Keep your business safe and snow-free—and keep out of the cold—with this wonderful winter technology
As anyone who’s existed in colder climates can attest, snow removal is taxing both physically and mentally. Besides suffering through strenuous activity to clear parking lots, driveways, walkways and roofs, shovelers must also face the elements to do it.
If ever there was a need for futuristic technology it would be in the fight against fallen flakes.
Fortunately, such technology exists.
Remote Control Snow Removal
From the property who still wants to be actively involved in keeping driveways free of snow but doesn’t want to suffer the physical strain or cold weather, Super Droid Robots has dual solutions. The 4WD Snow Blower RC Robot is a custom four-wheel drive snow blower with a 24-inch clearing path that is capable of flinging flakes up to 40 feet. If you’d rather spread than spray, the 6WD RC Snow Plow Robot Kit is a six-wheeled plow with a 36-inch plowing blade. Both are remote controlled. Yes, infuse home maintenance with the joys of youth as you remotely control miniature industrial equipment from a recliner or desk indoors.
The 4WD Snow Blower RC Robot is available for $9,850.00. The 6WD RC Snow Plow Robot Kit is available for $7,505.38.
Automated Snow Removal
If you want to surrender snow removal entirely to semi-sentient service droids, meet Kobi. This fully autonomous snow blower is in tune with the weather forecast and will automatically begin clearing as flakes are falling, recharging at regular intervals before another round of clean up, ensuring that it, or you, will never have to deal with several inches of snow on your driveway. Of course, if you’d like to be in control of Kobi—telling it where to go and when to blow—you can via your smartphone, but rest assured the brainy blower can do it all by itself. Better still, Kobi is an all-season android which comes with lawn-mowing and leaf-blowing modules that are easily attached.
Kobi’s first round of models have sold out, but interested parties can sign up for notifications on the next available units at thekobi.com.
Heated Driveways and Walkways
WarmZone
If you’d like to remain robot-free but still have no plans to do your own shoveling, then radiant heating is the way to go. Consisting of a series of tubes running under your driveway and walkways that heat, electronically or via heated water, the above medium, be it asphalt, concrete, stone, brick or tile. When the weather takes a dive, heated driveway owners needn’t worry, as radiant heating elements will automatically switch on, sending heat upward to melt away any offending flakes and keep a home’s travel-ways clean and clear.
Home renovation resource HomeAdvisor estimates that heated driveways cost between $12-$21 per square foot. Radiant heating manufacturer WarmZone has a variety of heated driveway and walkway options, depending on medium as well as the ability to retrofit existing driveways into temperature-altering travel ways.
Automatic Roof Deicing
Summit Ice Melt
Of course it’s not just snow- and ice-enveloped walkways that pose a threat to homeowners—danger also lurks above in the form of icicles and roof-bound snowpacks. The solution to these ice-based issues is similar to their ground-bound cousins, however: radiant heating. Roof radiant heating often consists of self-regulating, automatically heating cables that run the length of roof edges and gutters, including through drainage ways, to prevent the formation of icicles and ice blockage. For trickier roof valleys, where potentially destructive ice dams can form, homeowners can employ low-voltage heating elements directly under shingles or metal roofing.
Roof deicing options will depend on your home roof construction and size but solutions can be found at WarmZone or Summit Ice Melt.
Heated Ice Scraper
If you’re not lucky enough to have a garage—or you’ve got enough cars that not everyone gets coverage—then you may need some ice mitigation options for your home away from home. Here, the Heated Ice Scraper from Sharper Image is sure to suffice. Resembling a typical ice scraper, this smart squeegee, which can be charged in the car’s 12V DC outlet, comes with a heating element built-in, making sloughing ice off of winter-afflicted windshields an easy task. The scraper also comes equipped with a built-in flashlight for easy use at night.
The Heated Ice Scraper from Sharper Image is available for $49.
Need help with your snow removal? At Toledo Snow Control, we make sure your business is always open with our commercial snow control services. With our effective winter services, you can have peace of mind knowing that your day-to-day operations will never be interrupted.
When winter weather visits, don’t be left out in the cold. Toledo Snow Control can clear any commercial lot and make sure that you’re open for business. We are proud to provide expert commercial snow removal services in Toledo and all surrounding areas; Bowling Green, Perrysburg, Maumee, Sylvania, Oregon, Holland, Temperance, Bedford and Monclova. GET A FREE QUOTE before the snow comes back!