Storage Heaters In A House

[Ric.ror]

I have had a little look at a back to back house with storage heaters instead of CH. Has anyone any experience of SH? I have asked here and no-one knows too much about them

[Rosetta]

we had them years ago. Then, they tended to be bulky so uses a lot more space in a small room than a radiator. They store at might, give off heat during the day, not as instantly responsive to sudden cold snaps as rads. They worked on cheap electricity overnight, day time electricity being a bit dearer than the norm but great if you could use appliances like washing machines overnight. How costs are worked out these days I have no idea. Plus we had to use an immersion heater for hot water. We changed to standard CH as soon as we could afford to

[Ric.ror]

I suspect the reason there is no CH is for space reasons and needing access to an outside wall (the only ones are in the living room and the bedrooms and the bathroom is quite small)

Thank you Rosetta

[Psybbo]

Hi Ric.ror, I'll be interested in any replies too as we're looking at a house with storage heaters and wondering if we should change to oil fired if we go ahead with it

[jomifl]

They are virtually impossible to move as they have to be dismantled, and just get in the way.

[The Builder]

They can be very effective, and even run at a reasonable cost, but only in a well insulated, draughtfree house. Modern houses have high levels on insulation, so it can be a good alternative. In older houses, especially solid brick or stone, they are terribly wasteful. Heat is lost far too soon in the day. When you really need it in the evening, it's often just not there.

The good side is the lower tariff. This varies all over the country, so a bit of research is worthwhile.
With some schemes, an hour's worth of extra low tariff boost is given in the afternoon, before the evening demand.

The heaters themselves have improved dramatically over the last twenty years or so. Modern ones store better, and have much more control over release.

Are these Greater Manchester type "back to backs"?

[Ric.ror]

No it's a calverley village type b2b

[Maydup]

We have them in our house. We have no gas or oil and are an all electric house. As the builder has explained you need to be well insulated, you need not to want to move them and you really, really need to get on an Economy 10 tarrif if you can. Most common is Economy 7 which gives you 5 hours of heat at night and two hours in the afternoon, but economy 10 gives an extra 3 hours in the evening from 10pm. This makes all the difference to us as we're not early to bed and the house can be pretty chilly by then.

We leave the SHs on low to medium all winter and only really need to turn them up in the very cold weather. They have vents which you can open too to boost the heat into the room in between heating times.

Our water is all heated by instant wall water heaters and we're pretty happy with it all. In my dreams I'd have a woodburner too just to ring the changes and not to be so reliant of the lecci, but its an expensive impractical install for us, so we've bought a portable calor gas heater in case of power failure. Not been out of the box yet- crosses fingers.

What else can I tell you about them except they are not instant so you can only turn them up when the power is on and that they are much more efficient than they were a couple of generations ago when they were enormous.

Happy to answer questions ric.

[237SJ]

I had them in my first flat. When I bought this house it had storage heaters and the first thing I did was install gas central heating. If that hadn`t been possible, I wouldn`t have bought the house. The storage heaters were totally impractical. They heated up at night so there was lots of heat in the morning and as they day wore on, it got colder and colder (despite the little flap that is supposed to let the heat out during the day). By the evening, I would have an portable electric heater in use. I work away a lot and I had to leave them on when I was away because I couldn`t just get instant heat when I got home. That was very expensive. If I had turned them off for the summer and there was a cold snap, I had to put up with it as again, I couldn`t get instant heat. I found them expensive to run as well.

[Maydup]

^^^^ not an uncommon viewpoint. But with good insulation and economy 10 you can have a different experience.

[Ric.ror]

Can I just thank you all for taking the time to answer my question and for sharing your experiences
It never ceases to amaze my all the good folk here on AB
I often quote 'my friend on Answerbank told me'

[The Builder]

Calverley, Leeds? Much the same as the ones I was thinking of. Stone walls with no insulation.
Not a good situation for storage heaters. You'll be OK if the neighbours on three sides keep their houses warm, but the front wall will lose heat badly.

I would pile up the insulation in the roof to at least 300mm.
I know it's drastic, but I would line the inside face of the front wall with an inner wall of insulation too. Easily done in an empty house.

[buffymad]

I used to have storage heaters in the house I've just moved from. A very old house and not that well insulated - but the storage heaters worked and kept the place warm! I heard horror stories about the old fashioned ones which were big and bulky and ran out of heat, but it seems the newer ones work much better. Never had a problem with them myself.

[mccfluff]

i have an old mid terraced house, i used to use them but my elec bill doubled (economy 7) and as i was out all day i didn't really get any benefit. in the end i turned them off and i've relied on an elec oil heater and a gas fire since.

Having said that, the house is old, drafty and the heaters were ancient