Aspen Snowmelt

[redacted] The business is well aware that their product is not functioning and does not care I was told, no refunds, no warranty Which by LAW is not correct There IS a warranty of usability that applies when the inventor/producer of a product also sells it! Most home appliances have a year warranty This product should have the same A home appliance is usually used on a daily basis for that year This product is ONLY used for a few months out of each year but should still be warrantied to work for months of USE!! This product failed after only months of use and the inventor/producer/salesperson is unable or unwilling to even repair it!!! I believe he took advantage of a middle aged woman who is living alone and bought this system primarily because he stated emphatically (I believe a neighbor was there for this conversation) that I should NEVER go on the roof in the winter or the product won't function properly Spending $was a real hardship but it would save me from climbing on the roof alone...well that was what sold me on this system!! Plus I was told it would last years When I called him over after the HUGE ice dam and subsequent leak...the first thing out of his mouth was...'Why didn't you shovel the roof?"!! He claimed that I should NEVER have allowed snow to accumulate!! Now he is claiming that I turned the system off! There was a power surge the week of the leak, that caused the system to shut off without my knowledge However the ice that was on the roof had been building for weeks! Once the system was turned back on and supposedly operating properly...the panels were covered in ice EVERY DAY! It NEVER gets warm enough to prevent ice...it actually BUILDS ICE DAMS This man definitely took advantage of me and sold me a completely worthless product I want my money back and want to prevent this from happening to anyone else!! [redacted] Aspen, CO

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Why don’t we propose to MrN*** that he PROVE the system works? What I am suggesting is that if he is so very certain that his system works…I will leave it on my roof and when the snow starts to fly, I will turn it on and we’ll see if it actually works If there is ANY ice forming on the panels and causing ice dams at any time during the winter, then MrN*** agrees to FIX IT or REPLACE the system with a traditional zigzag heat tape at HIS expense He must agree to FIX or REPLACE it as soon as we discover that it does not work He had ample opportunity to repair the system last year, I emailed and texted him many times begging him to fix it and he simply said the same thing over and over…it works when it’s turned on Except that it was on and it was NOT working at all If I had purchased a $3,appliance that ran EVERY day, if it broke, the warranty would cover the repair/replacement His system should follow the same warranty rules, it should function without problems for months of continuous use, not 6. *** *** *** * *** ***
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The system worked fine for the first winter (2014-2015). The system worked fine during the second winter (2015-2016) until Aspen got about 40 inches of snow in about three days in early February. [redacted] called me and went to her house to find she was on a ladder hammering on the roof, gutter, downspout and side of the house. I put a system on the house across the street and the heating panels were working fineShe told me the electrical power had been turned OFF and the roof, gutter, downspout and side of the house was covered with ice. The snow melt water above the solid ice dam was leaking into the house. During three service calls, I installed additional zig-zag heating cable and confirmed the AspenSnowMelt heated panels were warm. I told her than the System had to catch up. I did not charge her for these service calls.It takes one BTU of heat energy to raise one pound of water, one degree F. However it takes 144 BTUs to melt one pound of ice at 32F. So it took some time to recover. After about 10 days the System was working fine for the rest of the winter. I told her to wait until next winter and see how it works.I can't spend anymore time on this. She needs to make sure the power is turned ON 24/7. The thermostat will turn OFF the power above 40F.

