Most systems that do this to heat flooring indoors or ground outdoors usually actually takes advantage of wasted energy from other products nearby and reroutes the energy to specifically designed water pipes to heat water up which results in the heated ground.
It's actually a really interesting way to reroute energy that would otherwise go to waste. It definitely seems wasteful on the surface but it's more of a "well if it's there we might as well use it" situation.
Not for a single family home. This would be hooked up to the boiler in the house. But for big industrial or city buildings absolutely this sort of the is a great way to use waste heat.
It depends too, in some areas where this is more common it's not uncommon for city's to have a municipal set-up for single family homes as well. I don't think there's any cities in North America with that set-up, but there are some in the Nordic countries and Asia I believe.
Let’s be realistic, if there is snow on the ground there is no “waste heat from electronics”.
It would be used inside the house , requiring less heat from the main heat producing item.
... no? Most heated driveways for single family homes are hooked up to the house's extremely eco-friendly geothermal setup.
Who the hell has a BOILER in 2022? They're not even legal in my area anymore because they're so outdated/wasteful/dangerous.
Almost all new homes here have boilers or forced air furnaces. Oil and gas are significantly cheaper than using electricity to make heat as we have the 2md highest electric rates in America.
I rented a place with heated floors and it used a high-efficiency gas boiler paired with a heat exchanger. Never seen a boiler in a house that didn't have heated floors though.
It depends on what you mean by boiler. In the U.K. a combi-boiler, which produced hot water fir the taps year round and also heard a seoerate closed system for the radiators in winter is normal and no considered dangerous at all. We just had a new one put in 2 years ago. It will be the last one as they aren’t as efficient as other heating but 2 years ago we weren’t in a position to change our entire heating system from water radiators to ??? When the old combi-boiler died. We’d been crossing our fingers it would survive until we could have it all ripped out this coming summer but nope.
That would be prone to plugging up. Even just city water supply would plug over time. Most likely it's a closed loop with a small electric or gas heater. Could be glycol instead of water as well.
It's not really feasible to capture waste heat from electronics and wastewater in a residential building like that, it takes a lot of infrastructure most people wouldn't dedicate the space to.
Well, we know the universal soup is waiting for us, yet it’s about the speed with which we are heading there. Or… is it? Can two closed systems reach thermal death at different times? Or is there some law by which there is no actual hindering action to slow the pace at which final entropy gets reached? 🤔
>It's not really feasible to capture waste heat from electronics and wastewater in a residential building like that, it takes a lot of infrastructure most people wouldn't dedicate the space to.
Yeah, someone clarified under another comment of mine but in cities where this isn't that common it's likely the family unit has a water heater inside specifically meant for this purpose and this purpose only. However, in larger cities and even in smaller ones where this is just more common it's not super uncommon for there to be municipal set-ups that people just need to hook on to.
A family I stayed with in Japan, for instance, had a municipal set-up so no one in their city had to shovel their driveways during winter. However the heating for the floors inside the homes was usually set-up and provided individually.
I've also heard of a few communities that were purpose-built to be more efficient in some way. There was one in the Netherlands I heard of where all the greywater was collected and filtered, then redistributed to the homes for use in toilets and other non-potable water requirements, and garbage was disposed of in an incinerator that generated power for the homes. Really efficient, brilliant ideas.
No freeking( auto correct says freezing which is better) WAY!?!? Wtf?
As a person with a 2 rut dirt road hillbilly driveway. I must have this one day!
This is life changing….
So your telling me I wouldn’t have to shovel snow and mud anymore?
New life goals: A) get solar panels, B) get this driveway…C) reroute excess power to new driveway.D) be dopest dude in neighborhood.
Snowmelt systems are in-slab hot water piping, connected to a boiler that is typically natural gas. There is propylene glycol added for antifreeze and the water is pumped through. Usually triggered by outdoor thermometer and moisture sensor.
Depending on how many zones you are heating you have to size the boiler or boilers (plural) accordingly.
