A rotor ice protection system (RIPS) apparatus for an aircraft to heat aircraft rotor blades is provided. The RIPS apparatus includes circuitry disposed to transmit electrical loads associated with RIPS operations, an indicator unit disposed to alert a pilot of the aircraft to a RIPS condition indicating an operating status of the RIPS operations, a controller configured to actuate the RIPS operations in accordance with current conditions and to issue a command to the indicator unit to alert the pilot to the RIPS operations according to the actuation and a sensor system disposed to sense whether the circuitry is transmitting the electrical loads and to provide a sensing result to the indicator unit. The indicator unit additionally alerts the pilot to the RIPS operations according to the sensing result.