It may seem way too early to think about ice on your roof, but summer is coming to a close in less than a month, and the milder temperatures are the perfect time to think about servicing your HVAC system, doing preparedness tasks around the home, and yes, thinking about the possibility of ice and snow on your roof when winter comes around.

At FB Electrical, we’ve recently acquired a boom truck that allows us to effectively and efficiently perform many important electrical services—de-ice cable installation being one. There are many beneficial reasons to have these cables installed on your roof this fall. We’ve shared a few below.

As you are likely aware, when water gets into a space and then freezes, it expands. Then when it melts, it takes up less space. As a result, it can leave cracks and breaks on your roof. If your roof is kept warm all winter however, then this freeze-thaw cycle may never happen.

When water sticks around your home for too long—be it at your foundation, on your roof, or in your attic—then mold and mildew are encouraged to grow. Standing water can create additional property damage as well. De-ice cables allows ice to thaw and evaporate more quickly than it would otherwise.

There are potentially DIY tasks you can do to try to limit ice and water damage to your roof. However we don’t recommend them as they can be dangerous for the average homeowner. We have the tools and the expertise, in addition to the knowledge of water runoff patterns, to do the job right the first time.

Ice can easily crack or clog your gutters just as it can the shingles of your roof. Keep your gutters working effectively by helping them divert water away from your home as it melts due to the de-icing cables.

Let’s face it—halogen and incandescent headlight bulbs are a thing of the past. fanless, driverless LED headlight bulbs were used in this installation.

If your vehicle allows for horizontal adjustments, mark the distance between your headlight centers with two vertical lines of tape. These lines are important for projector headlights and/or lining up beam cutoff points. Repeat these tape lines for your other headlight.

6. Remove your headlight assembly if necessary, remove the current bulbs, and install your new LED bulbs. Check your owner’s manual for specific instructions on how to replace your headlight bulbs.

7. Depending on your vehicle, you may have to adjust your headlight beam before or after the assembly has been reinstalled. Your owner’s manual will explain how to adjust the beams. Align each headlight so that the top edge of the beam is at the same height as your horizontal line(s). If your headlights can be adjusted horizontally or produce two light cutoff points, use the vertical tape lines to align them properly.

3. Shake the vehicle to ensure that your suspension system is settled. For more precise adjustments, inflate all tires to their designated psi capacity and have someone sit in the driver’s seat. Also, make sure that your vehicle’s gas tank is at least half full.

4. Measure from the ground to the center of your headlight assembly where the bulb is located. This step must be done for all vehicles. If your vehicle allows for horizontal headlight adjustments in addition to vertical adjustments, it’s important that you also measure the distance between the centers of both headlight bulbs. The vehicle featured in this video allows for vertical headlight adjustments only; therefore, center lines aren’t necessary but are shown for demonstration purposes.

5. Turn on your low-beam headlights. Using painter’s tape, mark your headlight measurements on a flat wall. Measure from the ground up, and apply a horizontal line of tape to the wall; this line represents the top of your headlight beam. You can either apply one long, continuous line or small sections where the brightest areas of the headlight beams are shown.

If your vehicle allows for horizontal adjustments, mark the distance between your headlight centers with two vertical lines of tape. These lines are important for projector headlights and/or lining up beam cutoff points.