Device for preventing damage due to roof ice dams

摘要

This invention relates to the prevention of damage caused by ice dams formed from snow and ice at the eaves of houses in colder climates. It consists of a highly heat-conductive bar with an efficient solar heat collector at one end and optionally an efficient collector of waste roof heat at the other. The device is located at the edge of a roof with the solar collector extending beyond the roof edge and the heat collector located toward the center of the roof. Collected energy is conducted along the bar and to its sides where it melts the surrounding ice and provides a tunnel in the ice through which otherwise trapped water flows from the roof. This water might otherwise leak through the roof and into the house where it might do considerable damage.