HeatTrak Heated Snow Melting Mats for Stairs - Heated Outdoor Mats - Electric Snow Melting Mats for Winter Snow Removal - Trusted Snow and Ice Melting Mats and No-Slip Stair Heating Mats (10" x 30")

These are expensive, there’s no getting around that. We live in the Buffalo area, so we are no strangers to snow. I placed these by my sliding glass door where I let my dogs out, and connected a path down the stairs from my deck. They work great and it’s so wonderful to be able to let the dogs out without snow falling into the kitchen when I open the sliders, and I never again have to bundle up to clear a path to the backyard. Wow! Amazing. There are a couple inconveniences about these mats though that mainly have to do with setting them up. First of all, the doorway mats don’t have a connector feature so you can’t connect them to the pathway mats or the stair mats so we had to run a separate extension cord. Secondly, they take a little more power than what a typical outdoor outlet can handle. We tripped the breaker a bunch of times until we realized we needed to use two different outlets to accommodate the whole pathway. Our entire path includes a doorway mat (30x40) which is in one outlet, and two pathway mats (20x30), connected to three stair mats on a separate outlet. At our front door we also have a large doorway mat (30x40) and I can’t have all my Christmas lights plugged into the same outlet as the mat without tripping the breaker. It’s not ideal but the Christmas light issue is an inconvenience for a month, the mats are a huge convenience for three or four months. I’m sure I could have an electrician beef up my amperage, and I may do that, but then I’m making the mats even more expensive. First world problems. All things considered, I’m really happy with these mats. Would definitely do it again even knowing the inconveniences. Oh…added bonus…put a water bowl for the dogs on a mat and it keeps the water from freezing.

These work. I read all the instructions carefully and decided not to use one on my front porch, because they clearly state they aren't designed for packages to sit on them (even when they are off). They are engineered to be outside all winter, though.I worked in the electrical biz and they did a good job explaining the amp calculations. The short story is that each full-size mat uses ~5 amps. Most household circuits have 15 amp or 20 amp breakers (older homes may have 10). You don't want to exceed 15 amps, because your wiring may not be rated for higher current draw, so don't daisy chain a bunch of them. The stair mats are designed to work with a larger mat as a parent (they draw less current).Make sure you have GFCI outlets with in use covers (typically a clear plastic bubble cover that closes but has a place for the cord to descend underneath. I also bought some GFCI type on-off switches, because there's no real way to shut off the mat unless you unplug it (exposing plug to moisture) OR you use the mat's GFCI to switch it on-off. GFCIs aren't designed for on-off switching (neither are the ones on your porch).My GFCI on my front porch is nuisance tripping, so I'll have an electrician look at that before I use the stair/walkway mat I got. The 2 larger mats I put on my back patio (1 in front of the grill, and 1 right outside the patio door). I'm pleased.

It is so nice not to have to go shovel my porch landing off so that the screen door can open in the winter and my dogs can make it out to pee without me clearing the way. I have had my Heat Trak entrance mat for 4 months now. I got so excited about the landing mat that also bought 4 stair mats with the extra controller cord. The extension they sell is a reasonable price but I had an outdoor rated extension with a multiplugged end and this is working well. The landing mat and the stair mats are not quite the same width and there are different widths to both types so measure carefully!We have inconsistent snow here so I keep it unplugged when there is light snow fall to keep the electric cost down. I have not noticed a real difference in my electric bill from last year. Fuel costs are different though... Even if I wake up to a couple of inches of snow on the mat, once I have plugged it in I have cleared stairs in about 20-30 minutes.I don't know how well the mat would wear if heated constantly but for being on a total of about 2 weeks out of every month they are doing well. They handle the wear and tear of 2 x 100# dogs just fine and hose down to clean well. They do not seem to shift much on the stairs. I have friends who leave theirs out year round and are still using the mats they bought 5 years ago. My friends do not have any unusual heat blemishes on their treated wood stairs (just sun bleaching on the exposed edges that you would get with any mat). I have not had any discoloration on my Azek landing and stairs. I did not fasten the mats down. I did not have any curling problems. The mats were stiff the way cold rubber usually is coming out of a shipping box. I let them sit in the house for half a day and they warmed flat and then set down outside fine.I have other friends who bought much more expensive mats from Front Gate. These look good too but are not holding up any better than the Heat Trak and they look about the same to me. I think the difference is the Front Gate stair mats also have some thin carpeting on top where these don't. The landing mat does have a thin carpet on top. Just enough to add tread. I don't notice the difference in surface friction on the stair mats though and I don't slip on mine at all. They have nice grip.You do have to pay attention to the cords and controllers and which mats can be strung in sequence and which ones cannot. Generally the stair mats can tandem but the landing mats cannot. The manufacture is good at telling you which can and can't but you have to look for the info. The stair mats also can tandem to one controller, the landing mats need their own individually. When not sure, look at the Heat Trak website (they do a nice job explaining their product). I still bought from Amazon though to get the return policy certainty.

Does an excellent job however stopped working after 4.5 years in Cleveland. Great while it worked. Ordered another set however that works out to about $100 q year

I ordered these three small mats to use on the steps in conjunction with three large mats on my icy deck. All six mats are connected in series and powered by the power unit that is required for their use. Like the large mats, these mats are textured to provide safe footing even when wet. The mats are very effective at melting an inch or two of ice/snow and keeping them ice-free as long as they are powered up. If there's more than an inch or two of ice/snow on the mats, the excess should be removed to allow the mats to work in a timely manner. Highly recommended for safety.