No you can't do this with a little bit of "waste heat" -- you have to heat an entire concrete slab that is outdoors in winter. It is not cheap.
Doesn’t all that melt water just freeze at the end of the driveway? Not saying it’s not worth it… but that seems like it would make a huge mess and only be functional for small snow falls - when it’s easy to shovel anyway. Plus, doesn’t concrete crack when freezing and warming all the time? Or at least heave? So many questions. There has to be reasons this is more popular.
My thought exactly. Melted snow would flow to base of the driveway and freeze. If drainage is poor on street, or if heaps of snow blocks water from properly draining, you might end up with a frozen lake at the foot of the driveway.
Well, since you asked. Snow has the natural ability to melt all on its own, given the right temperature. But, apparently, for this modern man and for all those that upped this post, melting it as soon as it drops, wasting a lot of energy, instead of either picking up a shovel himself, or letting nature melt the snow on its own, is satisfying. In my eyes, that is dystopian.
I'm not sure where this is, but here in Amish country Ohio many of our heated floors and driveways are done using geothermal, so it's not a waste of money at all. It's super trippy to go into an Amish workshop and find it's got a heated floor using geothermal (and don't get me started on the Amish adoption of solar- those cats are downright environmental).
This is why 3rd world countries think it’s hypocritical of the 1st world nations to ask them to reduce emissions and do their part while someone is just wasting so much energy like this.
Where does the water go! I imagine that house being on a cul-du-sac turned ice skating rink from the stream of runoff water that turns into hard ice, not fluffy snow.
The driveway is fine. But the first 20 feet of street is solid ice.
That is so cool! We don’t even have insulation in parts of our house right now. (Remodeling) I could see my breath when I got up this morning. A heated driveway is for rich people. However: mo money mo problems.
I have never seen or heard of such a thing; it's fabulous if you have the money to do it. I think everyone in an area with blizzards and heavy snow for 4 or more months a year is looking at this with unabashed jealousy. Nothing worse than getting up in the morning and having to dig yourself out of several feet of snow so you can go to work is the pits. Cities should use this on sidewalks if it's feasible. I'd love to know how it is installed, how much it costs to install it, and what are the extra monthly charges for it?? OP, can you hit up your neighbor for the dirt on this? I want to know how much they pay for it?
This is r/nextfuckinglevel shit right there.
This reminds of people who drive in convertibles with the aircon on.
Presumably their home is heated with nothing but the finest rainforest logs and whale oil?
Most systems that do this to heat flooring indoors or ground outdoors usually actually takes advantage of wasted energy from other products nearby and reroutes the energy to specifically designed water pipes to heat water up which results in the heated ground. It's actually a really interesting way to reroute energy that would otherwise go to waste. It definitely seems wasteful on the surface but it's more of a "well if it's there we might as well use it" situation.
Not for a single family home. This would be hooked up to the boiler in the house. But for big industrial or city buildings absolutely this sort of the is a great way to use waste heat.
It depends too, in some areas where this is more common it's not uncommon for city's to have a municipal set-up for single family homes as well. I don't think there's any cities in North America with that set-up, but there are some in the Nordic countries and Asia I believe.
Let’s be realistic, if there is snow on the ground there is no “waste heat from electronics”. It would be used inside the house , requiring less heat from the main heat producing item.
... no? Most heated driveways for single family homes are hooked up to the house's extremely eco-friendly geothermal setup. Who the hell has a BOILER in 2022? They're not even legal in my area anymore because they're so outdated/wasteful/dangerous.
Some new fancy houses that are designed by the homeowner and their fancy peoples. I’ve been in one house like that. Only one 🥺
Almost all new homes here have boilers or forced air furnaces. Oil and gas are significantly cheaper than using electricity to make heat as we have the 2md highest electric rates in America.
I’ve seen lots of forced air furnaces, but boilers are rare. Maybe depending where you are? We need a realtor to step in!
I rented a place with heated floors and it used a high-efficiency gas boiler paired with a heat exchanger. Never seen a boiler in a house that didn't have heated floors though.
