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this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2025
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Not really. You're thinking of using it to clear 10-14" of snow that's already built up. But with the street being kept just above freezing during the snowstorm, the snow hitting the street will melt immediately, never sticking to begin with.
And since you only need 5° or so above freezing, it takes less energy than you might think to keep it there.
I can't imagine it costing less money overall to run it longer versus only once snow has piled up.
There is the added warming you get from the sun, when the snow doesn't build up. You loose that if you wait for the storm to be over.
That albedo effect is a big part of the reason why it's so important to try to save as much snow/glacier/icecap now as possible at the poles. It's a cascading effect where a little bit of melting early on ends up making a huge difference in how much melting happens overall.