Tell me about storage heaters vs connecting to gas mains

[SunnyUpNorth]

I viewed an apartment yesterday that I’m really interested in. It is night storage heaters which I know absolutely nothing about. They look very old (elderly couple selling and needs some work). The agent said that modern storage heaters are much better. How do these work? Can they be controlled by a thermostat such as Hive? Would there just be an electric immersion heater for water?

Apparently the property was connected to the gas mains a few years ago (large old house split into several apartments) but this couple opted not to connect. How much cost and hassle would it be to connect this flat to the supply? Although it needs work it had a gorgeous parquet floor which I wouldn’t fancy lifting. It is ground floor if that helps.

No advice about connecting to gas etc, but if you can get rid of the storage heaters definitely do. I'm in a rental and I absolutely hate ours, it's a fairly large two bed flat and we had two storage heaters on night mode last night, went from £27 electricity yesterday lunchtime to £18 this morning. They cost a fortune even on night mode.

The cost is relative to how long you intend to stay there. It would be quite expensive, and it may mean lifting floors, redecorating etc. Also you would need to select a suitable place for the boiler. If you plan to stay for the long term, you would get your money's worth.
Storage heaters are generally more expensive than gas to run. They run on cheap rate electricity at night, then slowly give out their heat during the day, so no, they would not run on Hive. They usually have some manual controls so you can regulate the amount of heat coming out during the day.There is probably already an immersion heater for the HW.
Modern storage heaters take up a lot less space than the old ones did, they are a lot more slimline.
As to cost, I am not sure, but you would be looking at 4 figures, not 3.

Thanks both. I noticed the heaters were on yet the apartment felt cold so they seem quite ineffective.

Anyone know how I would find out more about this? I asked the estate agent but obviously they knew nothing (I’ve had a bad week with estate agents!!). I’ll try google and see what I find....

I found there is a knack to using storage heaters.

Basically they work best if they heat up over a couple of days and are then kept on low.

They are not hugely responsive so if you are home at the same time every night and want consistent predictable heat, they are ok. If you want to turn your heating on and off, be away for business trips & weekends then not so good. I replaced them because I had a job that meant I needed flexibility and quick heat.

@seniorschoolmum did you replace with gas central heating? How much of a faff was that? If not, what did you replace with?

Estate agent has now said they may be mistaken that there is gas to the property in general. So not sure if putting in GCH will even be an option.

Storage heaters would put me off buying. If you need to install a wet heating system then the pipes will need to be under the floor. The storage heaters are a cheap solution for heating which avoided this upheaval. Floors can be taken up and relaid.

The problem with storage heaters is that because they heat up at night, you don’t get much heat when they cool down in the evening. Older owners don’t have them on much anyway! They are not remotely responsive either and you set them to give background heat at best. Lots of people would supplement the heat so could you install under floor heating in the bathroom and kitchen? Are the bedrooms wood floors too? If not, underfloor heating could be installed here too.

Boilers can be put in kitchens or cupboards. They should be near to where the gas comes into the flat ideally. It’s a more flexible system but you would have to weigh it up against the upheaval.

I once rented a flat with quite modern storage heaters in it, and they were worse than useless. I had to supplement them with oil filled radiators. Using electricity as your only energy source is also extremely expensive compared to the cost of gas. I would never consider living in a house or flat heated by electricity ever again. If you want the flat, connect it to the gas main.

Having had storage heaters in my previous property I can honestly say I would rather pull out my eye teeth with blunt pliers than have them again. They are expensive to run and ineffective even with good insulation, when it is really cold out they seem to manage to lose all the stored heat by about 7pm but first thing in the morning the place is like an oven.

Put gas heating in if you can. It will be worth the expense. Storage heaters are, at best, better than nothing. When it's cold weather, they need supplementing. Never again!

Storage heaters are not very efficient and extremely expensive. Convert to gas central heating, you will not look back.

if the current owners are retired, they might be happier with storage heaters, because they make the home warm in the morning and afternoon, and fade away by evening.

If you are out at work all day you may find this unsuitable.

I'd go for gas, but you need to find out what it will cost and how it will be done. In a converted house, unless it is the ground floor, you may need permission from the freeholder or other apartment owners to run the pipe through the common areas or on the outside of the building or to dig up the garden. In some cases it might not be considered safe. The work has to be done by the local gas network owner and usually costs some £thousands. NG has I believe now divested all the gas networks so you will have to find out who it is. If you already live in the area then it will be shown at the bottom of your gas bill (it will not be the company that sells you gas).

No I lived in the sticks so had to go with oil heating.
Basically the same internal disruption as gas heating but with a tank in the garden.
Upstairs all the pipes were put under the floor so I needed a plumber & then a carpet refitter. Downstairs, solid floors so pipes went behind trunking that looked like skirting boards. Plumber & carpet fitter again. I went round and touched up paint afterwards.
Avoid oil unless you have no choice. It was expensive and had a nasty habit of running out on Xmas eve or New Year’s Day

We had 'modern' storage heaters in our last house. Put them on to charge overnight, left them on on the lowest setting through the day last winter to keep the house above freezing when we got home, they were always empty and cold by the time we got back from work and we only worked 6 hour days with half hour commute each way. Wouldn't have them again.

We changed from storage heaters to gas as soon as we could, much warmer. Did keep the economy7 meter and run washing machine at night when electricity is cheaper.