Boot Heaters

[ski otter 2]

The latest trend for keeping the feet warm electrically is heated sock. Lenz, Hotronic and few others have products out there.
I don't feel they are quite there yet in terms of pricing and design. The old tried and true boot heaters still keep my feet warm.

Hotronic and Thermic are two of the popular brands. They are very similar in both concept and design. My family used Hotronic exclusively. Don't have any experience with Thermic.

Hotronic sells two different packages. The S3 & the S4. The are exactly the same with different sized batteries. The S3 uses a smaller battery.
Currently, the S3 can be found on the net for around $130. S4 for $190. Prices are much better in the summer.

Start Haus video on installation.

Hi. I'd be very interested in what you noticed was off or "not quite there yet" with the design of the socks.

I've just switched, because, for me, with 4 years on the footbed-embedded S3s, I had to throw in the towel on them. I realize that others have not had the same problem, but in my L.V. 130 RS and RX Langes, they just start to hurt however I install them, and then I can feel them distorting the footbed and flex of those boots - maybe just for myself. And then they mess up my foot circulation, which means getting colder as well as hurting. Old guy feet, I guess.

Those boots are a very tight fit in the toes for me, great boot fitter required, and I finally have got them both dialed in: but the S3s had to go to accomplish that. Again, maybe most folks don't have the problem,

The partially race oriented folks I went to, however, have found my problem with the S3s/S4s to be a fairly common one. The bootfitter himself uses the Hotronics socks instead, for whatever reason, and highly recommended them. We shall see.

The instructions with the socks are a bit intimidating. They warn repeatedly not to get the socks or components wet, for fear of short-circuiting or burning, Yikes. But, by yimmeny, these are for skiing on snow, which last I heard, is wet.

 

[princo]

...but in my L.V. 130 RS and RX Langes, they just start to hurt however I install them, and then I can feel them distorting the footbed and flex of those boots...

They warn repeatedly not to get the socks or components wet, for fear of short-circuiting or burning, Yikes. But, by yimmeny, these are for skiing on snow, which last I heard, is wet.

My previous pair of boots were Langes and they leaked a lot. My liners usually ended up wet on the inside after a full day, even after the duck tape mod. I hope Lange fixed those issues in the newer boots, cause I would not wear heated socks with those boots.

 

[ski otter 2]

Thanks. Mine don't seem to leak. I'm on my second pair of each, 450 to 500 plus days on the four boots combined. But that doesn't mean they don't get wet on a wet snow powder day - yikes again.

 

[KingGrump]

Hi. I'd be very interested in what you noticed was off or "not quite there yet" with the design of the socks.

I've just switched, because, for me, with 4 years on the footbed-embedded S3s, I had to throw in the towel on them. I realize that others have not had the same problem, but in my L.V. 130 RS and RX Langes, they just start to hurt however I install them, and then I can feel them distorting the footbed and flex of those boots - maybe just for myself. And then they mess up my foot circulation, which means getting colder as well as hurting. Old guy feet, I guess.

Those boots are a very tight fit in the toes for me, great boot fitter required, and I finally have got them both dialed in: but the S3s had to go to accomplish that. Again, maybe most folks don't have the problem,

The partially race oriented folks I went to, however, have found my problem with the S3s/S4s to be a fairly common one. The bootfitter himself uses the Hotronics socks instead, for whatever reason, and highly recommended them. We shall see.

The instructions with the socks are a bit intimidating. They warn repeatedly not to get the socks or components wet, for fear of short-circuiting or burning, Yikes. But, by yimmeny, these are for skiing on snow, which last I heard, is wet.

My boot fitter been pushing them for several years now. Tried them in the shop every year. Never got the warm fuzzy from them. Yet.

First couple years. They ran big. I mean huge kind of big. They were thicker than I am accustomed to for socks. I believe they have gotten thinner last year. Maybe I’ll try them again in Dec.

My biggest concern is durability. No real track record on that. I get about 30 days on a pair of socks. The wear is most prominent under the ball of the feet and extending laterally to the fifth met head. Often wearing through at spots.

