Today our focus turns to outdoor electric deicing and snow melting wiring systems identified as suitable for the environment and installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. They work silently to keep snow load from caving in roofs and icicles falling from gutters onto pedestrian pathways.
While the voltage and ampere requirement of the product itself is a known characteristic, the characteristic 0f the wiring pathway — voltage, ampere, grounding, short circuit, disconnect and control — is relatively more complicated and worthy of our attention. Articles 426-427 of the National Electrical Code is the relevant part of the NEC
Free Access 2023 National Electrical Code
Insight into the ideas running through technical committee deliberations is provided by a review of Panel 17 transcripts:
2023 NEC Panel 17 Public Input Report (633 pages)
2023 NEC Panel 17 Public Comment Report (190 pages)
We hold Articles 427 in the middle of our priority ranking for the 2023 NEC. We find that the more difficult issues for this technology is the determination of which trade specifies these systems — architectural, electrical, or mechanical; covered in previous posts. Instead, most of our time will be spent getting IEEE consensus products in step with it, specifically ANSI/IEEE 515 and IEEE 844/CSA 293.
Comments on the First Draft of the 2026 NEC will be received until August 28th.
We collaborate with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facility Committee which meets online 4 times per month in European and American time zones. Since a great deal of the technical basis for the NEC originates with the IEEE we will also collaborate with IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee 18 whose members are charged by the IEEE Standards Association to coordinate NFPA and IEEE consensus products.
Issue: [19-151]
Category: Electrical, Energy
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Kane Howard, Jose Meijer
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— Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu
Heat tracing is a process used to maintain or raise the temperature of pipes and vessels in order to prevent freezing, maintain process temperature, or ensure that products remain fluid and flow through the system properly.
Heat tracing works by using an electric heating cable or tape that is wrapped around the pipe or vessel, and then insulated to help retain the heat. The heating cable is connected to a power source and temperature control system that maintains the desired temperature by regulating the amount of heat output from the cable. Heat tracing is commonly used in industrial applications where temperature control is critical, such as in chemical plants, refineries, and oil and gas facilities.
There are several types of heat tracing, including electric heat tracing, steam tracing, and hot water tracing, each of which have their own unique advantages and disadvantages. The selection of the appropriate type of heat tracing depends on the specific application and the required temperature range, as well as factors such as cost, maintenance, and safety considerations.
Today we review the literature for snow and ice management (and enjoyment) produced by these standards-setting organizations:
Accredited Snow Contractors Association
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
ASTM International
Destructive Deep Freeze Strikes Cold and Hot Regions Alike
Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers
Electrical Heat Tracing: International Harmonization — Now and in the Future
International Code Council
International Building Code: Chapter 15 Roof Assemblies and Rooftop Structures
National Electrical Contractors Association
National Fire Protection Association
Winter is Coming: Is Your Facility Protected? (Holly Burgess, November 2022)
National Electrical Code: Articles 426-427
National Floor Safety Institute
Snow and Ice Management Association
Underwriters Laboratories
Manufacturers:
Chromalox Electrical Heat Tracing Systems Design Guide
It is a surprisingly large domain with market-makers in every dimension of safety and sustainability; all of whom are bound by state and federal regulations.
Join us at 16:00 UTC with the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
There have been several recent innovations that have made it possible for construction activity to continue through cold winter months. Some of the most notable ones include:
Overall, these innovations have made it possible for construction crews to work through the winter months more comfortably and safely, which has helped to keep projects on schedule and minimize delays.
Electrical heat tracing: international harmonization-now and in the future
C. Sandberg
Tyco Thermal Controls
N.R. Rafferty – M. Kleinehanding – J.J. Hernandez
E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company, Inc
Abstract: In the past, electrical heat tracing has been thought of as a minor addition to plant utilities. Today, it is recognized as a critical subsystem to be monitored and controlled. A marriage between process, mechanical, and electrical engineers must take place to ensure that optimum economic results are produced. The Internet, expert systems, and falling costs of instrumentation will all contribute to more reliable control systems and improved monitoring systems. There is a harmonization between Europe and North America that should facilitate design and installation using common components. The future holds many opportunities to optimize the design.
CLICK HERE to order complete paper
“Language is the only homeland”
— Czesław Miłosz (Nobel Laureate, 1980)
We could hasten agreement on technical solutions if partisans setting best practice standards could agree upon what we are talking about. Then again, the meaning of This or That can only be understood in context. All too frequently, when opposing partisans sense they are on the losing side of debate, they change the vocabulary or the fact set and we have to start all over again.
We gather our work on language standards over the past 30-odd years, starting with the definition of “Service Point” in the 1999 National Electrical Code and the 2002 National Electric Safety Code. In recent years, engineers have been challenged by finding common agreement on what a “microgrid” is. The dynamics of the struggle for competing stakeholders to agree on how to make educational settlements simpler, safer, lower-cost and longer-lasting is virtually identical to the struggle to agree on the meaning of modern English language in other domains.
The term “political correctness” was given currency when President George H.W. Bush explained the peril at the University of Michigan in 1992. Its peril has only expanded since.
Definition: “Developed versus Developing Country”
Electropedia: The World’s Online Electrotechnical Vocabulary
Noam Chomsky (University of Pennsylvania Doctoral Thesis): Transformational Analysis
Hilary Clinton Suddenly Speaks African American English Whilst Quoting the Bible
Bloomberg Originals: Hilary Clinton’s Accent Evolution
“I shall always be a common ignorant girl, and in my station I have to be respectable.” — Eliza Doolittle, from Pygmalion (George Bernard Shaw) |
Western Michigan University: My Fair Lady (Livecast from Lincoln Center)
DEI: Democrat President Joe Biden’s United States Supreme Court Appointment Does Not Know the Definition of “Woman”
African-American Vernacular English and education
“A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance
when the need for illusion is deep.”
ASHRAE Terminology: A Comprehensive Glossary of Terms for the Built Environment
Jean Piaget:”The Language and Thought of the Child” (1926)
Today @landgeist shows us the second most taught foreign language in Secondary School across Europe. English is the number one. French still going strong. Eastern Europe studies German. Source: https://t.co/sU6xtA0X4S pic.twitter.com/X5pVUGyyWf
— Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) January 12, 2024
Daniel Patrick Moynihan: “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action”
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwB pic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
— USPTO (@uspto) July 13, 2023
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