[RE-wrenches] Snow Guard Options

[Sam Haraldson]

Chris,

Where we install in our valley the average yearly snowfall is around 80
inches and buildings are rated to assume a 50 lb per sq. ft. snow load.  As
the elevation climbs out of the valley and into the mountains we're looking
at 400 inches of annual snowfall and load ratings increase to around 200
lb. per sq. ft.  We have installed hundreds of systems with Alpine
Snowguards and earlier on we installed a few dozen Snake Tray guards.

The Alpine snowguard product works well for our installs at lower
elevations as it is limited in how much weight it can handle.  When you
read their spec sheets closely they indicate that no more than 6" of snow
should be allowed to accumulate on the array.  We had a banner snow year
last winter and quite a bit of snow guard came out broken in the Springtime
which has given us pause as to whether we should be installing it at all.

Your question was whether there are better options and we have not found
anything better than Alpine.  It is also honestly inadequate for where we
live and have not been able to come up with an alternate solution.  When my
home array avalanches it is an impressive event and if there was a walkway
or doorway underneath it I would absolutely want something mitigating that
which is the case for many of our clients so it's certainly a conundrum.

Cheers,
Sam

[image: OnSite Energy] <https://onsiteenergyinc.com/>

Sam Haraldson
Operations Specialist
1515 N. Rouse Ave Bozeman, MT 59715
Locally owned and operated since 2012
[image: B Corporation] <https://onsiteenergyinc.com/bcorp>
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