Customer Reviews

HeatTrak HCM24-3 24-Inch by 36-Inch Outdoor Snow and Ice Melting Electric Heated Door Mat

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The HeatTrak does what it says; it stays warm all the time and snow and ice melt away.
There were two disappointments though. One is that Amazon's photo of the product shows an on-off switch positoned on the cord and you would think that you could leave the mat plugged in all the time, just switching it on/off as needed. The mat we received has no mid-cord control and must be turned on and off by stepping outside and unplugging or plugging it in. Big difference since our outlet is not convenient to use, and no good for energy savings, either. The other disappointment is that right out of the box, the Heat Trak smells very strongly of rubber and has continued to smell for 4 weeks. We get a whiff every time we open the door. Additionally, we got this so that our dog would have a warm dry spot to wait until we let her in. Instead, she avoids the mat and has never yet sat on it.

I live in the Central Rockies and we've gotten 2-3' snowfalls at a time and this mat has kept the entryway clear and dry, including some subzero nights. Really worth the price. It has prevented the usual accumulation of ice and snow in this area that can prevent opening the door, and it reduces the amount of snow that gets tracked indoors. (We have a wooden deck, so it is hard to remove ice without gouging the wood.) An unexpected bonus is that our dog loves to sit on it and that extends the time he enjoy outdoors!

The reviews on this are kind of across the board, so I was a little hesitant to buy this. My situation was pretty normal though, I have the mat on my back deck just outside our sliding glass doors, and very close to an outdoor outlet.

I primarily bought this for letting my dog in and out in the winter time and have been happy thus far with it. It keeps the area around the mat clear of snow in the winter time even with the heaviest of snows for this area(Northeast Ohio). The mat gets warm, but never gets hot and my dog has no issues with standing or sitting on this while waiting to come back in.

The quality seems pretty durable from what I can tell, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one.

Works as advertised. I was hesitant to purchase this item sight unseen but I am glad I did. It even dries the concrete porch for several inches around the mat.

This looked like a terrific idea, so I ordered one. When it came, I discovered I couldn't use it. You must have an electrical outlet within five feet of where you want to use the mat. You cannot use an extension cord. They suggest having an electrician install an outdoor, properly grounded outlet near the door. That certainly increases the cost of using this mat. Also, the GFI plug must be kept dry! ...outdoors in the melting snow? Just sounds too iffy and expensive for my use. I think these conditions should have been made clear in the product description, in which case, I wouldn't have ordered it. It's going back.

I have the HeatTrak Mat for a few weeks now and it is used in front of my new outside basement entrance to ensure that Ice does not form and clog the drain. So far so good! It has worked to melt the snow that hits the mat directly as well as the snow within a few inches of the mat's perimeter. Only negative I can think of is a mild odor that will likely burn off with use.

I purchased one of these for my sister whick lives in ID, she loves it and said she wished she had another one and so I gave her another one; she keeps one outside the door on her back porch and is constantly going out to get wood for the fire, she no longer has snow that must be mopped up on her wood floors from going to get wood.

Years ago I had numerous HeatTrak units of varying sizes, and these units worked for years until the rubber dry rotted and cracked into pieces. The units were one piece molded units with the carpet molded right into the rubber pad.

So when it came time to replace my ancient HeatTraks I order a few new units. But the design had completely changed. The main rubber pad was now very thin and the carpet was molded to a separate thin sheet of rubber which was then GLUED to the main heated pad. Within days the carpet sheet was de-laminating and peeling up from the main pad.

So I returned the units and did without for a winter or two. So this year I bought two new units from HeatTrak. The design seemed much improved with a removable cord, nice GFCI plug, although the power light is barely visible, and an improve manufacturing process.

But then I plugged one of the units in and things went downhill quickly. The units has no temperature sensing, so they are always heating regardless of outside temperatures. After the first night I notice a small shiny spot where some carpet was missing in a 3" line, so I thought maybe a squirrel had chewed on the carpet. That is until I touched the area and it was so hot the melted rubber burned and stuck to my finger. I unplugged the unit and went out of town for the weekend, and when I got back my mat was completely destroyed! I could smell the melted rubber from 60' away as soon as I got out of my car. A friend had plugged the unit back in and the mat had completely melted 50% of the carpet, which now looked like molted pools of shiny rubber. The unit was still heating and was so hot you could not touch it. My dog had walked on the mat and his feet and fur were covered in molten rubber and his fur was all over the HeatTrak. That had to hurt! I had to shave him to get the rubber off. I couldn't believe the unit could produce enough heat to actually self destruct without blowing the GFCI. I picked the unit up and it has the consistency of an overcooked spaghetti noodle.

I thought perhaps it was a fluke, a single bad product. So I plugged my other HeatTrak pad in and this time I protected the area with chicken wire so my friends, dog and other animals could not get near it. And in just a day or two I started seeing melted lines, following the internal heating elements. Within two weeks I had two useless HeatTraks. When I took them back to the store, the store clerk took one look at my melted, dog hair encrusted HeatTrak, and said that I abused the pads and therefore they would not provide a refund or exchange.

So now I am out a couple of hundred bucks, and have but hope that potential customers read my warnings and heed them. For the sake of your dog and your family don't buy a HeatTrak, they are unsafe by every definition of the word.

We had a problem with ice build-up in front of our door. This took care of that problem. We love it!

I should have purchased this heated door mat years ago and saved myself some headaches ... and potential falls. I would recommend the manufacturer use a timer to shut the mat off. Other then that. A great idea.