Actually, to the best of my knowledge, there is no melting involved. That would be more like a zamboni, and would most probably just leave behind a sheet of ice when it re-freezes. It does literally just take the snow in and shoot it SEVERAL feet up & over into the air. You do need to plan which way you're pointing the thing if there's anything nearby you do not want to bury in snow.
Hmmm, so the user needs to plan an educated use of the tool provided, and can't blame the engineer for burying his toddler with snow on the porch. LOL, ok, it's a stretch, but I may have inadvertantly lended support to the original argument of trying to figure out what the engineer is actually responsible for.

FWIW, the conservationist in you is probably quite often (but not always) justified that an able-bodied person w/ plenty of time on their hands is using a snow-blower to clear an inch of powder off of their sidewalk. Heck, I've seen it.

>>>what do you do with a snow blower that a shovel can't do, far more quietly and efficiently?
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>>Remove 3 feet of Lake Erie lake effect snow that the Cleveland Ohio area is so famous for w/o breaking your back. <g> I never would have wanted a snow blower in places that I have previously lived (and indeed, I never have owned one). After seeing what this region is capable of, when I wind up back in a house, I think I'll be purchasing one!
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>Like I say, it's hard for me to conceive of, living in such a temperate clime. :-)
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>I just have these visions of Sundays being ruined with the roar of a hundred snow blowers as all hands clear their drives, yards, etc. I presume the snow blower melts the snow and doesn't just blow it around, like leaf blowers.
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>It's the conservationist in me that baulks at the idea of consuming energy for such things as patio heaters, sand blowers, leaf blowers etc.