HeatTrak HCM24-3 Carpeted Snow-Melting Door Mat, 24 Inch by 36 Inch, 120 Volt

This product worked so well after I bought it in 2011 that I purchased a second one for a second location the following winter. We have an outdoor hot tub at the end of a wooden walkway extending from the walkout basement doorway on the lower level of our house. The ice buildup just outside the door, coming from the roof edge above, was treacherous in the winter, which goes on endlessly in New England. We put the HeatTrak mat outside that door, connected it to a timer in the basement near the door, and turned the mat on for four hour increments as needed. Problem solved. Product worked as advertised. We bought the second mat and put it at the edge of the hot tub. We connected this to a second timer in the basement. It also worked perfectly to eliminate the ice build up that results from getting in and out of the tub during the winter. Neither mat seems to work this winter, after four flawless performance cold and snowy seasons, and I'm going to buy replacement mats today. This product is awesome. The mats stay flat on the ground, no curling edges, the electrical connections are made for inclement weather, and having them on a timer means I don't have to remember to turn them off! They are expensive but if you have a location that needs this ice/snow melting help, this doormat will do the job!

The media could not be loaded. I purchased HeatTrak in the fall of 2015 and used it all last winter. It did not work as fast as I expected but it did work. So I just pulled it out to get ready for this winter.Here is what I learned based on my last year experience. The mat works slowly, so it is best to turn it on before the storm prior to any snow fall. I normally keep the mat unplugged and plug in only when the storm is predicted. I am using it on a wood deck. The mat did not cause discoloration under the mat. I see no signs that the wood stain under the mat has aged faster compared to other parts of the deck. The mat never felt hot to touch, only somewhat warm. Note that it only gets warm when the temperature is cold, keep that in mind if you are trying to test in the fall when it is not cold enough. The mat is less than 1/2" thick but has a thicker bump where the cord is connected to the mat.The size of the map is 24" x 36" and feels quite heavy. It does not get lifted even by heavy winds. The "carpeted" side should face up, the smooth side should face down.I also used the mat to melt icy patches on the deck. It took a long time to do the entire deck by moving the mat from spot to spot, but it was easier and caused less damage to the deck compared to trying to chip the ice off. I am using a 30 foot cord outdoor power cord and water-tight cord lock from Farm Innovators to protect the connection between the extension cord and the mat cord Farm Innovators Model CC-2 Cord Connect Water-Tight Cord LockI wish it was a bit larger and a bit cheaper, but overall satisfied with how it worked last winter.Ali Julia review

I was thrilled to see this morning's first snowfall (enough for the town to plow our streets), and see that the HatTrak mat had more than done its job keeping up with the storm. Not only is the mat clear, the area around the mat is clear for another 6-8", as you can see from the photo I uploaded. I've also purchased the stair mats, which I'll install today.I'm out at work all day, and I can't be at the house to shovel the snow for my mailman. When I get up on a cozy Saturday, the last thing I want to do is put on boots and clear a path through muck - which is what it all looks like by March.My neighbor, who is over 100, is receiving a set of door, stair, and walkway mats as a Christmas gift. It's the best way I know to keep her safe from falling in our icy/snowy weather.Note:all of my mats are connected to a standard covered outdoor 3-prong outlet, and no, I did not have an electrician come to replace any outlets. I've safely used these outlets for lights, and birdbath defrosters for years. My main box was replaced this year, and all outlets are GFCI.

The HeatTrak does what it says; it stays warm all the time and snow and ice melt away.There were two disappointments though. One is that Amazon's photo of the product shows an on-off switch positoned on the cord and you would think that you could leave the mat plugged in all the time, just switching it on/off as needed. The mat we received has no mid-cord control and must be turned on and off by stepping outside and unplugging or plugging it in. Big difference since our outlet is not convenient to use, and no good for energy savings, either. The other disappointment is that right out of the box, the Heat Trak smells very strongly of rubber and has continued to smell for 4 weeks. We get a whiff every time we open the door. Additionally, we got this so that our dog would have a warm dry spot to wait until we let her in. Instead, she avoids the mat and has never yet sat on it.Update: After six weeks it quit working entirely. It's heavy and unwieldy and the box it had come in was splitting at the seams when it arrived; we hadn't saved it. Buying new packaging and shipping it back for the warranty would have been like throwing good money after bad. We gave up on the idea and tossed it out.

This definitely works well. Why not 5 stars then? Well, the cord is on the exactly the wrong corner of the mat for my use. I'm using it now although there is a small trip hazard present due to the chord. Why not give the consumer a choice of which corner the power cord attaches to the mat???I also use this with the snow melting half walkway mat. Unfortunately, I had to have 2 of the same power units to power these fairly small mats. Why can's this mat and the walkway mat just use one power cord? My front porch now looks like a cabling eyesore with 2 of these bulky power units coming out of 1 receptacle.