Ice melting bars in new house steps - good idea?

[JoeM]

My front steps concrete caps were destroyed from all the ice and snow that we had last winter. The steps were about 20 yrs old and the step caps and landing cracked in a number of places. I'm having the steps recapped and putting in a new landing. My contractor can install heating rods under each step and the landing with a switch to turn them on and off.

Does anyone have any experience with this and do ice melting rods in a stoop work well? Any suggestions appreciated.