Hi, I am currently in process of doing my flat up with the view of looking to sell later in the year(if the market picks up!).
Part of my improvements is modernising the look of my flat. I currently have two old big and ugly Dimplex Storage heaters, which aren't in tune with the new look. I am thinking of removing them and replacing them with slim line oil filled radiators. I know this will look nicer but will it diminish the value of the flat when I come to sell?
Are there any other alternatives (I cant afford central heating).
If you have a gas supply and I emphasise IF then install gas central heating. You will recoup your outlay when you come to sell. We installed GCH in a Ladies flat last August for £2400 and She sold the place very quickly, up until then She had had little interest and the viewers comments were always coming back to the stonking great Dimplex storage heaters in the flat. Brit*sh G*s by the way charge some extortionate fee to remove these heaters because they don't want the bother of them. Mel.
Thanks for that Melboy, I will certainly look into getting a quote for Gas Central Heating in the longer term.
However, Is it a bad idea removing the storage heaters and replacing them oil filled radiators?
Will this significantly deminish the value of the flat?
I have a friend who sold his flat because he removed the storage heaters and replaced them with Oil filled rads. On the other hand storage are very cost effective!
What are buyers looking for? (Apart from central heating)
I must admit that I don't know what these kind of heaters look like Jenv, but if they are economical and efficient and the only reason you are looking to get rid of them is because they are unattractive, is there any way you can simply disguise them with a cover or somesuch thing?
Big ugly suckers susiecam! and no, you can't cover them at all---heat dissapation etc.. You need the muscles of Giant Haystacks (RIP) to remove the heating bricks inside of them. Incidently, Paddy the Scrap loves them and always takes ours away FOC because of their enormous weight he can conceal them amongst all the other scrap on his lorry and of course the Weighbridge goes into turbo overdrive with these things on the back and he can double his money on his load of Copper/Brass/Iron !! Mel.
My mum has them, they are hideously ugly, although I think the newer ones are a bit smaller and less offensive.
But looks aren't the only reason susie (IMO). They tend to give heat out in the morning, so by the time you get home from work, they've given up the ghost. (Although again the newer ones are allegedly more efficient). And you have to decide a day ahead how cold it's going to be the following day, because they rack the heat up overnight.
dont know what size your flat is but my son put in central heating into a 1 bed and has just sold for a pretty good profit.flats often seem to have these horrid storage heaters which put me right off. also have you got a hot water tank taking up space( hence the size question) cos with a combi boiler you can get rid of the tank. my son was then able to use the space for a washing machine cupboard which was also a real plus to get it out of the kitchen when selling.
The new Dimplex duoheat heaters look much nicer and are much more flexible. But most people don't like storage heaters at all and it would put quite a few people off viewing a property at all.
I like them. But then people do keep telling me I am odd!
WE have storage heaters in our (rented) flat- and never ever again. They are ugly, take up loads of space, our electricity meter seems to whizz round every time they are switched on- and as mentioned above, the flat is lovely and warm in the day-time while we are at work
So the general concensus seems to be that they are U-G-L-Y and not actually that efficient.
I think I'll rip them out and replace them with slim line oil filled radiators (at least these will warm the flat when I'm there and look ok!!) and look at Central heating in the long term.
If you disagree, speak now or forever hold your peace !!! I'm ripping them out this weekend !!
(PS if you know any rag and bone men that might be intersted..let me know)
Originally posted by decca: WE have storage heaters in our (rented) flat- and never ever again. They are ugly, take up loads of space, our electricity meter seems to whizz round every time they are switched on- and as mentioned above, the flat is lovely and warm in the day-time while we are at work
What a bizarre invention!
Indeed decca they are truly horrid things as I have the misfortune of having them as well. Flat is warm when you get up but starts getting cold by late evening
The Duoheat ones have two heaters (kind of obvious from the name!) - partly storage and partly instant, which gets over the cooling off at night problem. There is no way of having conventional central heating in our flats, so I will probably get Duoheat. (No, I don't have shares in Dimplex!)
If you are removing storage heaters beware - those bricks are very heavy!
AllyP – but the problem is that when the sun goes in, it gets cold, and that’s when you need the heat – so how do you collect and store it, for example, in your house?
They are big and ugly things, and also some of the ones I have come across leave a dirty smoke mark up the wall behind the heaters, which doesnt look nice anyway.
Get them gone, as people are ripping them out now anyway.
They store the energy during the day and it doesn't even need sun, then at night they provide the energy to keep you warm and electric on, did you know that they even make them as roof tiles so you can't even see them now.
So these would be photovoltaic tiles plus a mains inverter, and the storage system would work by ‘pushing’ electricity into the grid when you have a surplus, and ‘pulling’ it out when you don’t – a bit like a bank account with a meter, but nice in that you avoid needing any batteries. But isn’t running your home from electricity very expensive, and what about the cost of the tiles per kW/hr installed power? It does sounds rather expensive, and relies a lot on the national grid and power stations.
I used to live in a rented house with a portable plug-in one fixed to the wall as the only heating source (admittedly some 16 years ago), every time you turned it on, the room filled with the smell of rancid chipfat... not something I'd want to install in my house!
___________________________________________________________________________ strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!
Originally posted by Lovecat: Have they improved oil-filled heaters, then?
I used to live in a rented house with a portable plug-in one fixed to the wall as the only heating source (admittedly some 16 years ago), every time you turned it on, the room filled with the smell of rancid chipfat... not something I'd want to install in my house!
They've come on leaps and bounds in the past years, from diddy little ones that can be used to take the chill out the air to massive ones that can easily heat a room.
If your budget can stretch to it, then get the oil-filled radiators that have a built in timer. This will make them as convenient as central heating, even if they aren't as economical. The timer will mean that they can be set to come on in the morning which, I'm sure, is one of the main reaons people love central heating.
I'm certainly not going to stop you from ripping out the night storage heaters. I had those in my flat for the first five years of living here and hated them with a passion. On more than one occasion I came home from work and went straight to bed because it was the warmest place in the flat .
