Customer Reviews

Easy Heat RS-2 Automatic Roof De-Icing Cable Control

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I have used eight RS2 units for two years. After lots of trial and error and some modification, they do the job. I live in an area which receives an average of 11 to 12 feet of snow each winter. Compared to using heat tape with out the RS2 controllers, they significantly reduce my electric bill while improving the prevention of ice dams. I did have to splice about 25 feet of wire on the four of them to move the water sensor from the rake of the roof, where my outlets are located, to the valleys, where the most water comes down. I also had to lace lots of heat tape at the bottom of the valleys to keep big domes of ice from overwhelming the tape.

So the RS2 units work, BUT... one failed and was replaced under warranty. Now two more have failed after two years of service. There goes some of the savings in electric bills to replace those two and a lot of labor in winter conditions to remove and reinstall two units. Bummer!

PART 2: With a little disassembly and detective work I isolated the control unit, thermostat and water sensor components. Tests then showed that both units had failed with what is likely the most inexpensive component--the thermostat. I have now removed those electrically so that now I have two working control units with water sensors only. A couple of $12 Farm Innovators TC-3 units and my two failed units will be back in service for $58 each less than new RS2 units.

We had several unusually heavy snowfalls in Western Pennsylvania this past winter ('09 to '10) and my home had quite a bit of interior water damage due to ice dams forming on our roof. We had old heat cables in place but some failed and the others did not provide adequate heat or were not in the proper places (we have sky lights that were not properly protected). I researched new heat cables on the internet, at Lowes and Home Depot, and at some local electrical supply stores. The Easy Heat products seemed to be very cost effective, but what really helped to sell me was the fact that their installation manuals for all of their products were on line and seemed to be very thorough yet easy to use. I decided to use their manuals for planning my project regardless of what product I was going with.

I ultimately decided to go with the Easy Heat cables, but was unsure how I wanted to control them. We travel quite a bit during the winter, and I wanted a controller that would protect our house but that would not waste energy on the cables when they are not needed. There were a variety of thermal only controllers out there, but the Easy Heat RS-2 requires both the proper temperature AND the presence of moisture before it will energize the cables. If it worked, it seemed to me that I could turn it on and forget it for much of the winter and feel confident that the house would be protected.

I decided to try an all-Easy Heat solution. I redesigned my cable runs to reduce the number down to just two cables to save money. This is because each RS-2 can handle up to 1200 watts, but they only want one cable plugged into each RS-2. I ordered the cables and two RS-2's through Amazon and everything arrived well ahead of promise. I tested the cables before installation and was pleased at the amount of heat they gave off in a very short period of time. I tested both RS-2's in buckets of ice water and they worked as advertised.

My old installation had been done about 25 years ago by the previous homeowner and there was no documentation. It was strung through my attic and used old thin two wire "zip cord" instead of adequate wiring and wires went off in all directions. (We were lucky we never had a fire as I found that one of the roof cables had shorted out against the gutter drain pipe). The cables were "hard wired" to the (ungrounded) circuit whereas the Easy Heat Products are set up to use standard 110V grounded plugs. I decided to be safe and ordered a GFI circuit breaker from Grady's through Amazon so that the entire circuit would be protected regardless of how it had been wired. The toughest part of my installation was when I fished new romex (with ground wire) through the old holes in the attic walls and then mounted new water resistant plug receptacles under the eaves outside of the house. I also mounted the two RS-2 control boxes beside the new receptacles in a place where I could see the indicator lights (to determine both if the controller had power and if it was powering the cables) without crawling out on the roof. I also removed all of the old zip cord that I could find and installed a switch for the cables inside the house (not in the attic).

Once I had the new 110V plugs in place, installing the Easy-Heat cables was, well, very easy. The clips that came with the cables worked far better than the originals from my old installation and damaged the shingles far less. I had plenty of extra clips once I was finished. The only problem I had was fishing some of the cable down my drain pipes as I could not get the rusty screws from the pipes off to pull the cables in from beneath. (I should have just drilled out the screws in the first place). My cables were just barely long enough even though I used the planning guide and then added a 10% safety factor on top of that. I think it was in part because of how in my particular situation, I wired the required cable sections near the RS-2 controller and used more cable than I planned. I would suggest that when you order your cables, if your circuit can stand the extra wattage, you consider ordering the next cable size up to allow a bit more comfort in the installation.