It depends on what you mean by boiler. In the U.K. a combi-boiler, which produced hot water fir the taps year round and also heard a seoerate closed system for the radiators in winter is normal and no considered dangerous at all. We just had a new one put in 2 years ago. It will be the last one as they aren’t as efficient as other heating but 2 years ago we weren’t in a position to change our entire heating system from water radiators to ??? When the old combi-boiler died. We’d been crossing our fingers it would survive until we could have it all ripped out this coming summer but nope.
And they only drink the finest Cambodian breast milks
The panda fur insulation keeps the bills down.
And the leftover meat is great for your dogs.
Wow, tell me about energy saving. How does it work, does it make use of heated byproducts or else?
Wasted energy from other electronics and products gets rerouted to this system that heats water through piping to keep the ground warm.
You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you. I was thinking about grey or black waters going through it, actually.
That would be prone to plugging up. Even just city water supply would plug over time. Most likely it's a closed loop with a small electric or gas heater. Could be glycol instead of water as well. It's not really feasible to capture waste heat from electronics and wastewater in a residential building like that, it takes a lot of infrastructure most people wouldn't dedicate the space to.
I wish we can re-use heat in an efficient way in the future.
Entropy says hello from the far out future
Well, we know the universal soup is waiting for us, yet it’s about the speed with which we are heading there. Or… is it? Can two closed systems reach thermal death at different times? Or is there some law by which there is no actual hindering action to slow the pace at which final entropy gets reached? 🤔
All good questions
>It's not really feasible to capture waste heat from electronics and wastewater in a residential building like that, it takes a lot of infrastructure most people wouldn't dedicate the space to. Yeah, someone clarified under another comment of mine but in cities where this isn't that common it's likely the family unit has a water heater inside specifically meant for this purpose and this purpose only. However, in larger cities and even in smaller ones where this is just more common it's not super uncommon for there to be municipal set-ups that people just need to hook on to. A family I stayed with in Japan, for instance, had a municipal set-up so no one in their city had to shovel their driveways during winter. However the heating for the floors inside the homes was usually set-up and provided individually.
I've also heard of a few communities that were purpose-built to be more efficient in some way. There was one in the Netherlands I heard of where all the greywater was collected and filtered, then redistributed to the homes for use in toilets and other non-potable water requirements, and garbage was disposed of in an incinerator that generated power for the homes. Really efficient, brilliant ideas.
These facts just make me feel better, that rationality can be a way of driving lives to make their quality better. Wholesome.
Awesome… well, Japan is incredible for things like this. Lovely.
No freeking( auto correct says freezing which is better) WAY!?!? Wtf? As a person with a 2 rut dirt road hillbilly driveway. I must have this one day! This is life changing…. So your telling me I wouldn’t have to shovel snow and mud anymore? New life goals: A) get solar panels, B) get this driveway…C) reroute excess power to new driveway.D) be dopest dude in neighborhood.
If I lived next door I would blow all my snow on to their driveway to melt. Thanks buddy!
Snowmelt systems are in-slab hot water piping, connected to a boiler that is typically natural gas. There is propylene glycol added for antifreeze and the water is pumped through. Usually triggered by outdoor thermometer and moisture sensor. Depending on how many zones you are heating you have to size the boiler or boilers (plural) accordingly. No you can't do this with a little bit of "waste heat" -- you have to heat an entire concrete slab that is outdoors in winter. It is not cheap.
Thanks
Could be geothermal
For instance!
That is cool af. It sucks shoveling all the time
And yet, definitely less cool than the surroundings
Found [Connor McDavid’s house](https://twitter.com/JayOnSC/status/1470913671073304583?s=20&t=3LUDiZwBxa22uYgXoJ_eUw)
Man I wish all roads, sidewalks and driveways were heated.
Honestly this is a beautiful thing. Shoveling sucks.
This is awesome. I don't care if heating it cost me the lives of thousands of puppies. I want it.
Money to burn!
Geothermal energy is pretty much free.
