Do you need an extra outlet for ice melt wires on the roof?

Xringer · 09-13-11, 07:15 PM

Lowes has (metal) electrical box Extenders. You just pull off your out door light,
and place an Extender box under the lamp fixture..
(It's a box with no top or bottom, comes with two very long screws).
It has 1/2" threaded holes in the sides, where you can connect up another box.

I used some of that waterproof flexible conduit (left over from Sanyo install)
to connect a second box. (also metal).
I put a GFI outlet in that box and added a water resistant cover on top.

Then I added 400w of zig-zag heater wires to the north east side roof of my den..

Last winter, we had three feet of snow back there. It created a big ice dam,
(1st time since we added the den 25 years ago) and we got water..

This was before it got really deep up there..

The plan is to leave the GTI in reset-off mode until the snow starts flying.
Then reset it and use the indoor switch to control the heater wire..

And to think, I was gonna use an old extension cord..

I was thinking of using an X-10 GFI outlet, but I don't know if they make them.?.

A heavy duty X10 appliance module is too big for the box, unless I can come
up with a small right-angle three pong AC plug for the heater wire..

09-13-11, 07:15 PM	#1
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	Do you need an extra outlet for ice melt wires on the roof? Lowes has (metal) electrical box Extenders. You just pull off your out door light, and place an Extender box under the lamp fixture.. (It's a box with no top or bottom, comes with two very long screws). It has 1/2" threaded holes in the sides, where you can connect up another box. I used some of that waterproof flexible conduit (left over from Sanyo install) to connect a second box. (also metal). I put a GFI outlet in that box and added a water resistant cover on top. Then I added 400w of zig-zag heater wires to the north east side roof of my den.. Last winter, we had three feet of snow back there. It created a big ice dam, (1st time since we added the den 25 years ago) and we got water.. This was before it got really deep up there.. The plan is to leave the GTI in reset-off mode until the snow starts flying. Then reset it and use the indoor switch to control the heater wire.. And to think, I was gonna use an old extension cord.. I was thinking of using an X-10 GFI outlet, but I don't know if they make them.?. A heavy duty X10 appliance module is too big for the box, unless I can come up with a small right-angle three pong AC plug for the heater wire.. Last edited by Xringer; 09-13-11 at 07:20 PM..