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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Would you buy a flat with electric night storage heating?

24 replies

littlecrystal · 17/09/2013 16:47

That's the question. An excellent flat in an excellent area with the only drawback of electric heating. My gut feeling says 'avoid!' but then so many people live in such flats. What would you do?

OP posts:

Preciousbane · 17/09/2013 16:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SPsTotallyMullerFuckingLicious · 17/09/2013 16:50

Storage heaters are shite. I have them and don't use them. They don't heat when I need them and just eat electric.

DameDeepRedBetty · 17/09/2013 16:51

Can you afford to replace them? Because I agree - they ARE shite.

holidaysarenice · 17/09/2013 16:52

I have them, I love them!

Much cheaper than my gas and a more constant heat. Gas cools very quickly when off.

Lots of flats have them.

SPsTotallyMullerFuckingLicious · 17/09/2013 16:53

I have around 5 in the whole house. Horrid things. My house is all electric.

Beamur · 17/09/2013 16:54

I'd factor in the cost of replacing them TBH. Be warned though, they weigh an absolute ton if you take them out.
They are expensive to run and don't always give out heat when you need it - on the plus side, they require minimal maintenance and are really quiet - no gurgling pipes!

expatinscotland · 17/09/2013 16:58

NO! Not unless I had the money to replace and it were allowed (some flats don't allow GCH).

Naoko · 17/09/2013 16:59

No. I live in a rented house with them and have lived in a string of rented flats with the bloody things before this and have sworn that if I'm ever in a position to buy I'm not buying anything with storage heaters unless it's sufficiently cheap I can afford to rip them out and have gas central heating. They are a godawful way to heat a house, ineffective and expensive.

expatinscotland · 17/09/2013 17:01

YY, we ended up buying oil-filled heaters and using those.

cathpip · 17/09/2013 17:01

No. Too hot in the morning and then cold in the evening when you want the heat...

Owllady · 17/09/2013 17:04

they are awful

it's either freezing cold or there is a heatwave

and they cost a fortune.

If you can afford to get them replaced at some point (assuming you have gas mains to the flat) then i think I wouldn't write it off completely

Viviennemary · 17/09/2013 17:28

They are dreadful things. Boiling hot in the morning when most people are going to work. Cold when you come back at night. And even if you are in through the day by afternoon they are cold. Totally and absolutely hopeless things. I bet the people who sell them don't have them in their houses.

BackforGood · 17/09/2013 17:58

I did (back in 1990) but it would put me off, having had them for 6 years, and knowing how useless they are.

Relaxedandhappyperson · 17/09/2013 18:04

Well I'd prefer central heating but if everything else were right then I wouldn't let it stop me buying the flat.

Had them in my first flat and they were fine. The trick, I was told before I moved in, is to keep them on constantly (or off). Then they keep the place at a steady temperature. The only really tricky times were rapidly fluctuating spring/autumn weather when the heating was always a day behind the weather.

Original poster

littlecrystal · 17/09/2013 20:20

That's probably a big fat No then. I would have the money to install a modern electric (central?) heating (up to 10k), but it would still have to be still electric.
A shame but need to listen to head. Thanks very much!

OP posts:

specialsubject · 17/09/2013 21:15

if they are used and work properly they should hold the heat. They need to be used with the right tariff, which takes some arguing to get.

and as relaxed points out, they need a degree of clairvoyance in shoulder seasons.

liquidstate · 19/09/2013 09:20

The more modern night storage heaters are much more effective than the old style so it may be you dont need to spend that much updating them.

But to be honest our old style ones work fine. Its all about knowing how to use them. When you want more heat in the evening you just turn the output dial up. If the output dial is on full whack when the house is empty then the heat will be lost.

Periwinkle007 · 19/09/2013 21:28

I had them when I was renting a couple of times and other than spring and autumn I didn't mind them too much. I just used to turn the output down before I went out to work and then back up again when I got in.

tribpot · 19/09/2013 21:34

Another vote for 'not in a million years'. Which is roughly when the technology will be perfected to allow them to release the heat in the evening and not the morning. Bloody. Stupid.

Viviennemary · 20/09/2013 11:40

And even if you didn't mind them too much you have to think of the resale of the flat. I wouldn't touch anything that could only have electric central heating. And quite a lot of people feel the same. Hope you find something suitable soon.

Putthechocolatedownandbackaway · 20/09/2013 12:05

I have them in my flat and really like them. The trick I find is to have the 'input' dial (how much heat is stored up) somewhere in the middle, and the 'output' (how much heat is given out) down as far as it will go. Then the heat doesn't all blast out in the morning, but trickles out all day.

However, I'm lucky in that I'm in a fairly modern top-floor flat, and get heat from the two flats below me. Also, I don't feel the cold all that much, am out at work all day and don't have DCs for whom I would need to keep the place warmer during the day, and the big heater in the living room has a 'heat now' option I can turn on if it's feeling cold in the evening.

Plus, the flats don't have a gas supply at all, otherwise I might think differently about getting central heating installed.

Original poster

littlecrystal · 20/09/2013 13:46

Most of you are right by saying that lots of flats do not have gas and survive somehow.
That flat is in the area where it will sell quick, so that's not a problem. But I just realised another issue - top floor, no storage - nowhere to keep bikes and stuff.
So back to square 1 now.

OP posts:

valiumredhead · 20/09/2013 14:27

No, never not without the budget to out gch in.

catinboots · 20/09/2013 14:30

No - I had them in my old flat.

Third degree burns when you stand near them.

Can't feel a jot of heat when you move more than 6 inches away!

And so expensive!

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