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As an alternative to getting shouted at for having muddy shoes on the radiator I designed and built my own shoe dryer.
It comprises a load of copper pipe, 22mm and 15mm joined with Yorkshire fittings (solder ring) and a couple of compression fittings to enable filling and dismantling. You need about 1m 15mm pipe and 200mm 22mm pipe. The heating comes from a 100w heating element for towel radiators and has a uk plug.
I added a variable time countdown timer plug adaptor that allows it to be ran for 15min / 30min/ 1 hour / 2 hour / 4 hour 8 hour.
TBH the heating element is probably a bit big but it was the smallest I could find and only cost £7.50. It cuts out on high temperature but is not variable.
The greatest difficulty I had was finding a way of fitting the element. It is 1/2" BSP that needs to be connected to 22mm pipe. In the end I used a 22mm compression to 3/4" BSP female with a 3/4" to 1/2" female reducer. I've since discovered that you can get straight 22mm compression to 1/2" BSP female fittings but these are a bit specialist and not stocked by screwfix / toolstation/ plumbase/ wickes etc....
You can get 15mm compression to 1/2" female BSP fittings but you would have to enlarge to the 22mm pipe (I wanted a bigger reservoir than the 15mm pipe offered)
I mounted it vertically using 22mm pipe clips screwed into a door frame. Could use a plank of wood and a hook in the wall if no door frame is available.
I'm off for a long weekend biking and will be planning a portable stand to plug in at the B&B shortly.
It dries a pair of completely sodden shoes in about 8 hours.
Costwise: £7.50 heating element, £16.00 for all copper fittings. £2.00 for the plug, plastic clips, PTFE tape = £25.50 + optional timer plug = £7.00. (I Had some spare copper pipe knocking around so it was quite cheap – if you are building a one-off the minimum 2m long lengths you have to buy may make it quite a bit more pricey)
Attached some pics and have plans/ weblinks and shopping list if anyone is interested.
Can't you just shove the missus hair dryer in them one at a time?
Last muddy UK winter I just put them by the aga though
Hmmm. Nice bit of tinkering, but I can't help but think this would probably have got my vote....
http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Shoe-Dryer/18-4300
Very impressive, I think id have made it as a loop though to get the fluid flowing round and heat the whole lot quicker.
Ive just got one of [url= http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Pr184300000/Pr184300000 ]these[/url] in the garage. Works ok for damp but still needs a bit of radiator or kept in the house to dry soaked-through shoes. only £20 though.
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shoes not models own 😆
can't get the images to work... GRrrrr.
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I draw the line at running the tumble drier JUST to dry my shoes though
And the plan - although the dimensions have changed slightly.
[img] https://tinyurl.com/hat62yc [/img]
I have the Clas Ohlsen its spot on and quiet.
The plumbing version looks well made but over complicated, be careful it doesn't deform your shoes
Can you add some PC fans to blow into the shoes? Air movement would help the heat transfer and also remove the moisture and reduce smells.
Our new boot room is having undefloor heating and will be extracted via the MHRV system to try and dry shoes and coats but I might add a heated shoe and coat rack to help further (run off solar or a wet system).
edit: do you have a pressure release valve fitted?
Stato - the water circulates pretty nicely as it is. The 15mm sections are in loops so they circulate well and the heating element extends almost all the way up the 22mm pipe. If I created another loop it would just mean there is more water to heat in the first place so any benefit of a loop would be offset by the need to heat more water and a greater surface area of copper exposed to the air not in the shoe leading to more heat loss.
+ there is more cost in raw materials creating the loop.
A 100w element is massive for less than 1 pint of water. It takes about 10 minutes to feel consistently hot throughout.
A mate suggested I should have put a loop in and a pump. WTF!
Cracking effort.
Of course I opted to buy a set of heated, fan equipped, UV emitting bacteria killing ones for £9 delivered but each to their own.
We got one of these in Coopers sale for £12.99. Dries four pairs of Five Tens overnight.
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Andy L
I don't think there is a need for a PRV, doesn't get hot enough to turn to steam and whatever expansion there is (about 4%) will be taken up by the air gap. The copper fittings should be good for about 10 bar.
I'm sure fans would give a minor improvement but the cost would outweigh the benefit.
I bought the Clas Ohlson one too. Works really well, I have it plugged in in the garage, get home stick it on and shoes are dry for the morning. Quick blast heats them up for leaving on a cold day too.
Good effort though
It comprises a load of copper pipe, 22mm and 15mm joined with Yorkshire fittings
Good choice! They will be much tighter than other fittings.
I didn't mean an extra loop, more connecting the two loops you have together instead of retuning to the 22mm, so make it one big loop. The heater would cause the warmer water to rise initially so starting a slight flow as cooler water came in the bottom and was warmed by the element to rise pushing more water around the loop etc etc. If it works as is then obv no problem 😛Stato - the water circulates pretty nicely as it is. The 15mm sections are in loops so they circulate well and the heating element extends almost all the way up the 22mm pipe. If I created another loop it would just mean there is more water to heat in the first place so any benefit of a loop would be offset by the need to heat more water and a greater surface area of copper exposed to the air not in the shoe leading to more heat loss.