SnowWatt

Snow zone — MB · SK · AB

Heated driveways and snow-melting mats in the Canadian Prairies (MB, SK, AB)

Snowfall normals, electricity rates and melt-capability figures for the Canadian Prairies (MB, SK, AB), computed from NOAA and EIA data.

This page is data only — the written analysis has not been through editorial review yet, so it is marked noindex until it has.

Climate normals

Annual snowfall
44.8 in
Snow days ≥ 1 in
—
Season length
—
Electricity
9.97¢

44.8 in a year at Winnipeg Richardson Int'l A, MB — ECCC Canadian Climate Normals, 1981-2010 normals. NOT COMPARABLE TO THE US ZONES. ECCC publishes day-counts at 0.2/5/10/25 cm, not at 1.0 in, so there is no >= 1 in figure to report. The per-threshold counts are on the reference station. Electricity: Manitoba Hydro Residential Tariff No. 2026-01, energy charge, all kWh. Excludes the $9.84/month basic charge.

Will a mat keep up here?

Melt capability against this zone's snowfall

Melt gauge — HeatTrak HR20-60 in Canadian Prairies (MB, SK, AB)

  1. ≥ 0.2 cm53.5 d/yr2 min
  2. ≥ 5 cm6.1 d/yr59 min
  3. ≥ 10 cm1.9 d/yr2.0 h
  4. ≥ 25 cm0.1 d/yr4.9 h
Design day
3.9 in
Clears in
2.0 h
Running per year
22 h
Melt rate (claimed)
2 in/hr
Keeps up

A 3.9 in day clears in 2.0 h, on about 22 h of running a year.

Canadian day-counts are published at centimetre thresholds (0.2 / 5 / 10 / 25 cm), so the deepest one that happens even once a year is 10 cm — 3.9 in. A Canadian zone therefore cannot produce the 5 in design day a US zone can, however much it snows. Compare this verdict with other Canadian zones, not with US ones.

  • The melt rate is the manufacturer's claim, not a measurement. SnowWatt has not operated this product. Every portable mat on the market quotes the same 2 in/hr, which makes it a marketing constant rather than a differentiator.
  • Clear time assumes continuous running on a mat that starts clear. It is the time to melt that much accumulation, not a storm-duration model, and it does not account for drifting, refreeze, or snow arriving while the mat works.
  • The design day is a 30-year normal, not a forecast. 44.8 in a year at Winnipeg Richardson Int'l A, MB (ECCC Canadian Climate Normals, 1981-2010), the largest daily threshold crossed at least once a year. Your worst day will be worse.

What it costs to run

Running cost — Canadian Prairies (MB, SK, AB)

Power draw
300 VA
Per design-day storm
CA$0.06
Per normal season
CA$0.67
Electricity
9.97¢
  • HeatTrak does not publish a wattage for this product. The figure above is SnowWatt's own arithmetic — 120 V × 2.5 A — and it is apparent power in VA, not a measured wattage. HeatTrak states no tolerance on this figure, which is not the same as a tolerance of zero — treat the cost below as an order of magnitude, not a quote. Treat it as an upper bound on real power, and see the methodology page for why we will not print it as watts.
  • Hours come from the melt gauge above: 2.0 h to clear the design-day accumulation, and about 22 h a year to keep pace with normal snowfall. Both assume continuous running and no idling, standby or preheat — so the season figure is a floor, not a forecast.
  • Electricity at 9.97¢/kWh (CAD). Manitoba Hydro Residential Tariff No. 2026-01, energy charge, all kWh. Excludes the $9.84/month basic charge.

The same figures for an embedded system, which publishes a real wattage and so can be costed exactly:

Running cost — Canadian Prairies (MB, SK, AB)

Power draw
1500 W
Per design-day storm
—
Per normal season
—
Electricity
9.97¢
  • Power draw is the manufacturer's published rating of 1500 W.
  • Electricity at 9.97¢/kWh (CAD). Manitoba Hydro Residential Tariff No. 2026-01, energy charge, all kWh. Excludes the $9.84/month basic charge.

Sources

avgWinterElectricityKwhUsd is deliberately NULL: the sourced rate is in Canadian cents and converting it would bake a floating exchange rate into a data file. Render Canadian zones in CAD. Manitoba is the only province in this zone with a rate on file; SK and AB are unfilled.

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