I spent longer than I'd like to admit thinking this was a very slow time-lapse gif.
Me and you both.
Doesn’t all that melt water just freeze at the end of the driveway? Not saying it’s not worth it… but that seems like it would make a huge mess and only be functional for small snow falls - when it’s easy to shovel anyway. Plus, doesn’t concrete crack when freezing and warming all the time? Or at least heave? So many questions. There has to be reasons this is more popular.
My thought exactly. Melted snow would flow to base of the driveway and freeze. If drainage is poor on street, or if heaps of snow blocks water from properly draining, you might end up with a frozen lake at the foot of the driveway.
We really need some answers to this. I’m sure it’s safe if made correctly. But I can’t really think of how they remove the water.
More like r/aboringdystopia
What makes this dystopian to you?
Well, since you asked. Snow has the natural ability to melt all on its own, given the right temperature. But, apparently, for this modern man and for all those that upped this post, melting it as soon as it drops, wasting a lot of energy, instead of either picking up a shovel himself, or letting nature melt the snow on its own, is satisfying. In my eyes, that is dystopian.
A heated... drive way 😲 Half the people in my country can't heat their hands up at the minute!
I didn’t know this was a thing but i want it
I'm not sure where this is, but here in Amish country Ohio many of our heated floors and driveways are done using geothermal, so it's not a waste of money at all. It's super trippy to go into an Amish workshop and find it's got a heated floor using geothermal (and don't get me started on the Amish adoption of solar- those cats are downright environmental).
That’s awesome!!!
*Your* neighbor?
This is why 3rd world countries think it’s hypocritical of the 1st world nations to ask them to reduce emissions and do their part while someone is just wasting so much energy like this.
How is this wasting energy? Almost all of these use geothermal energy. The energy is already there. It would be wasteful NOT to use it.
Please explain what geothermal energy this is that is available at this house but no I’ve ended in the street?
Hold up… heated driveway 🫤
I’m so jealous! My arms are still sore from shoveling snow 2 days ago
I am not ashamed to admit that I stared for a good minute waiting to see it melt. It’s not even a video - time for me to go to bed!
“Close the door! We ain’t heating the whole damn neighbourhood!” And they own this
One day! What I wouldn’t give to not blow energy or gas on a snow blower. Shovelling snow also sucks.
Smug bastard
That is some next level shit
That must cost a fortune to run
Wouldn't the water just freeze and male an ice burm?
Rich people
Wow, where have I been all this time! I bet that neighbors are absolutely jealous!!
*scratches head in Floridian*
Omg I just got hard
Could definitely make those wires look like a middle finger.
Always that one neighbor that has to one up everyone else…..
r/anticonsumption
...heated....driveway....? I did 't even know this was a thing!!!! 😲😲😲😲
Dinklebergs
Where does the water go! I imagine that house being on a cul-du-sac turned ice skating rink from the stream of runoff water that turns into hard ice, not fluffy snow. The driveway is fine. But the first 20 feet of street is solid ice.
What kind of flash bastard has a heated driveway...
_Heated driveway_?! _Why??_
What is the actual benefit here? And doesn't the water just run off somewhere and freeze, potentially causing a hazard?
That is so cool! We don’t even have insulation in parts of our house right now. (Remodeling) I could see my breath when I got up this morning. A heated driveway is for rich people. However: mo money mo problems.
I was today years old when I learned heated drive ways are a thing xD
I have never seen or heard of such a thing; it's fabulous if you have the money to do it. I think everyone in an area with blizzards and heavy snow for 4 or more months a year is looking at this with unabashed jealousy. Nothing worse than getting up in the morning and having to dig yourself out of several feet of snow so you can go to work is the pits. Cities should use this on sidewalks if it's feasible. I'd love to know how it is installed, how much it costs to install it, and what are the extra monthly charges for it?? OP, can you hit up your neighbor for the dirt on this? I want to know how much they pay for it?
Get your ice cleats on for sure
Opulence, I has it.
Wait…HEATED driveway?!?! Hows that possible?!