Ice dams form when heat escaping a roof melts snow that then refreezes at the cold eaves, backing water up under the shingles. Roof and gutter de-icing cables break that cycle by keeping a drainage path open so meltwater runs off instead of pooling and freezing.
Self-regulating cable is the natural fit: it raises output in the coldest, wettest spots and eases off elsewhere, following the roofline without hot spots. Laid in a zig-zag at the eaves and run through gutters and downpipes, it protects the exact places ice does its damage.
The payoff is fewer leaks, less gutter and fascia damage, and safer footpaths below — protection that pays for itself the first winter a dam would otherwise have formed.