The NACA0012 wing model equipped with an electrothermal heater pad was tested at the FL-61 icing wind tunnel. The 2D wing model was instrumented with 27 temperature sensors to monitor wing leading edge skin temperatures. In order to investigate the performance of a periodic electro-thermal system for the wing ice protection, temperature measurements, video camera were used during the test. In this paper, the prime method for the periodic de-icing system was tested at the icing tunnel by fixed air speed, temperature, AOA, and icing cloud parameters (MVD, LWC), compared to alterable heater power level and heater zone ON/OFF time. It was decided to restrict testing to the condition (V = 100 m/s, AOA = 0°, T = − 20 °C, MVD = 20.1 μm, LWC = 1.15 g/m3), but thoroughly evaluate the ice protection system parameters at the selected icing condition. In this study, the test would improve efficiency of the electro-thermal de-icing system.