Just so you know, there’s a bit of advertising content in this blog post because it contains Amazon links further down. It won’t cost you any extra but I need to make sure you know.
As long as we’ve got that clear let’s continue.
Also, as noted above (and on my video), this is a sketchy solution. It works well and safely for me but I'm not telling you to copy it. I'm using a heater that says Do Not Cover and ostensibly I'm covering it. You might think that unwise or unsafe.
If you wander around my YouTube channel you’ll see that I have a liking for a couple of outdoor sports, particularly MTB (mountain biking) and SUP (stand up paddleboarding).
England’s climate being what it is the MTB part often sees me getting somewhat damp and of course paddleboarding is a water based sport (and I’m a beginner) so getting wet comes with the territory so to speak.
And I really don’t enjoy putting on wet gear first thing in the morning…
So, what to do?
Well, some people put boots and gloves in an airing cupboard (that’s a big NO from my wife). Some say just throw them on a radiator, others say “you must dry stuff naturally” but I noticed a review on YouTube for a boot dryer on Amazon. I was really tempted to buy it because the reviewer said it was genuinely very good.
Checking on Amazon there’s a few different models available, here’s some of them. If you like the look of them you can click on the link and that will take you to Amazon and in return I’ll get a small percentage of the sale value because as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It adds nothing to the price you pay.
I don't know anything about these units, I've not tried them. I have nothing against any of them but I had two issues with them for my personal use;
Lack of space (I was looking at the floor standing units). They wouldn’t have fitted where I wanted them
I’m always reluctant to spend money if I can find a cheaper solution
So
I’d bought a tubular heater to heat my office and it did a good job. Then I was working on my father in law's greenhouse and noticed another similar tubular heater that wasn't used any more and I thought "I wonder if I can use this?"
First I made a bridge style cover for it. A top and two ends out of 12mm ply
You can see one of the ends here, I cut a tunnel shape out with a jigsaw to stand over the heater. I did the same at the other end.
I then drilled holes in the top (4 pieces of pipe, 4 holes). First I drilled right the way through at a smaller diameter than the pipe (which is 40mm ABS waste pipe). I then drilled halfway through with a bit just slightly larger than the outside diameter of the pipe. That created a ledge for the pipe to stand on. I first glued them in place with hot melt which failed quickly (not be cause of the heat, it just didn't take to the ABS) so I scraped off the hot melt and replaced it with an adhesive sealer called CT1, it's very similar to no more nails etc. That's held up for over a year now.
I glued the ends to the top, stood it over the heater and tried it out.
It worked but not great so I figured it needed sides on it which I made out of laminate flooring.
So, now I have a box enclosing (ish) the heater and going back to the disclaimery type moment at the top, you may not think that is safe.
In my application it sits about 2 feet from where I sit in my office. It's switched off when I'm not in the office (or to put it another way it's only on when I'm there, along with a lot of other electrical gear like servers and all sorts. I also have a switching circuit using a movement sensor (as used for corridor and office lighting) so a lot of the electrical consumers turn off automatically when I leave the office.
So for my application I'm happy with it.
Again, if you copy it that's on you.
Anyway, here it is, stood on the office floor with boots and gloves on it and I can tell you it works well.
Got a question? Hit up the ask a question button!!
Comentarios