Driveways
Heated driveway cost
A heated driveway is a new driveway with the heating cast in: about $33,603 for 60 × 12 ft with electric mats throughout — $12,983 for the concrete and $20,620 for the heating, including the electrical service upgrade that 120 A of snow-melting usually needs. Heating only the tire tracks brings it to $19,483. Hydronic tubing on a gas boiler costs more to put in and far less to run — $230 a winter against $734. None of it beats a plow on money; it is bought for comfort and safety.
Written and edited by Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Last reviewed 2026-09-25 · Nothing you type leaves your browser
Heated driveway cost calculator
The driveway, the heat and the snow
Snow-melting goes into a new slab, so the price is the driveway plus the heating. Only saw-cut cable goes into concrete that is already there.
Along the drive.
720 sq ft.
Heating cable woven into mats, tied to the rebar and cast into the new concrete.
720 sq ft.
Snow on the ground much of the winter.
Broken out before the new slab.
Used only to pick a regional labour rate. It stays in your browser.
720 sq ft driveway, new and heated
$33,603
$20,620 of it the heating · $29 a heated sq ft · $734 a year to run
Too big for the service
28.8 kW is about 120 A at 240 V — more than a typical service has spare. The service upgrade, $6,020, is in the price. Tire tracks cut the load to a third.
Against a plow
Bought for comfort, not money.
Ten years of the heating and its running cost is $27,964 here; ten seasons of a plowing contract, about $5,000. The case for it is a steep drive, no shovelling, no salt on the concrete.
Ten winters, four ways
720 sq ft, moderate snow, the heating only.
What the contractors charge for
- New 720 sq ft concrete driveway
5 in with rebar, an old concrete driveway out first, priced on the concrete driveway page's engine.$12,983 - Electric mats in a new slab, 720 sq ft heated
Heating cable woven into mats, tied to the rebar and cast into the new concrete. No boiler, no fluid; the electrical service is the constraint.$10,800 - Controller, sensor and contactor
The controller with a snow and temperature sensor, so it runs only when it is snowing and cold. The contactor panel that switches the heating circuits, with the ground-fault protection the code requires.$1,700 - 4 heating circuits
28.8 kW, about 120 A at 240 V, on 40 A circuits sized at 125% of the load.$1,800 - Electrical service upgrade
A larger panel and service, the meter base, conductors, grounding and the utility — the electrical panel page's price.$6,020 - Permit
The electrical or mechanical permit for the heating.$300
What it costs
National average. A new 720 sq ft concrete driveway with electric mats in a new slab under 720 sq ft, controls, a service upgrade and the permit. Running cost over 10 years separate. Not included: pavers or stamped finishes, or a heated walkway.
The driveway alone, on the concrete driveway page; the boiler, on the boiler page; the service upgrade, on the electrical panel page.
Worth knowing
- The heating goes into the concrete, so it comes with a new driveway: $12,983 for 720 sq ft with the old one broken out poured 5 in thick with rebar for the mats to be tied to, on the concrete driveway page's engine — and $20,620 for the heating. The heat alone is $29 a heated square foot.
- 720 sq ft at about 40 W a square foot is 28.8 kW — 120 A at 240 V, 4 circuits of 40 A. That is more than a typical 200 A service has spare, so the service is upgraded: about $6,020, the electrical panel page's price. Tire tracks cut the load to a third and often avoid it.
- Running it in moderate snow — about 150 hours a winter with a snow sensor — costs about $734 a year in electricity. Left on idle all winter instead of on a sensor, it would cost several times that.
- Over ten years: $27,964 for the heating and its running cost, against about $5,000 for a plowing contract. A heated driveway is bought for the convenience, the safety on a steep drive, and no salt on the concrete — rarely for the money.
- Snow-melting circuits need ground-fault protection and a disconnect, and the system a permit. The sensor at the edge of the drive is what keeps the bill down.
On this page — 4 sections
A new driveway, plus the heating
The short version
- Electric, whole 60 × 12 ft: $33,603 — $20,620 of it heating.
- Tire tracks only: $19,483. A third of the load.
- Hydronic: $230 a year to run against $734 electric.
- Ten winters cost more than a plow. It is bought for comfort.
A snow-melting system is cast into the concrete, so a heated driveway is almost always a new driveway: the old one broken out, a 5 in slab poured over rebar that the heating mats or tubing are tied to. The price is that driveway — about $12,983 for 60 × 12 ft, where the plain 4 in version on the driveway page is $12,078 — plus the heating and what powers it. The only way to heat concrete already there is to saw-cut grooves into it for cable.
$33,603
Electric, whole
With the driveway
$19,483
Electric, tracks
With the driveway
$30,528
Hydronic, whole
New boiler
$7,700
Saw-cut, tracks
Existing concrete
MaterialsEstimator, Heated driveway and snow-melting price survey · checked 2026-09-25
MaterialsEstimator, Concrete driveway replacement price survey · checked 2026-09-24
The electrical service, or the boiler
A snow-melting slab needs about 150 BTU per hour a square foot — some 40 W. For a 720 sq ft driveway that is 28.8 kW of electric heating, about 120 A at 240 V on four 40 A circuits, and more than a typical 200 A service has spare: the electrical service is upgraded, about $6,020. Heating only the tire tracks draws 40 A and usually fits. Hydronic moves the load to a boiler — about 114k BTU/h here, which is a dedicated condensing boiler rather than the house’s.