If electrical power is provided 24/7 during the winter, the system works. With electrical power provided, the system has worked for two winters. {lease see attached picture.A warrantee was not offered nor paid for.I don't wish to spend anymore time on this.End of conversation.I will look at this again during the upcoming winter.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:  The system does NOT work despite his claim that it does.  Just because he SAYS it works does NOT make it true.  I have electric bills to PROVE the *Word Rejected* thing was on ALL winter 24/7!!  I texted and emailed him numerous times AFTER the leak to tell him that even though the unit was ON and the tape was warm...ice was building on the panels daily.  He refused to do ANYTHING about it...just kept pretending that there is nothing wrong.  The panels do NOT heat up enough to prevent ice dams...they create them.  He can deny all he likes I have plenty of photos following the leak to PROVE that ice continued to form on the panels for the rest of the winter.  I spent every *Word Rejected* day up there throwing salt, spraying hot salt water and breaking the ice off the panels with a hammer.  This man is a blatant liar and his product is crap.  As far as I am concerned he is A CON MAN!!
Regards,
[redacted]
Attached are photos taken the weekend of the leak.  Photo 1 and 2 show the heat tape that Mr. N[redacted] brought over to help remove the gigantic ice dam.  You’ll note the ICE on the HEAT panel!!!  You can clearly see that although the system is running…ICE is forming on the metal panel…there are NOT warm enough to keep ice from forming.  I’ve attached photos from February that shows the ice continuing to form on the panels!!  I’ve sent all of these photos to Mr. N[redacted] to prove that there is a problem with the system and his only response is to ignore me.  I really don’t care what he says…the proof is right here…the panels DO NOT prevent ice dams…they create them!!!  [redacted]
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Since Mr. N[redacted] keeps insisting that I did NOT have the unit ON every day 24/7…I’ve attached the electric  comparisons from 2015 to 2016 to prove that the system was ON!!  I am the ONLY one living in the house during the months of February and March, the two months following the leak.  As you can clearly see…I was paying MORE for electric service during 2016 than 2015.  I am out of the house 10 hours a day and the only thing running is the ice dam prevention system, the heat (at 61 degrees) and the fridge.  Nothing else runs more than a couple of hours a day!  The man is nuts if he thinks his system works!!  [redacted]
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Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:  Most of his story is completely bogus.  The power had been off perhaps a day at most...there was a power surge the week of the leak and when I opened the electric panel the breaker for the ice dam system was in the ON position but the tape was cold.  I had to turn it off and on a couple of times to restore power.  When he came out that day I was NOT hammering on anything...I asked HIM for an explanation as to WHY the system was not working.  I resorted to hammering the ice off the panels daily ONLY after Malcolm told me that there was nothing wrong with the system and it was working fine.  I sent him several emails with photos to show him that ice was building on the panels EVERY DAY after the leak!  He did help to get the water moving by throwing some ice melt liquid on the roof and a heat cable up there for a week.  I had to remove all of the ice over the course of the next couple of weeks. His system NEVER worked during the winter of 2015-2016.  I only discovered it was not working when the weather warmed up and the leak occurred and I discovered the huge ice dam.  The WHOLE reason I chose to purchase this overpriced system was his vehemently telling me DO NOT GO ON THE ROOF FOR ANY REASON!!!  He said that if I went on the roof I would ruin the way it works.  He designed it FOR Colorado, he KNOWS that we can have HUGE snowstorms...I would assume that his system was designed to work for OUR weather!! 
Regards,
[redacted]

The ice melt system was working correctly, if the power is turned on. I suggest she turns it ON 24/7 next winter.I have nothing more to add.

[redacted]
The business is well aware that their product is not functioning and does not care.  I was told, no refunds, no warranty.  Which by LAW...

is not correct.  There IS a warranty of usability that applies when the inventor/producer of a product also sells it!  Most home appliances have a 1 year warranty.  This product should have the same.  A home appliance is usually used on a daily basis for that year.  This product is ONLY used for a few months out of each year but should still be warrantied to work for 12 months of USE!!  This product failed after only 6 months of use and the inventor/producer/salesperson is unable or unwilling to even repair it!!!  I believe he took advantage of a middle aged woman who is living alone and bought this system primarily because he stated emphatically (I believe a neighbor was there for this conversation) that I should NEVER go on the roof in the winter or the product won't function properly.  Spending $3000 was a real hardship but it would save me from climbing on the roof alone...well that was what sold me on this system!!  Plus I was told it would last 10 years.  When I called him over after the HUGE ice dam and subsequent leak...the first thing out of his mouth was...'Why didn't you shovel the roof?"!!  He claimed that I should NEVER have allowed snow to accumulate!!  Now he is claiming that I turned the system off!  There was a power surge the week of the leak, that caused the system to shut off without my knowledge.  However the ice that was on the roof had been building for weeks!  Once the system was turned back on and supposedly operating properly...the panels were covered in ice EVERY DAY!  It NEVER gets warm enough to prevent ice...it actually BUILDS ICE DAMS.  This man definitely took advantage of me and sold me a completely worthless product.  I want my money back and want to prevent this from happening to anyone else!!  [redacted]Aspen, CO