The best way to use the HeatTrak mats is to turn them on before the snow begins to fall. This way, there will not be any water accumulation when the snow melts, because the snowflakes will evaporate as soon as they land on the mat. However, you can turn the mats on after the snow has already fallen on them. In this case, give the mat a few hours to melt through the snow. When the snow melts, there will be a slight water run-off, but the run-off will go under the snow that surrounds the mat. Also, there will be small puddles on the mat until the water completely evaporates. But have no fear, these small puddles will be beneath the non-slip treading, so there will not be any slip hazard. Eventually, all the water will evaporate.

This is an excellent question. Gut feeling may tell us that any water running off the mats will refreeze and cause hazardous ice conditions. Here’s how you can prevent this from happening.We recommend you turn on your snow melting mats before a snowstorm. When you heat up the mats in advance, snowflakes begin to melt on contact when they hit the mat and thus prevent water from accumulating.

However, we realize it’s not always possible to do so. Nature is unpredictable and a snowstorm can take us by surprise. But, there’s no reason to worry. You can turn the mats on after snow has already fallen on them — the heat will cause the water to eventually evaporate.

While you wait for this to happen, you’ll notice a bit of water runoff and small puddles as the mats melt the snow, but the water runoff will go beneath the snow surrounding the mat. The puddles won’t cause any slip hazards either, because they’re underneath the mat’s non-slip treading.