TL;DR
Heat cable is an electric resistance or self-regulating cable run in zigzags along roof eaves, valleys, and inside gutters and downspouts to melt drainage channels through snow and ice dams. Self-regulating types vary their output with temperature and can be cut to length, while constant-wattage versions cost less but must match the circuit exactly.
What it means
Heat cable is an electric resistance or self-regulating cable run in zigzags along roof eaves, valleys, and inside gutters and downspouts to melt drainage channels through snow and ice dams. Self-regulating types vary their output with temperature and can be cut to length, while constant-wattage versions cost less but must match the circuit exactly. It treats the symptom rather than the cause; chronic ice damming usually traces to attic heat loss that insulation and ventilation fix permanently.
Where it sits in the glossary
Heat cable is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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