I also feel Lenz hasn’t worked out all the kinks yet. I tried on the v1.0 few years back and they are currently up to v5.0? Sound like the usual scheme for software releases. Not really interested being a beta tester.

On top of all that, my whole family are on the Hotronic. Tons of spare and back up components. I am happy with my Hotronic. Tough for me to switch over to a system without a real track record. If I am having issues with my Hotronic like you are. I would definitely give it some serious thought.

 

[EricG]

Where did you find this deal? It's nice to share...

It was Steep & Cheap, I’ve never ordered from them so I wanted to make sure it was legit before I shared.

 

[KingGrump]

Steep & Cheap is the outlet of backcountry.com

 

[Chip]

awesome- thanks for the responses- ordering

Does the kit come with the mounts- or do you need to order them separately?
Does everyone use the power strap mount- or the mounting bracket that gets fastened to the boot?

 

[KingGrump]

The batteries on the Hotronic kit comes with integrated clip/bails so you can clip the batteries to your power strap.
You can also get a power strap mount that will allow you to detach the battery. This mount is more secure than the bails.
Neither will work well with a Booster strap.
The hard mount clips work pretty well. I usually mount them up high and slightly off center to keep them being bang on by the chairs.
Thermic makes a niffy two screw mount that also work as a power strap anchor. The screw centers match those on Atomic boots exactly. In fact some Atomic boot comes with the Thermic clip as OEM. Unfortunately the plastic on that clip is too brittle to take hit from a chair. Gave up on them after going through 2 full pairs. .
.

 

[Chip]

The batteries on the Hotronic kit comes with integrated clip/bails so you can clip the batteries to your power strap.
You can also get a power strap mount that will allow you to detach the battery. This mount is more secure than the bails.
Neither will work well with a Booster strap.
The hard mount clips work pretty well. I usually mount them up high and slightly off center to keep them being bang on by the chairs.

Good info- I went ahead and ordered the power strap mount. I'll let the wife try that one out first to see how it works. She has Atomic hawks 90's, but didn't notice the clip on these.

 

[KingGrump]

She has Atomic hawks 90's, but didn't notice the clip on these.

Haven't noticed them on the current gen of boot. They were on the last gen. The hole spacing should be compatible if you want to go that route.

 

[skeejunky]

I use the Hotronic's, have for the last three years. not bullet proof, but pretty good. I have had to replace the foot bed heater twice, one time chairlift damage and the other when the wire cable came apart and individual strands broke (constant daily boot on and bad location of cable). I have extra batteries that are always charged for the days I forget to charge the set you used and when batteries just start getting old is nice to have a replacement ready. I spend a lot of days on the snow teaching so they get a pretty good work-out. I would say worth the money overall.

Hotronics does post that batteries are interchangeable for heaters but there is an issue with chargers and different batteries. here is a link to their info page. https://www.hotronic.com/products/fw/fw_compatibility.html

Heated socks (if they work well) sound great but price is a bit gnarly. I will stay with the boot glove and Hotronic foot bed for this year I think.

 

[ski otter 2]

A modest preliminary update on the Hotronic socks I've switched to (from hotronic footbed pads):

it's been dumping wet snow here at the start of the season in Colorado: three very wet "powder" days in a row, on the WROD, or expanded to two runs instead. 4" to 10" days, at least to begin with.

Three things:

1. The socks do indeed fit without being noticed. The sock just feels like a slightly thicker race sock. I can't feel the heat elements (except the heat), even with my current "princess & the pea" "old guy" feet. And they are straight-forward to put on, so far.

2.The Hotronic socks are much more noticeably warm than the pads. With similar 1-3 plus brief 4 settings, the socks get too hot quickly, so far, at anything other than at 1. And 1 has stayed the right setting for me the whole time, so far (That's for 14* start, 25* high, overcast and over 10,000 ft., wet snow falling and wind blowing across the Divide.) It may well turn out to be too warm to keep on all the time, not sure.

(By contrast, for me the Hotronic pads stay at 3 most similar days, with lower numbers only on very warm days, or brief plus 4 added if it gets below 10* and stays there. Not sure I ever actually feel the heat in those things as too much, except during spring.)

