Heat tape isn't very effective with storms dropping multiple feet of wet snow in under 24 hours (or in general).
replywell it just has to stop significant buildup over multiple days right? IDK, seems pretty effective here in tahoe where ive seen it applied on parts of peoples houses
replyDo people in Tahoe heat-tape their whole roof or just the edge where ice dams would otherwise form? I've only ever seen the latter, and even doing that will be noticeable on your power bill.
replyalso idk, tons of people up here have regular sheds for various purposes and they seem to survive just fine
replywoof, where are you located, coastal/northern Canada?
replyCascade mountains. I've seen over 5 feet of snow in under 48 hours, then freezing rain. Its heavy! Lots of these "it'll be fine" type structures collapsed.
replyBuilding code for snow load is a factor of location and elevation here. We are around 130 lb/sq ft.
Roof pitch can help with shedding, but then you've got other problems (roof avalanches can and do kill, not to mention snow up against materials that don't want to be wet all winter).
> We are around 130 lb/sq ft
replyThat's not too bad, that's just a floor (and that's for a flat roof, it gets less demanding with pitch).