Calcium Chloride vs. Sodium Chloride for Melting Ice
How to Decide Which Deicer to Use on Roads and Sidewalks
Sodium chloride—aka rock salt or road salt—and calcium chloride have been used for melting ice and snow for more than a century. So how do public works departments, small business owners, and contractors determine which one to use?
As with so many things, there are pros and cons to each product. From cost to product effectiveness to environmental impact, several factors need to be considered when choosing the best snow and ice melting product for a given application.
When and Why to Choose Sodium Chloride
There’s a reason you hear people refer to ‘salt’ being used on the roads in the winter. Rock salt, specifically sodium chloride (NaCl), is the most widely used deicer, because it’s typically available and cheap.
Unfortunately, that economy comes with a trade-off. Sodium chloride’s lowest practical melting temperature is 15ºF, making it less effective on days when the pavement temperature drops any lower. Sodium chloride is also somewhat more harmful than calcium chloride on soil along roadways; specifically, high sodium content in soil can result in poor soil structure and decrease water permeability.
Still, given the quantities of deicer needed by road crews clearing miles and miles of highways and roadways and the limits of most government budgets, the affordability of sodium chloride makes it the most common choice for deicing roads. Indeed, some 403,000 tons of rock salt are used each season in Minnesota alone.
When and Why to Choose Calcium Chloride
Calcium chloride is considered the premier deicer, with unique characteristics that make it tough to beat when it comes to quickly and effectively melting ice. In fact, calcium can positively influence soil structure and increase permeability of soil.
While calcium chloride is more expensive than sodium chloride—and therefore typically not used to treat larger surface areas like highways—it is the proven deicer of choice when the goal is keeping sidewalks and parking lots safe. While most other deicers depend on their surroundings for heat, calcium chloride generates heat as it dissolves (hygroscopic) to form ice melting brine. Calcium chloride stands apart from other options as it maintains ice melting power down to an impressive -25°F (-32°C). Its hygroscopic property means that it melts ice faster than other deicers.
For smaller coverage areas like walkways and parking lots, calcium chloride’s higher cost is offset by the fact that you can use far less product to melt the same square footage of ice.
PELADOW® Premier is the Best in the Business
When time is of the essence and your primary goal is pedestrian safety, choose PELADOW Premier Calcium Chloride Pellets to melt ice and snow quickly and effectively. With PELADOW, business owners can get to work sooner and contractors can clear more jobs in less time—all while keeping walkways and parking lots safer from slip-and-fall incidents. Learn more at MeltResponsibly.com.