2. So far, I'm pleasantly impressed with how removed from moisture the double flap pocket for the Hotronic socks actually seems, so far. In masses of wet snow and falling snow, the socks - and heat elements - stayed dry, no hint of wet. Again, so far.

 

[LiquidFeet]

Most feet sweat, thus the need for boot dryers at night. Even when it's cold out, right?
If water inside the boot is an issue with these socks, what about sweating feet?

 

[laine]

I’m curious if anyone has compared the Hotronics socks vs the Lenz. Which one is thinner? And with a thinner sock, do you feel the wires more?

 

[hbear]

Can’t speak for hottronics but know Lens is a great product with great customer service.

A friend runs the Canadian arm of the company and is a solid guy. Everybody that I know that has them around here really like them. I personally like a thin sock and the heated ones just aren’t think enough for me....so we use boot heaters.

Socks would be great as they work in any footwear and would be great for use as a racing spectator when not on skis.

 

[ski otter 2]

I was told that the Hotronic socks have gotten thinner this year and last. Not sure.
Also, of the two types, perhaps the wrap around version is thicker in the toes than the ones that are just heated from below.

(Since I have the ones that are just heated from below, and that is clearly more than enough for me, guess I'll probably forget about the warmer wrap-around versions.)


Another day on the Hotronics socks. It started out 7*, went up to 17*. Not a real test, but still the coldest day so far. I'd have noticed the cold with my old Hotronics pads, but not with the socks.

I've found one can adjust to handle initial cold feet and cold feet in the parking lot after skiing, implications of the above @hbear post: I just started out on setting two (putting my boots on in the parking lot), then turned them down to 1 before the lift opened. At the end of the day, I put the socks temporarily on 2 going into my after ski boots, then again turned them down a few minutes later. Once my feet get relaxed and warm, I changed socks.

Sweat does not seem to be a problem with the socks, so far. Racers doing real workouts use them, working up a real sweat. The problem is with lots of snow water, apparently - boot leaking, or pants that don't protect in a blizzard, for example. Again, not sure yet.

(On both race skis today and fat skis in chop/crud the past few days, no problem, apparently.)

Also, the socks are a wool blend, which means they evaporate more quickly and feel more dry than smart wool. Time will tell, though.

It's nice to have the problem of way more heating ability than needed, in reserve, than the problem of too little, which is what the S3 pads were for me.

 

[laine]

FYI, I emailed Hotronic to ask which is their thinnest sock (since I’ve seen a few different ones online) and ask about development of an app to control the heat settings (which Lenz has). The reply:

For this season we only have one thickness of Heat Socks but are looking into introducing a thinner sock for next year.
At this point we have no plans for an app to control the battery/heat setting.

 

[ski otter 2]

Correction: I apologize, I seem to have gotten a bit mixed up between the Hotronics heated socks and the Lenz heated socks. This happened because both were present, packaged and for sale at the shop in Breck I went to for boot fitting, and I was going by memory of what was said about both, plus what I've learned since using the Hotronics. I've just read the online stuff about both, and, as near as I can tell:
The Lenz version, not the Hotronics, is currently available with a "toe cap" heat element (wrapping around the toes). The Hotronics, from what I can gather online, is only available with a heating element underfoot, contrary to what I stated.

I had been wondering why on earth one would need a "wrap around the toes" version of the Hotronics, when the things were so effective and hot already with a heat element only under the toes/foot pads (unlike the colder Hotronics heating pads, which for me have not been so effective).
The answer was, no such "wrap around" Hotronics version, apparently.

 

[ski otter 2]

P.S. Online I also found experiences of the Hotronic heated socks being warm enough (like mine - too warm on the higher settings), and others found them little help, cold.

This sounds like my experiences with the pads, which leads me to suspect that besides possible defective items, foot circulation also might be a factor: I'm using the socks in boots that have been punched and ground to finally fit me, finally get good fit and circulation in my toes, whereas before, my toes tended to go numb with too little space, when I was using the pads, which also messed up fit and flex for me, in the same but then ill-fitting boots. If the pads weren't so poor-fitting for me still, I might find they were warmer if the boot space was roomier.

 

[focker]

I'd like to get these for my wife for Christmas but HOLY CRAP $270!!!