Originally Posted On: https://foxvalleybrine.com/how-does-hot-con-enhance-your-deicing-brines-performance/

 

How Does Hot Con Enhance Your Deicing Brine’s Performance?

Overview

Home and business owners must keep their properties free of slip-and-fall hazards when the frigid weather rolls in. If you’re looking for ways to save time and money, consider Headwaters Hot Concentrate, or “Hot Con” for short. It’s a deicing brine performance enhancer property owners use to dislodge driveways, sidewalks, walkways, and entryways from winter’s icy grip.

In this blog post, Fox Valley Brine’s deicing specialists tell you precisely what it is, how it works, and why you’ll regret not having thought to incorporate it into your snow and ice removal plan sooner. Not to worry—it’s not too late to add it to your property maintenance plans. Read on, and we’ll explain why and how to do it.

Highlights

• Hot Con defined
• How brine enhancers work
• The benefits of using salt brine additives
• When to add Hot Con to your deicing strategy
• How to mix Hot Con supersacks
• Additive storage recommendations
• Brine performance enhancer cost considerations

Introduction

The longer slip and injury hazards like ice are present on your property, the more risk to you or your business. Sometimes, the weather gets ugly, and freezing rain and fluctuating temperatures turn paved surfaces into what appears to be a sheet of glass. With no traction, it’s easy for things to go awry, from vehicles veering off the pavement to people getting injured when they can’t find their footing.

If you need a way to melt ice quickly and don’t want to spend your entire winter maintenance budget doing it, consider Hot Con. Keep reading if you want to know more about how it works, how easy it is to mix into the solid brine deicing products you already use, and when to use it to give your salt the oomph it needs to eat away ice when outdoor temperatures drop.

What Is Hot Con?

Hot Con is a deicing brine performance enhancer that boosts the effectiveness of traditional deicing solutions. It’s specially formulated to accelerate the melting process, improve brine adhesion, and extend the efficacy of salt-based ice removal strategies.

It contains:

• Magnesium chloride: A hygroscopic compound that attracts moisture from the air, accelerating the melting process and lowering the freezing point of brine.
• Calcium chloride: A powerful deicing agent that releases heat when it dissolves, improving performance in extreme cold.
• Corrosion inhibitors: These inhibitors help reduce the corrosive effects of chlorides on concrete, metal, and vehicles.

Unlike standard road salt or untreated brine, Hot Con lowers the freezing point of water more efficiently, ensuring surfaces stay ice-free even in extreme winter conditions. Whether you’re dealing with parking lots, sidewalks, driveways, or roads, adding Hot Con to your deicing strategy can save you time, money, and labor while keeping your property safe.

How Do Brine Performance Enhancers Work?

Hot Con improves brine’s adhesion to surfaces, preventing premature runoff and facilitating long-lasting ice control. This means ice melts faster, at lower temperatures, and with less material, making winter maintenance more efficient and cost-effective.

What Temperature Does Regular Ice Melt Brine Stop Working?

Standard salt brine loses effectiveness below 15 degrees Fahrenheit, but Hot Con facilitates quick ice melting at much colder temperatures so you can count on it to safeguard the things that matter most when regular deicing methods stop working because of the cold.

What Are the Benefits of Using Salt Brine Additives?

Salt brine additives offer unparalleled benefits, including:

• Improved brine longevity: Keeps your treated surfaces ice-free for longer
• Reduced salt use: Boosts the performance of traditional salt brines, meaning you can use less material while maintaining effectiveness
• Minimized corrosion: Contains inhibitors that help protect vehicles, infrastructure, and landscaping from chloride damage
• Eco-friendliness: Adding organic additives helps reduce your environmental impact by limiting run-off

What Makes Headwaters Hot Concentrate More Eco-Friendly Than Other Anti-Icing Products?

Environmental impact is a growing concern for property owners, municipalities, and businesses that rely on deicing solutions. Headwaters Hot Concentrate offers an effective way to combat ice while reducing environmental harm compared to traditional deicing chemicals.

Traditional rock salt and untreated brine contain high sodium chloride levels, which can contaminate soil, waterways, and groundwater through runoff. Hot Con contains organic corrosion inhibitors that improve deicing efficiency, allowing for less overall salt use while achieving better results.

Since Hot Con boosts the effectiveness of deicing brine, less product is required to achieve the same level of ice control. This means you’ll need fewer truckloads of salt and brine, which leads to lower emissions from winter maintenance and less deicer accumulation in the environment.

