3)Ex. allow you to omit the outdoor GFCI protection if the receptacle is not readily accessible. This will keep Joe Homeowner from unplugging it and plugging his hedge trimmer or some other device into an outdoor receptacle without GFCI protection.

426.28 would require GFPE which is different from GFCI protection in that it's trip threshold is about 30ma and not the typical 4-6ma for class A standard GFCI devices.

[Stephen W. Stanczyk]

Put the receptacle up in the eaves / soffits and GFCI protect it. Then you can use it for your Xmas lights.

[Kenneth Dolin]

Its a lot easier to move here to Florida. The only De Icing we do is on Mondays when we dump out the beer coolers

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by kdolin

Its a lot easier to move here to Florida. The only De Icing we do is on Mondays when we dump out the beer coolers

Just waiting for the house prices to drop another 20-30%. Have a high school/college buddy who owns there and moves early November and never comes back here 'til May.