Now that I have power out to the roof and controllers and cables that plug in as easily as an extension cord, I can easily upgrade or change the installation. I plan on re-shingling the roof in two or three years, and this cable installation will remove quickly and can be put back into place quickly during that job. The total cost for everything including what I bought at Lowes (Romex, outdoor boxes, receptacles, wood screws, etc) was just over $400 which is much less that what I had been quoted to have a professional do it. I spent about 16 hours researching and planning (ok, I AM an engineer), about 3 hours in the attic undoing and redoing wiring, and about 5 hours on the roof (again undoing and then redoing). So far I am very happy with the product and installation and I am looking forward to seeing how well they work this coming winter.

A neighbor who had cables helped me put this up, so it did not take too much effort, but you might want to be prepared for some trial and error to get the placement right. It is worth the effort!
We are into winter and I have my cables on the problem spot on my roof. They seem to do just enough to prevent ice buildup with the automatic sensor so they are not on all the time, just when the conditions are right.
Thanks to Amazon for having this at an affordable price!

Installation was easy. The unit worked great for 2 season and then failed completely half way through its second season. I was going to give it one more try. But, now that I see other comments from consumers who had the unit fail as well, it sounds like mine failing was not a fluke. Great product if you want to replace it every year. For over $100 I'm not willing to do that.

We don't yet know if the controller will work as hoped, because we chose a poor place to install it and will have to move it. So this review is to warn others about the location.

We installed the sensor on the west side of the house. We should have put it on the east side, facing the rising sun. But now, we get some melting on the east side, dripping, icicles, and the start of ice dams -- because the west side has not yet seen the sun and is not melting, so the sensor mounted on the west side does not turn on any of the cables.

We installed the sensor over an unheated attic-type space. We should have put it where heat leakage from the house would be as high as it gets. Again, other locations start to have problems before this location begins to melt.

The manufacturer should have made these suggestions, since most of us customers are just seeing a controller for the first time. Of course, it is also possible that the sensor is just not working properly.

Also, we have four cables to control: upper and lower roof edges, front and back. This greatly exceeds the capacity of the controller, but we did not want to pay for four installations and four controllers. So the electrician installed it with a four-pole contactor. The controller turns on the contactor circuit, which turns on the four cables. This setup looked good in our tests after it was installed, but we don't yet know what it will be like in practice, because we had to bypass it to manually turn on the cables because we had installed the sensor in the wrong location.

An alternative would be to install four sensors/controllers right where you want them. In our case, running the wiring for that would be costly. And some cable ends were not very accessible because the cable went down a gutter drain pipe.

We were determined to do something, because last winter we left the cables on most of the time. Our electricity bills were as high as $600 per month more than usual. So even after the re-install, it should pay for itself in the first season.

The cable control only came on one time, usually the sensor is under snow or ice and will not sense moisture. I normally plug the roof coil in directly in the mornings when the weather is going to be above 30 degrees to melt the roof ice and snow. I probably would not purchase another RS-2 automatic roof de-icing cable control it does not work very well for Wisconsin winters.

I had an electrician install exterior wiring on a new 20 amp breaker, then I installed the easy heat deicing cables myself and have had no problem. But the controller has not worked at all. I saw a previous review say it only works in the presence of water and all I have is snow. That sounds odd but it doesn't work.

The RS-2 supports only 1200 watts max but it does not say that anywhere including the Easy Heat web site. The installation instructions mention this fact. Not enough current for me - I have 1400 watts.

The sensor detects water. It does not detect ice or snow. So the ice must already be melting at the sensor location before the de-icing cable is turned on. One hopes that that happens before the ice dam causes water entry into your house.

I sent it back.

Haven't been able to get this product to work. Followed the instructions but had no success. Therefore not very impressed.

Easy to install. We just had our first snow here in Minnesota and I'm happy with the results thus far. In the long run this should pay for itself, as I probably had the cable heating longer than necessary before I installed this controller. Without this controller I was constantly wondering when or if I should plug the cable in or for how long. This is a 'set it and forget it' device. One less thing to remember.