Not that expensive
Using an Aquatherm is really not that expensive.
If you pay a dock company pull your dock in the fall and put it back in in the spring you are talking some big money. Probably around $400 each way and that is not outrageous. Figure two workers (maybe more) for three to four hours each way.
Now do the math for the aquatherm. I use 1/2 HP motors. Usually that is what you will get from the professionals like Watermark. (Good folks)
1/2 HP is about 350 to 400 watts. Let's call it 400. In the thick of winter I run them on timers for two four hour shots. Say, 0400 to 0800 and 1600 to 2000. That's eight hours a day. (Sometimes I do more, sometimes I do less)
8 hours X 400 Watts = 3200 Watt-hours or 3.2 KW-hours.
3.2 KW-hours at about 19 cents per. KW-hour (Co-OP price) is about 60 cents a day or about $20.00 a month.
A new aquatherm costs from about $600 to $850.
You will need a reliable person to keep an eye on it, a neighbor or a professional. AND a aquatherm will NOT stop an ice flow if you are in an area that is open. The mass of a one acre six inch flow is about 10 tons and at two feet per minute will turn your dock into matchwood right in front of your eyes!
Spooky!
So there is a bit of a risk but the payback time is about one year.
AND...you get to use your dock from ice out to ice in!
Misty Blue
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