| Electric mats | Hydronic tubing | |
|---|---|---|
| Heating, 720 sq ft | $20,620 | $17,545 |
| What powers it | 120 A — a service upgrade | A dedicated gas boiler |
| A year to run, moderate snow | $734 | $230 |
| Ten winters, all in | $27,964 | $19,847 |
| Maintenance | None | Boiler service, glycol checks |
ASHRAE, ASHRAE Handbook — HVAC Applications, Snow Melting and Freeze Protection · checked 2026-09-25
National Fire Protection Association, NEC Article 426 — Fixed outdoor electric deicing and snow-melting equipment (2023) · checked 2026-09-25
Running it, and the plow
The running cost is the load times the hours it runs, and a snow sensor that turns it on only when it is cold and snowing keeps those hours down — about 150 in a moderate winter. On electricity that is $734 a winter for the whole driveway; on gas, $230. Set against a plowing contract at about $500 a season, no snow-melt system pays for itself. It is bought for a steep drive that plows cannot keep safe, for never shovelling, and for concrete that never sees salt.
US Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, average residential price by state · checked 2026-09-21
US Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Monthly, average residential price · checked 2026-09-25
What goes wrong
Before the pour
- The heated area decided: all of it or tire tracks.
- The electrical service checked, or the boiler sized.
- A snow sensor in the plan, not just a switch.
- The mats or tubing pressure- and resistance-tested before and after the pour.
- Photos of the layout, for anyone who drills later.
01Idling it all winter
It runs for months instead of hours.
Instead — A snow and temperature sensor.
02Forgetting the electrical service
A whole electric driveway can need 120 A.
Instead — Check before choosing; or tire tracks, or hydronic.
03Hydronic on a busy house boiler
It cannot heat both on the coldest day.
Instead — A dedicated boiler.
04Not testing before the pour
A nicked cable cast in concrete is lost.
Instead — Test, pour, test again.
05Cutting control joints through the heating
Saw cuts sever cable.
Instead — Joints planned with the layout.
- 01Measure the drivewayLength and width; the heated area is all of it or two 2 ft tire tracks.
- 02Price the new drivewayThe heating is cast into new concrete, so the driveway is replaced with it.
- 03Pick the heatElectric mats are simpler; hydronic costs more to install and less to run on gas.
- 04Check the service or the boilerAbout 40 W a heated square foot: a full electric driveway can outgrow a 200 A service.
- 05Estimate the snowHours a winter the sensor runs it sets the running cost.
- 06Compare with a plowTen winters of the heating against ten seasons of a plowing contract.
The new slab the heating goes into — tear-out, base, concrete and finish — priced on its own.
The driveway itself- Snow-melting system
- Heating cast into or under a driveway that melts snow as it falls. Electric cable or mats, or hot-water tubing.
- Hydronic
- Heat carried by water — here glycol in PEX tubing — from a boiler through a heat exchanger.
- Heating mat
- Electric heating cable woven at set spacing into a mesh, laid out and tied down before the pour.
- Saw-cut retrofit
- Heating cable laid into grooves cut into existing concrete and sealed over.
- Snow sensor
- A sensor that turns the system on only when it is both cold and precipitating — what keeps the running cost down.
- Contactor
- The switch that turns several heating circuits on and off together from the controller.
- Ground-fault protection of equipment
- The protection the electrical code requires on snow-melting circuits.
- Glycol
- Antifreeze in the tubing so the loop does not freeze when it is off.
- Tire tracks
- Heating only two strips where the wheels run — a third of the area and the load.
Common questions
- How much does a heated driveway cost?
- About $33,603 for a new 60 × 12 ft concrete driveway with electric mats under all of it: $12,983 for the driveway, with the old one broken out, and $20,620 for the heating, including a $6,020 electrical service upgrade. Heating only the tire tracks, $19,483. A 24 × 20 ft two-car pad is $25,327.
- How much does a heated driveway cost per square foot?
- The heating alone is about $29 a heated square foot for electric with its circuits, controls and service upgrade, and $24 for hydronic with a dedicated boiler — on top of the new driveway, which is about $17 a square foot plain.
- Is electric or hydronic cheaper?
- Electric is simpler to install; hydronic is far cheaper to run on gas. For 720 sq ft in moderate snow: electric $20,620 to install and $734 a year; hydronic with a new boiler $17,545 and $230 a year. In heavy snow the gap grows: $1,469 against $460 a year.
- How much does it cost to run a heated driveway?
- With a snow sensor, about $734 a winter for 720 sq ft of electric mats in moderate snow — about 40 W a square foot for 150 hours — and $230 on gas. Left idling all winter instead, several times that.
- Can you heat an existing driveway?
- Only by saw-cutting grooves into sound concrete and laying cable in them — about $7,700 for the tire tracks of a 60 ft drive. Everything else is cast into a new slab, which is why most heated driveways come with a new driveway.
- Does a heated driveway need a bigger electrical service?
- A whole one usually does: 720 sq ft at 40 W is 28.8 kW, about 120 A at 240 V, more than a typical 200 A service has spare — a service upgrade, about $6,020. Tire tracks draw 40 A and usually fit.
- Can a house boiler heat the driveway?
- Only if it has the capacity to spare when the house is calling for heat on the coldest, snowiest day, which few do. Tied to the house boiler the hydronic system is $25,723; with a dedicated boiler, $30,528.
- Is a heated driveway worth it?
- Not on the money: ten winters of electric heating and its running cost is $27,964, against about $5,000 for ten seasons of a plowing contract. It is worth it for a steep drive, no shovelling, and no salt eating the concrete.
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About the author
Pablo Ruiz Quintero — Editor
Editor of MaterialsEstimator. Decides which documents count as a source, what every default value is, and where the line sits between what the reader parses and what the engines compute.
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