The section it will open is a good 10-15 ft wide and with as much water as those put out it was going all the way across the pond (about a 1.5 acre pond).I am sure there is a way to fashion the dishcarge hose to go under the ice and shoot up, but we have had unseasonably warm winters recently have have not had a need to do it all that often.They are much louder than generators, and you have to have it