Knowledge Base

Grote's Answer

White output LEDs produce a tremendous amount of heat, typically stated as the wattage of the lamp. To prolong the life of the LED, most manufacturers use a type of heat management to pull the heat from the LED and into housing. When doing so, this sometimes means that the lens of the lamp isn’t as warm as the housing.

After the lens has been operating for an amount of time, the heat should be enough to keep snow from accumulating, but that is entirely dependent on the ambient conditions.

Where accumulating snow and ice is a problem is during the non-operating time as the standard lamps may not get warm enough to melt snow & ice.

Most manufacturers are or have developed de-icing mechanisms. New products from Grote use a mechanical heating element to take the excess wattage to heat the glass lens when the ambient temperature drops to a certain point. The new Grote parts should be available this fall as we prepare for the winter season.