Hugh,
Many years ago we had a winter in the Spokane area that was threatening to put nearly three feet of snow on our rooftop. Roof rakes sure looked like a lot of work to use, and they raised the question of damage to the roof shingles (though the nicer rakes have wheels).
So I hunted for a better solution and found the Roof Razor [1].
This amazing tool makes me laugh every time I use it (which hasn’t been in a while!). For less than $150 I’ve got a tool that can clear my one-story roof of 2+ feet of snow in about a half hour. A D-bracket on a pole holds a straight edge with a trailing tarp that gets pushed under the snow. The snow comes zipping off in big blocks! Watch the video above; that’s really how well it works.
The straight edge has wheels on it to keep it from actually contacting your roof shingles; there’s no damage! And you can get pole extensions for reaching second floor roofs.
They all have to be pitched roofs. This isn’t going to work very well on a flat roof, sorry! (But I bet some clever person can figure out how to use one there too, and it’s probably less work than shoveling: The tarp with the snow load on top is sliding over a thin layer of snow/ice, so it has very low friction if you were to pull it back over the flat roof edge…)
Don’t wait until there’s three feet of snow on your roof. But on the other hand you don’t have to dread clearing the roof if you’ve got a tool that can do the job with a minimum of exertion! Who would know how to handle heavy snowfall better than the folks in Minnesota?!
Trust God. Be Prepared. We can do both. – ShepherdFarmerGeek