When Should You Add Hot Con to Your Deicing Salt?

As mentioned, the effectiveness of regular deicing salt with no additives can vary depending on the temperature outdoors. Did you know that traffic and weather conditions can render your salt less potent, too? Adding Hot Con at the right time ensures optimal ice-melting performance and maximum coverage, reducing the need for frequent reapplications.

Here’s when to incorporate Hot Con into your deicing strategy:

• When the temperature falls below 15 degrees Fahrenheit: The magnesium chloride and calcium chloride in Hot Con work at much lower temperatures than standard sodium chloride.
• Before a storm for ice prevention: Applying Hot Con-enhanced brine before a snow or ice storm prevents ice from bonding to your pavement.
• During freezing rain or sleet events: Using Hot Con in your brine mixture during these weather events helps break the bond between ice and the pavement, making surfaces safer for vehicles and pedestrians.
• In high-traffic or high-risk areas: Since Hot Con improves brine adhesion, it’s particularly effective in high-traffic areas, ensuring continued ice prevention despite heavy use.
• After snow to prevent freezing: Melted snow water often refreezes overnight when temperatures drop. Adding Hot Con to post-snowfall brine treatments prevents black ice formation, reducing the risk of hazardous, invisible ice patches.

Where Can You Use This Powerful Anti-Icing Formula?

You can use Hot Con on various surfaces to make your property safer.

Popular applications include:

• Parking lots
• Driveways
• Sidewalks
• Walkways
• Entryways
• Staircases
• City streets
• Highways
• Bridges
• Overpasses

With its versatility and robust performance, Hot Con stands out as the go-to solution for winter safety.

How Do You Mix Hot Con Supersacks To Add to Your Solid Brine?

It’s important to use caution and wear appropriate personal protective equipment when mixing Hot Con supersacks, as this finished mixture will be added to solid brine. The solution you’re making has an exothermic calcium chloride content that heats up to approximately 140°F when mixed with cold water. Be sure to use reliable mixing tools and cover your eyes, mouth, hands, and body.

Mixing steps are as follows:

1. Add 400 gallons of cold water to a mixing tank.
2. Turn on the agitation or circulating pumps.
3. Place the supersack of Hot Con over your mix tank’s opening.
4. Open the bottom spout on the supersack and let it flow into your mix tank.
5. Mix for approximately 15 to 20 minutes until fully dissolved.
6. Remove a 500mL sample and cool the sample to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Then test specific gravity—it should be 1.33.
7. Transfer the finished mixture to an additive storage tank for later use.

How Much Product Does One Hot Concentrate Supersack Yield?

You’ll need 1 Hot Con supersack to create 500 gallons of finished product.

How Long Can You Store Mixed Deicing Additives?

The storage lifespan of mixed Hot Con deicing additives depends on temperature, exposure to air, and proper containment.

To maintain a safe environment, you should:

• Use proper containment—i.e., sealed, non-corrosive tanks
• Keep the mixture out of direct sunlight
• Minimize air exposure
• Avoid storing deicing additives in freezing temperatures, as this causes crystallization and reduces application efficiency

By following these guidelines, you extend the lifespan of your Hot Con deicing additives and ensure they perform at their peak when you need them most.

How Much Does Hot Concentrate Cost?

Investing in Headwaters Hot Concentrate as part of your deicing strategy may seem like a larger upfront expense, but the long-term benefits far outweigh the cost. By enhancing the effectiveness of your deicing brine, reducing salt usage, and extending application longevity, Hot Con helps lower your overall winter maintenance expenses over time.

What Affects the Price of Hot Con Supersacks?

Several factors influence the cost of Hot Con, including:

• The volume of your purchase
• The supplier you choose and their location
• Seasonal demands
• Delivery and freight costs

Take Your Anti-Icing Strategy to the Next Level

When you incorporate Hot Con into your deicing strategy, you maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance safety during winter storms. Its ability to work in lower temperatures, improve brine adhesion, and extend deicing performance takes your anti-icing strategy to the next level, helping you feel prepared for whatever type of freezing precipitation comes your way.

When used with a deicing solution, Hot Con provides the ultimate ice control solution for businesses, municipalities, and homeowners, whether applied before, during, or after a storm.

Want to optimize your deicing efforts? Contact Fox Valley Brine at (920) 939-1788 today and discover how using our solution with Hot Con will transform your winter maintenance plan.