Using sewer heat to melt driveway

I just came up with a crazy idea. Could I build a driveway with pipes running through it that connect to the top of my sewer pipe? The idea would be that the warm air from the sewer would keep the driveway above freezing. I don't think anything from the sewer would get up into the driveway system just sewer air. What do you think?

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  1. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I will add that I understand I would have to clear snow but days after a snowstorm I should have a completely clean driveway. Just a passively dried off driveway method.

  2. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    sewer gas is explosive, might be a bad idea.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Clearly never seen national lampoons christmas vacation

    • 1 year ago
      Turbro

      Extra heating

  3. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    what if you got a pump and a boiler to heat the liquid sewage and pump it around your driveway theres not much gas in a sewer you would have to use forced air to pressurizing the entire sewer system which would make every pipe trap in the neighborhood boil with sewer gas

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >Could I build a driveway with pipes running through it that connect to the top of my sewer pipe?
      No. Just no.
      Why?
      No city would allow you to connect to the sewer system like this.
      The sewer isn't pressurized, there's no way to get even circulation.
      Sewer gas is potentially explosive.
      During storms or floods your pipe system would flood with sewage.
      If this worked the streets wouldn't ice over because the sewers would keep them warm. However the streets DO ice over. Meaning that there's not enough heat to warm up the concrete above and then melt the ice/snow.

      moron, if you're going to add a boiler you could just run radiant snowmelt tubing under the driveway and use the boiler to heat it.

      Driveway snowmelt requires either a boiler system with radiant tubes under the driveway or an electric heater mat under the driveway.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >Driveway snowmelt requires
        or mildly conducive concrete.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          >conducive concrete
          neat

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Do you have a recipe?
          I think it is magnetite iron shavings and steel wire, I think polymer rods instead of rebar, but what do i know.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          >meme concrete costs triple
          >can electrocute you
          >somehow this is better than an electrical mat under regular concrete

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >calling others moron
        >not getting an obvious joke

        what if you got a pump and a boiler to heat the liquid sewage and pump it around your driveway theres not much gas in a sewer you would have to use forced air to pressurizing the entire sewer system which would make every pipe trap in the neighborhood boil with sewer gas

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      just run generator exhaust through the sewer pipes

      i happen to have this diagram from a previous thread

  4. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    the ymca by my house ran the pool filter lines next to the municipal sewer lines.

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    the sewer is kept deep enough to avoid freezing by trapping heat keep inside.

    driveway heat is kept shallow enough to encourage melting by venting heat out.

    if you want to melt your driveway, get a driveway heater.

  6. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >Could I build a driveway with pipes running through it that connect to the top of my sewer pipe?

    No because as soon as you're spotted fricking with the sewers your city would fine you into oblivion and take possession of your property.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Consider his plan:
      >rent excavator
      >dig up driveway
      >purchase large sewer pipes and put them in place
      >discreetly tie the pipes into existing sewer lines without being noticed since no permit
      >pay concrete company to pour new driveway over your sewer pipes
      >enjoy "free" sewer heat until the driveway collapses when your pipes cave in because there wasn't enough room for rebar
      >driveway then floods with sewage and freezes over creating a ice skating rink of shit
      >city notices all the construction you've done and sues you for damages to the sewer and missed permit and inspection fees.

  7. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Your idea would work but it invites obvious trouble if something goes wrong, bury the appropriate ptc cable in the drive and it'll regulate itself when needed chemically without a thermostat.

  8. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Just tape carpet to your shoes and go out and heat the driveway by friction before a snowstorm

  9. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    how about just using geothermal heating? it's the same concept of why the sewer doesn't freeze over

    you just have to dig deep enough

  10. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Better thing to do is just leave a layer of snow on the driveway, like set your snowblower height up a few inches. That way it doesn't turn into sheer ice and provides traction without having to sand it.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      how I can tell you don't live in the north
      driving over compacted snow turns it into a layer of shit that's just as slick as ice, especially after you get a single sunny day

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Their mention of using sand is kind of a giveaway, too.

  11. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    i think the air in the driveway would cool down before it gets an opportunity to melt anything.

  12. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Uh probably cheaper to just get a tractor, snow blower if your driveway is small, or a snow shovel if you’re poor.

  13. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    You can just encapsulate electric in-floor heat under a skim coat on top of your driveway

  14. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    No way in hell your city would give this the go-ahead.

  15. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    just drill a really really deep hole and then vent the geothermal heat into your driveway

  16. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    This already exists, at least inside the home you can recover the heat from drain pipes.

    It would be way too costly to do this for a driveway, and wouldn't recover enough heat.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      pic related

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Insufficient faucet volume to preheat unless running continuously.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Like a shower or bath?

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            That's not nearly enough. If you poured a concrete slab with in-floor heating that might work but would weaken the slab. So would water channels which if they burst and froze could crack the slab.

            You can move to warmer climes like I did. I enjoy snow for few seconds then I click on something else.

  17. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Just shovel like a normal person you frickin' bum.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      This

      OP is trying to get out of doing his chores

  18. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Attach a hose to a faucet or shower head and use it to melt the snow. Yeah it costs a few dozen gallons of hot water but it's not like it snows every day.

  19. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    If you have a home server you could run pipes that take the heat from your server room out to the driveway

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